Skip to Navigation
University of Pittsburgh
Print This Page Print this pages

June 14, 2001

Human Resources shares as much information as possible, staff council representatives told

The head of the Office of Human Resources (HR) acknowledged that his department had been overly secretive in the past, but insisted that that philosophy had changed dramatically.

"Several years ago, everything in HR was a secret," said Ron Frisch, associate vice chancellor for Human Resources.

Frisch was the featured speaker June 6 at Johnstown during the council of campuses, an annual gathering of elected staff officers from the Pittsburgh and regional campuses.

"We really took great pains in building the original firewall to surround Craig Hall," Frisch said. "We didn't want people to know how we managed different things. A lot of that is that we were trying to bring programs along; there were a lot of people making decisions and not putting a foundation to those decisions. Well, that firewall's been knocked down."

As an example of HR's about-face, Frisch pointed to the range of information now available on the Human Resources web site (www.hr.pitt.edu).

Shelley Prisuta, HR compensation systems analyst, demonstrated some of the features of the recently re-designed web site for the Johnstown assembly, including benefits, compensation and health plan information; job descriptions; job families; salary ranges, and University policies.

Staff council leaders, Frisch said, are bombarded with questions about medical benefits and rates, drug availability and prescriptions. "The best way to get answers is to call the insurance company representatives, but frankly, that's not always the easiest way to get answers," he said. "Our advice is to first reference this site. Many of the questions will be answered right there."

Eventually, the HR web site will replace hard copies for physicians directories, faculty and staff handbooks and other expensive publications, Frisch said. "The open enrollment packets, for instance, literally cost us thousands of dollars to ship out and that's only an internal mailing; printing them is another astronomical fee."

With hyperlink technology, the web site can maintain real-time information, he added.

Frisch offered one caveat to HR's open information policy: "When we don't have all the answers, we don't come forward. It's sometimes a little bit of an awkward situation. We ask that when that happens, you realize that we're not keeping things from you. What we're trying to do is formulate all the 'nuts and bolts' that go into the development of something, whether it's a policy or a benefit or whatever it is, so that when we do come to you we will have the whole package and we will be accurate and precise."

–Peter Hart


Leave a Reply