University Times

Pitt-Johnstown was named winner of the Clement H. Clower Institutional Sportsmanship Award by the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC). Student-athlete and fan behavior, along with hospitality to visiting teams, are among the criteria for the award, which is voted upon by member schools. Among UPJ’s efforts to support good sportsmanship by its athletes were: […]

A memorial service for Francis B. Colavita is planned for 3 p.m. March 26 in Heinz Memorial Chapel. Colavita, associate professor emeritus of psychology, died Feb. 16, 2009, as the result of a traffic accident. He was 69. Colavita began his career at Pitt in 1966 as assistant professor with a specialty in biological psychology. […]

The University Senate office has announced the slate of candidates for Senate officers, who will serve one-year terms beginning July 1. Running for president are Michael R. Pinsky, professor of critical care medicine, bioengineering and anesthesiology, School of Medicine; and Wesley M. Rohrer, assistant professor, Department of Health Policy and Management, Graduate School of Public […]

A memorial service for Carl F. Poke, one of the “founding fathers” of the Greensburg campus, is planned for 4 p.m. April 2 in Pitt-Greensburg’s Mary Lou Campana Chapel and Lecture Center. Poke died Feb. 23, 2009. He was 75. Poke was named assistant to the president in 1963 — UPG’s founding year — becoming […]

Pitt employees generally are satisfied with their benefits offerings, according to a recent online survey. The University-wide survey, which was completed by 999 employees — 75 percent of them staff, 25 percent faculty — showed an overall satisfaction rate as follows: very satisfied, 32 percent; satisfied, 50 percent; somewhat satisfied, 16 percent, and not at […]

Frank John Draus, a long-time faculty member and administrator in the School of Dental Medicine, died March 4, 2009. He was 79. A native of Dupont, Pa., Draus came to Pitt in 1956 as a research assistant in the school, rising through the academic ranks to associate professor and professor. He held a number of […]

In the recently completed employee benefits survey, the following results summarize respondents’ opinions on the importance of each benefit listed; the satisfaction with each benefit, and the perception of customer service offered by vendors of each benefit. According to John Kozar, Pitt director of Benefits, data for each of the three sections were derived from […]

The Staff Association Council (SAC) may recommend alternatives to staff compensation now that the University has announced a salary freeze for fiscal year 2010. (See March 5 University Times.) Libby Hilf, reporting for the absent chair of SAC’s salary and job classification committee, said at the March 11 meeting that the group is drafting a […]