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July 22, 2010

Staff Association Council: Looking back on 40 years

The Staff Association Council (SAC) got a big dose of history from the speakers at its 40th anniversary celebration July 14.

Guest of honor Chancellor Mark Nordenberg spun a narrative dating back to SAC’s founding year.

Chancellor Mark Nordenberg, left, receives an award from Monika Losagio, chair of the Staff Association Council’s salary and job classification committee, at SAC’s 40th anniversary celebration luncheon July 14. Nordenberg was the event’s keynote speaker.

Chancellor Mark Nordenberg, left, receives an award from Monika Losagio, chair of the Staff Association Council’s salary and job classification committee, at SAC’s 40th anniversary celebration luncheon July 14.

“Our University in 1970 was an institution in transition. It fact it might be said that Pitt, though it already was 183 years old, was moving into its modern period, growing into the University that we know today,” Nordenberg said.

Pitt had been a state-related university for fewer than five years when SAC was founded, he noted. “Among other things, the dramatic infusion of state funds allowed us to dramatically decrease in-state tuition. The dramatic acceleration of federal research funding was in its very early stages in 1970. Today, of course, that is our single largest source of revenue by far, a funding stream that is an acknowledged sign of institutional strength, that fuels pioneering work and that supports large numbers of local jobs, on and off campus,” Nordenberg said.

The regional campuses in Bradford, Greensburg and Titusville, then two-year schools, were only six years into their existence in 1970. Pitt-Johnstown, founded in 1927, had recently moved to its current campus location.

“The construction of the still relatively new Litchfield Towers was the most visible sign of the ongoing transformation of this campus from a commuter college to a more residential center of learning,” Nordenberg said. “And in 1970, the University was still dealing with protests, taking a range of different forms that focused on racial equality, women’s rights and the war in Vietnam. Those activities not only shaped the larger society but I think had an enduring impact on the campus culture,” he said.

Nordenberg, who came to Pitt in 1977 as a law school faculty member, said he learned respect for the staff in his home school right from the get-go. After he became interim chancellor in 1995, that respect expanded due to his dealings with SAC, he said.

“My first meaningful connection to SAC came in 1994 when Brian Hart served as the staff representative to a search committee scouring the country for a worthy successor to Tom Detre as the senior vice chancellor for the Health Sciences, a committee that I chaired,” Nordenberg recounted.

“The following year, Brian became president of SAC and I became the interim chancellor, and that really was the beginning of an unbroken streak of entirely constructive relationships with your organization.”

Nordenberg said that, partly as a result of staff support, Pitt has become a leading public research university that ranks fifth in the amount of research funding attracted from the National Institutes of Health, and in the top 10 American universities in total federal science and education research development support.

Pitt’s student body also has improved steadily since the 1970s, he said.

“We’ve become a magnet for hard-working, high-achieving students from this region and from far more distant locations,” Nordenberg said.

“Our four regional campuses now are mature and accomplished academic units in their own right, making important contributions, in particular, to our mission of delivering high-quality undergraduate education.”

In addition, Pitt sits in the heart of the so-called ‘eds and meds’ sector, which plays an increasingly important role in the regional economy of the 21st century, and is the only sector that has added jobs in the region every year since 1995, the chancellor noted.

“We have crafted this record of progress in the face of some daunting challenges,” he said.

In the past year alone those challenges included the governor’s thwarted attempt to reclassify Pitt, Penn State and Temple as non-public institutions; the mayor’s proposed tuition tax, also defeated, and the protracted legislative delay in receiving the commonwealth’s fiscal year 2010 appropriation.

“Of course, maintaining our momentum did require collective sacrifice, particularly on the compensation front, which I know has been painful for everyone,” the chancellor acknowledged.

“But if you look at the toll this great recession has taken, in many great universities and in many other fine and presumably strong organizations, we have done quite well in terms of maintaining program quality and by functioning, ultimately, as an anti-recessionary force within the communities that are our homes,” Nordenberg said.

“I marvel every day at the importance of work that [staff] do here,” he said.

“Pitt is a very special place, and it is such a special place in no small part because of you. So, I thank you from the bottom of my heart and congratulate you on your 40th anniversary. Let me say very directly how proud I am that for 15 of those 40 years it has been my privilege to work with SAC and its leadership in my role as chancellor.”

Long-time SAC member Steve Zupcic, who appeared at the July 14 event via videotape, said: “A few months ago in preparation for this event, we went over back issues of the University Times and I discovered that I am one of the few surviving members of SAC’s founding organization who remains with the Staff Association Council today.”

