University Times

“Step away from the building” is the new message to smokers at Pitt. The University has adopted a policy that prohibits smoking within 15 feet of primary entrances and air intakes on campus. The action, approved Tuesday by Executive Vice Chancellor Jerome Cochran on behalf of the University’s officers, takes effect immediately. “It’s a done […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]