University Times

At last week’s members-only Staff Association Council (SAC) meeting, representatives agreed to table a resolution calling for changes in staff compensation policies.

“The resolution is not dead,” Rich Colwell, SAC vice president for steering, told the University Times this week. “It was just tabled for now, pending the outcome of our meeting early next week” with Executive Vice Chancellor Jerome Cochran.

SAC President Barbara Mowery said staff are concerned about the current job classification system and the corresponding maximum salary levels, which make staff already at the top of their pay scales ineligible for raises.

She declined to say how many staff are affected. Ron Frisch, head of Human Resources, has said that such information is confidential.

Mowery said, “We reviewed the existing salary policy and are prepared to work in conjunction with the senior administration to address the concerns which were raised [at the Feb. 12 SAC meeting].”

Colwell said that when the staff classification system was implemented in 1999, SAC was assured by Pitt officials that staff would not reach their maximum pay levels. The University pledged to raise the top range annually to prevent this from happening, he said.

But, for the first time since the system was adopted, the University did not raise its pay scales for this current fiscal year and as a result some staff were denied pay increases.

“I raised this issue then, and I’m raising it now,” Colwell said. He added that if SAC officers are not satisfied with the administration’s response, he will recommend that SAC membership bring a resolution to Senate Council, a group made up of staff, faculty and student representatives as well as Pitt senior administrators.

“We still need to have the details ironed out and voted on by the membership, but the gist of the resolution is that we think the current system is unfair and needs to be changed,” Colwell said.

Mowery said SAC also discussed the need for a University-wide, improved staff performance appraisal system and the need for more extensive and mandatory education and training for supervisors.

SAC officers also said they had not received a reply to their two-month-old request to meet with Pitt Board of Trustees Chairperson William S. Dietrich II to discuss staff compensation issues.

—Peter Hart