More names keep getting added to the University Times’ list of staff who took the voluntary early retirement package at the end of September, including another person with more than 50 years at Pitt.
Carole Bost began working at the School of Education on May 2, 1966, as administrator in the school’s old business education department and retired after 54 years as the school’s director of financial operations.
When she started, all offices and classrooms were located in the Cathedral of Learning. Paperwork was processed on typewriters and mimeograph machines. There was no email. The internet was still a prototype. The University’s dress code required women employees to wear dresses or skirts. Pants were prohibited. Her starting pay was just under $300 a month.
“It is extremely rare to have a staff member work in the same school or unit at one university for over 54 years, but Carole Bost did, and she did it fabulously,” Dean Valerie Kinloch said in an article on the School of Education website.
“I have a real love for the School of Education and the people in it,” Bost said in the same article. “Here I am as a senior citizen, and I started working here as a teenager. It’s always been about Pitt for me and my family.”
Overall, 453 staff members out of 840 who were eligible took the early retirement package. The program was available to any staff member 59 or older as of May 1, 2020, with 10 years of continuous service as a full-time regular employee. See the Oct. 23 University Times for other retirees.
The names were provided by each department. Any departments or units that did not submit lists, but would like to, can send them to utimes@pitt.edu. Please include name, years of service and job title.
FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
Scott Arthur (14 years), senior manager financial services
Pat Bigley (20 years), senior manager, Maintenance & Emergency Service
Sandy Grissom (14 years), custodial services supervisor
Phil Hieber (40 years), senior facility manager
Bill Minsinger (12 years), energy management system coordinator
Chris Niemann (19 years), senior manager project management
Judy Camarda (15 years), payroll specialist
OFFICE OF THE SENIOR VICE CHANCELLOR FOR ENGAGEMENT
Charles Dinsmore, Office of University Communications and Marketing
Donald Henderson, photographer, Office of University Communications and Marketing
Kimberly Honath, Office of the Secretary
Nancy James, Office of Diversity and Inclusion
Charlene Kumar, Office of Community and Government Relations
Graham Park, Academic Ceremonies and University Events
MaryBeth Vasko, Academic Ceremonies and University Events
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
Carole Bost (54 years), director of Financial Operations
Diane Casile-Gross (17 years), Obesity and Nutrition Research Center administrator
Rebecca Leah Danchenko (36 years), outcomes assessor
Ann Flaherty (28 years), behavioral health liaison
Terry McCoy (13 years), project coordinator
Donna Priore (23 years), admissions coordinator
Linda Semler (17 years), senior research manager
Deborah Smail (19 years), financial administrator
Jacqueline Ann Wesche-Thobaben (20 years), nurse practitioner
— Susan Jones
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