University Times

A comparison of select Pennsylvania institutions from data in U.S. News and World Report’s 2006 “best colleges” edition: • Acceptance rate: Pitt accepted 49 percent (up from 46 percent in last year’s U.S. News data) of its applicants for fall 2004’s entering class (of 18,973 total applicants); Penn State, 58 percent (30,122 applicants); Carnegie Mellon, […]

U.S. News and World Report’s 2006 “best colleges” edition also features “your school at a glance” quick facts, including a breakdown of the undergraduate student body. At Pitt, 85 percent of students come from Pennsylvania; 87 percent of students reside in the U.S. northeast; 88 percent of students are full-time; 52 percent of students are […]

This month, a new coalition of an unspecified number of city non-profit institutions signed a preliminary three-year agreement with Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy that calls for the participants to contribute money voluntarily to the city’s financially strapped coffers. Pitt spokesperson Robert Hill confirmed this week that the University is a member of the Pittsburgh Public […]

Still paying for that summer vacation? Faculty and staff can look forward to annual pay increases in this month’s paychecks. A 3 percent increase in the fiscal year 2006 salary pool for Pitt employees was announced by the Board of Trustees in July, following their approval of a $1.52 billion FY06 operating budget. (See July […]

Jack L. Daniel, vice provost for Undergraduate Studies, will resign from that post Dec. 31. Daniel will remain a professor of communication in the School of Arts and Sciences. He teaches in the area of African-American communication. “Dr. Daniel has concentrated on continuous improvement of undergraduate education, facilitating efforts to provide students with exemplary educational […]

Picture the lonely life of an emerging scholar: A graduate student sitting in a chair in the stacks of the library, covered with dust, nose buried in a book. Or a scientist-in-training invariably hunched over a microscope, scribbling notes into the wee hours. That stereotype was shattered last week for some 225 fresh-faced Pitt teaching […]

In addition to the two-day new teaching assistant (TA) orientation (the second day will be held Sept. 10), the University offers a wide array of TA and teaching fellow (TF) support services, including special services for international graduate students on what to expect in an American classroom. According to Joanne Nicoll, associate director for instructional […]

Theatre-goers can augment their theatrical recollection collection this season as the Pitt Repertory Theatre features plays and a companion multi-disciplinary seminar series centered on the theme of memory. “Flashbacks, narrators, mime, mystery, amazing revelations and, yes, ‘unforgettable’ characters will enrich your theatrical memory bank for many years to come,” says Attilio “Buck” Favorini, chair of […]

The U.S. Department of the Treasury recently approved an extension period for participants in employee flexible spending accounts (FSAs) for health care and dependent daycare spending accounts. As a result, participants will have more time to spend funds that may remain in their FSA. Pitt participants were notified of the change by letter to their […]