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June 20, 1996

Staff council elects '96-97 officers

Brian Hart, a staff member in the Office of Computing and Information Services, has been re-elected president of Pitt's Staff Association Council (SAC).

Elected to a second term as vice president of steering at SAC's June 12 meeting was Rich Colwell, a staff member in the School of Engineering.

Carol Kenderes, School of Education, was elected vice president of communications. Kenderes served last year as SAC treasurer. She replaces Susan Selai, Computing and Information Services.

Andrea Loughner, Office of Parking and Transportation, was elected as treasurer.

During the meeting, Hart attacked Pitt's lack of a re-employment policy for staff members who have been laid off and pledged to continue efforts to change the policy.

"Essentially, the University treats its staff who have been severed through work force reduction actions no differently than anybody who applies for a job off the street," Hart said.

The SAC president noted that some laid-off employees, relying on their own connections, are able to find another job at Pitt. Hart and other SAC members feel that laid-off employees should be given preferential treatment when it comes to hiring at the University.

"Quite frankly," Hart said, "I am getting sick and tired of receiving e-mail from people who have found extreme difficulty in getting the University, or some area within the University, to acknowledge that they have been a valuable employee for 16 or 20 years, or even 5 or 10 years, and should get special assistance in finding a new position here at Pitt." Hart noted that many staff members work at Pitt "not because of the wonderful salaries," but because of the atmosphere of the institution and because of the educational opportunities available to them or their children.

He said the University loses a "tremendous wealth of experience" every time a long-term staff member is let go without any effort to find them another position or to re-hire them when a job becomes available.

"There has to be a better way," Hart said. "The executive committee [of SAC] has made it its business to search for every available opportunity for discussion [with the administration] or action regarding better ways to treat our own." According to Hart, SAC's executive committee already has approached Interim Chancellor Mark Nordenberg about the issue and also will bring it to the attention of the new permanent chancellor "as frequently and with as much emphasis as we possibly can." Hart also said that SAC already is discussing suggestions for a transfer policy and re-employment opportunities for laid-off staff with the Office of Human Resources, he added.

At the same time, though, Hart cautioned that there are obstacles. He said previous attempts to change the University's transfer and employment policies to favor laid-off staff have met with resistance from the Council of Deans, many of whose members feel they should be allowed to employ whomever they choose and not be under any obligation to re-hire laid-off staff. "We believe there is a way to resolve this and it is probably not as difficult as many in the University community believe," Hart said.

In other business: * Due to an insufficient number of candidates for the seats available, SAC did not conduct a formal membership election during its June 12 meeting. All candidates who were nominated for membership in SAC were appointed to a seat.

Newly appointed members are Janet Lee Campbell, nursing; Joan Neitznick, medicine; Marilyn Joyce Synder, epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health; Mary Trusso, anesthesiology, and Theresa Wilson, Facilities Management.

Re-appointed members include Theresa Benedek, School of Information Sciences; Terry Rapp, Central Business Services; Rob Shepherd, The Book Center; Babs Mowery, College of Arts and Sciences; Cheryl Valecko, School of Information Sciences, and Gwen Watkins, Urban and Community Services.

Also re-appointed to terms on SAC were Hart and Selai.

* Hart announced that Pitt's four regional campuses will immediately be given seats on the Pittsburgh campus SAC. When the inclusion of regional campus representatives on the Pittsburgh campus SAC was first mentioned several months ago, it was thought that SAC bylaws needed to be changed. A study of the bylaws, though, revealed that a change was not needed.

–Mike Sajna


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