University Times

Welcome to the first of this year’s Senate Matters columns. The University Senate does matter, and this column is a way for the campus community to learn more about its activities.

One of my duties as vice president of Senate Council is to edit this column and solicit contributions for it. In past years, we have had regular columns from the Senate president discussing what Senate Council and Faculty Assembly have been doing. Columns from chairs or members of the standing committees have discussed issues they were addressing, including faculty salaries (from budget policies), health benefits (from benefits and welfare), student alcohol use (from the student affairs committee) and campus support for sexual minorities (from anti-discriminatory policies).

Senate Matters columns also discuss issues raised in the fall or spring plenary sessions; expect one soon on this fall’s plenary session on quality of life issues in Oakland. And individual faculty members also have contributed columns, on issues ranging from the proposed Faculty Club to campus sustainability efforts and conflict-of-interest policies.

A link to past Senate Matters columns in the University Times soon will be available on the Senate’s web site, http://www.pitt.edu/univsenate/universitysenate.html.

I’d welcome your comments and suggestions for future columns. You can contact me at sbhansen@pitt.edu, or phone 412/648-7272. I look forward to hearing from University Times readers.

Susan B. Hansen