University Times

Staff Association Council (SAC) members have been asked to report how their own departments, schools and other University areas are distributing current salary increases to staff.

SAC President Rich Colwell made the request to members at the Oct. 9 meeting.

After the meeting, he elaborated:“We are getting reports that the full amounts of raises for staff are not being distributed as per the chancellor and the chancellor’s letter he sent out.” Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg’s July 30 update on the fiscal year 2014 budget stated: “The budget also includes a salary-increase pool of 2.5 percent. […] The funds in this pool will be distributed in the following way: 1.5 percent for salary maintenance for all employees whose work has been assessed as satisfactory and 1.0 percent for merit, market and equity adjustments at the unit level” (www.chancellor.pitt.edu/news/chancellor-issues-update-fiscal-year-2014-budget).

Colwell said he has learned that raises in some schools have not reached 2.5 percent overall. “I’m getting the information now to find out if [alleged inequities] are University-wide or [it is] just some schools that are not distributing the full amount allocated.”

Should SAC members confirm differences in salary increase distribution, he said, SAC officers will seek a meeting with members of the administration about the issue, he added.

In other SAC news:

• The organization will restart its brown bag lunch series Nov. 21 with the topic of “Retiree Benefits” presented by John Kozar, assistant vice chancellor of Human Resources, at the William Pitt Ballroom, noon-1 p.m. A registration link will be available on the SAC website (www.sac.pitt.edu). The rest of the series schedule has still to be determined by SAC’s external relations committee.

• For the third monthly meeting in a row, SAC has replaced an officer. Pam Weid assumed the chair of the staff relations committee, following the resignation from SAC of chair Tom Waters. Weid, of theatre arts, was the only nominee. Vice chairs of the following committees also were chosen: operations — Hillary Koller, College of Business Administration career services office; staff relations — Adriana Maguina-Ugarte, office of the director of the University Center for International Studies, and external relations — Fiona Seels, systems administrator in the School of Education.

—Marty Levine