Reflecting on his many years of service on SAC, Zupcic said, “Over the years we made it clear that we were not in the business of organizing a labor union or an association of dissidents. Over the years we proved not to be proponents of anti-intellectualism. And over the years we earned the respect of faculty and senior staff of our University.”

He said SAC’s efforts to improve working conditions and address staff concerns made him proud of his long-standing membership.

“I’m proud of the leadership of the Staff Association Council,” Zupcic said. “Most particularly, I am proud of the leadership of past president Jo Rosol, to whom we dedicate today’s program. She provided elegant guidance during some of our University’s most challenging days. And I am proud of our accomplishments,” as evidenced by the timeline distributed at the 40th anniversary event.

Zupcic also praised the recent influx of many new, mostly younger SAC members, a development that he said promises to provide new ideas in the days to come.

Libby Hilf, who chairs the SAC marketing and communications committee, said: “What does the future hold for our organization? We can’t know. But, let me turn to a few things that I’m certain will be part of our future.

“Our members will continue to possess skills and talents that make us a strong organization: analytical thinking and the ability to problem-solve. Each member will continue to contribute,” making SAC a diverse group that can provide different experiences and represent numerous points of view, Hilf said. “They will serve as examples of how collaboration, along with creative thinking and determination, allow the [SAC] committees to thrive.” Thus, the council will continue to provide an environment where new ideas flourish, she said.

“Lastly, working with the administration, we will continue to partner together to create the best working environment for staff at the University of Pittsburgh. The Staff Association Council will continue to make an impact that can and will be celebrated for years to come.”

Other invited University officials in attendance included Ron Frisch, associate vice chancellor for Human Resources; Paul Supowitz, vice chancellor for Governmental Relations; John Wilds, assistant vice chancellor for Community Relations and former head of Human Resources, and campus police Officer Ron Bennett.

At the 40th anniversary luncheon, SAC presented awards to Nordenberg and past presidents of the staff council, Raymond Clark, Brian Hart, Barbara Mowery and Rich Colwell, as well as to current president Gwen Watkins, for their service regarding staff concerns.

The 40th anniversary event was dedicated to the late Joanne M. Rosol, who was elected to SAC membership in 1984 and served as SAC president from 1988 to 1992. (Rosol’s obituary appeared in the June 26, 2008, University Times.)

SAC’s 40th anniversary luncheon was held July 14 in the William Pitt Union.

SAC’s 40th anniversary luncheon was held July 14 in the William Pitt Union.

The Staff Association Council (SAC) distributed a timeline of its accomplishments with highlights of its history at the 40th anniversary celebration July 14.

Monica Costlow, a member of SAC’s program and planning committee, which organized the event, said: “The timeline you’re presented with today showcases the magnitude of SAC’s accomplishments at Pitt. As you can see, starting with its formation in 1970, SAC has been a force behind change. Among the important accomplishments are disability insurance expansion, payment of accrued sick leave, the staff recognition program and the ever-popular Pitt Kennywood Day. Yes, I did go through all 40 years of the University Times,” to create this timeline, she added.

Among the accomplishments SAC cited were:

1970s

Tuition benefits are increased; staff grievance policies and procedures are added to the staff handbook (1974).

A life insurance plan is made available to staff (1977).

The employment and transfer program is created; CPR classes are offered (1979).

1980s

Pitt ID cards are made available to staff family members (1980).

The first SAC newsletter is published (1981).

Pre-retirement planning is offered to employees 55 and older (1982).

The Faculty and Staff Assistance Program is created (1983).

The University Child Development Center opens (1984).

The Vanguard pension plan is made available; library privileges are extended to staff family members (1985).

A wellness program is developed (1986).

1990s

The first internal blood drive is organized; the first Pitt Pirates Day is sponsored (1992).

Select benefits are extended to employees’ domestic partners (1993).

An early retirement plan is developed (1994).

The first Chancellor’s Awards for Staff Excellence are presented (1997).

2000s

A short-term disability policy goes into effect (2000).

The Endowed Book Fund for Children of Staff is established (2001).

Long-term care insurance is offered (2002).

Health benefits are extended to domestic partners of employees (2004).

Prescription delivery services from Falk Pharmacy are offered (2006).

The re-employment policy is modified (2008).

SAC launches its electronic newsletter (2009).

—Peter Hart


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