University Times

While an ambitious contractor on the Cathedral of Learning restoration project last month inadvertently scrubbed what was to have been a tribute to the Pittsburgh industrial heritage that blackened portions of the 70-year-old Cathedral’s limestone exterior, some darkened stone remains, albeit not in the spot some had planned. E. Maxine Bruhns, longtime director of Pitt’s […]

In its annual budget request, the University is asking the state for an 8.5 percent increase in commonwealth support for fiscal year 2009, seeking $202.8 million, including nearly $178.3 million for education and general (E&G) funding. The request, released Sept. 21, states that with that level of state support, the University intends to limit tuition […]

Pitt’s 2007 United Way fundraising campaign begins Oct. 11, and will run through Nov. 30. This year’s campaign goal is $600,000. Last year, the University collected $553,247, surpassing the $500,000 goal. Faculty and staff pledged $520,702; retirees contributed $28,875, and special events brought in $3,580. There were 2,493 donors who pledged contributions during last year’s […]

Free bus rides likely are here to stay — at least for the next five years. Pending final approval of a new five-year contract tomorrow, Sept. 28, by the Port Authority of Allegheny County’s board, Pittsburgh campus faculty, staff and students can continue to use their Pitt ID cards to ride Port Authority vehicles. Last […]

Members of the 2007 Pitt United Way steering committee include campaign manager Anne Franks, Institutional Advancement (IA), and campaign co-chairs G. Reynolds Clark, community initiatives and chief of staff, Office of the Chancellor, and Daniel Edelstone, obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences, Health Sciences. Other steering committee members are: Andrew Blair, Office of the Provost; Kenyon […]

A new Pitt center will enable the University to expand its research into health threats caused by naturally occurring outbreaks of infectious disease or acts of bioterrorism. Pitt’s new Center for Vaccine Research (CVR), housed on the 8th and 9th floors of Biomedical Science Tower 3, comprises the University’s vaccine research laboratory and a regional […]

The Staff Association Council (SAC) is developing recommendations for a salary “step system” designed to protect long-term staff from salary compression. At the group’s Sept. 19 meeting, SAC President Rich Colwell reported that the pay ranges for Pitt’s job classifications were raised by 4 percent, effective July 1. The ranges have been benchmarked annually by […]

In June, a fractured — and at times sniping — U.S. Supreme Court rendered a landmark decision that prohibited the use of race as the sole factor in integrating public schools and declined to recognize racial balancing in schools as a compelling state interest. The nine justices issued 178 pages of sharply disagreeing opinions that […]

It’s not widely known beyond the School of Social Work that Pitt has a contingent of about 75 employees in Mechanicsburg, but these staff members who work far beyond the shadow of the Cathedral of Learning play an important role in the education of child welfare workers state-wide. The Pitt-administered child welfare training program has […]