University Times

In October, Gov. Edward G. Rendell announced that more than $7.25 million (4.25 percent of Pitt’s appropriation) would be withheld from the University’s final appropriation payment of the fiscal year if the state’s financial picture didn’t improve. Following a dismal mid-year budget report, in December Rendell increased the freeze to Pitt and its fellow state-related […]

Concurrent Technologies Corp. will honor CTC head Daniel R. DeVos by establishing a $50,000 Pitt-Johnstown scholarship endowment, the Daniel R. DeVos Science and Technology Scholarship. CTC is an independent, nonprofit, applied scientific research and development professional services organization providing management and technology-based solutions to government and industry. Under DeVos’s leadership, the company has grown from […]

Belt-tightening is a necessity on college campuses this season and Pitt is no exception. Executive pay has been frozen, hiring decisions are being scrutinized and classroom resources are being consolidated as the University responds to uncertain economic times. A second round of budget cuts in Harrisburg is likely to lop additional amounts from Pitt’s budget […]

Pitt’s Volunteer Pool is sponsoring a sock-a-thon to aid the homeless and needy during the winter months. The effort runs through Feb. 6. New socks can be dropped off at the Volunteer Pool Office, 710 Alumni Hall. For more information, contact Gwen Watkins at 412/624-7702 or watkins@pitt.edu.

The Staff Association Council (SAC) will establish a fundraising arm. SAC also announced it will seek to have a council member assigned to a standing provost’s committee. Those were among the developments discussed at SAC’s Dec. 10 meeting. The SAC steering committee, which comprises officers and standing committee chairs and co-chairs, has formed an ad […]

The executive committee of Pitt’s Board of Trustees has authorized University officers to issue up to $300 million in tax-exempt bonds to fund current and future capital projects and to refinance any or all of the University’s $655 million in outstanding tax-exempt bonds if market conditions warrant. The executive committee, in a Dec. 16 session […]

Is your water bottle making you sick? What about the plastic container that holds the lunch you brought from home? Among the most recent chemicals targeted for public concern is bisphenol A, an industrial chemical mainly used to make polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. BPA is among a number of xenoestrogens (artificial compounds that mimic […]

Faculty and staff now can let the University know what they think of Pitt’s employee benefits. Pitt’s Benefits Department, in cooperation with the Staff Association Council (SAC), is launching an internal benefits survey online at the Human Resources web site, www.hr.pitt.edu. The survey link will be operational until Jan. 23. According to John Kozar, director […]

After 66 years, the library at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic has shut its doors. Dec. 19 was the final day for patrons — mainly faculty, researchers or family members of WPIC patients — to walk into the library to use the collection of works on psychiatry and behavioral sciences. “There is a loyal core […]

The majority of Pitt staff members work during the day, usually Monday through Friday. But for those who work night turn — and especially those who work rotating shifts — it’s a different world on campus. Five staff members in Facilities Management recently discussed how their nontraditional schedules affect their personal and social lives, as […]