Editor's notes:Editor's notes:
TITLE: About This Guide, Volume I of Carnegie Mellon's Staff Handbook: A Human Resources Guide
DATE OF ISSUANCE: The staff handbook was most recently revised effective July 1, 2007.
ACCOUNTABLE DEPARTMENT/UNIT: Human Resources. Questions on policy content should be directed to Barbara Smith, Associate Vice President for Human Resources, x8-4747.
For the remainder of the handbook, see:
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In This Section
The Staff Handbook: A Human Resources Guide is applicable to all staff employees of the university except those working in California, for whom there is a California version. This handbook is intended to apply to all other staff of the university wherever located, except to the extent that the provisions of the handbook conflict with local law. This handbook does not apply to faculty or students.
This guide addresses many employment situations and is designed to give you an understanding of Carnegie Mellon's employment practices and procedures. All of these practices and procedures are stated with the understanding that, consistent with Pennsylvania law, and absent a written employment agreement to the contrary, you are hired on an "at will" basis, and either you or the university are free to discontinue your employment at any time.
The practices and procedures stated in the Staff Handbook: A Human Resources Guide will change from time to time. Revisions to this guide will be issued periodically as changes occur.
Carnegie Mellon has rapidly evolved into an internationally recognized institution with a distinctive mix of world-class educational and research programs in computer science, robotics, engineering, the sciences, business, public policy, fine arts and the humanities.
More than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students at Carnegie Mellon receive an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions to solve real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. A small student-to-faculty ratio provides an opportunity for close interaction between students and professors.
President Jared L. Cohon, university president since 1997, is leading implementation of a comprehensive strategic plan that aims to leverage the university’s existing strengths to benefit society in the areas of biotechnology, information and security technology, environmental science and practices, the fine arts and humanities.
The university also is committed to broadening and enhancing undergraduate education to allow students to explore various disciplines while maintaining a core focus in their primary area of study. Realizing that today’s graduates must understand international issues, Carnegie Mellon is committed to providing a global education for its students and is striving to expand its international offerings to increase its presence on a global scale. Increasing diversity in all aspects and fostering the economic development of southwestern Pennsylvania are also top priorities.
Carnegie Mellon’s schools and specialty programs in computer science, engineering, business, public policy, science, the arts and the humanities are consistently ranked among the best in the country by national publications such as U.S. News & World Report magazine, Business Week magazine and the Wall Street Journal. Carnegie Mellon’s unique mix of strengths in technology, business, public policy and the arts is distinctive among national research universities. The university’s fine arts programs are world renowned. Its School of Drama has produced many well-known, award-winning stars of stage and screen since it granted the first degree in drama in 1917.
The university consists of seven colleges and schools: The Carnegie Institute of Technology (engineering), the College of Fine Arts, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Mellon College of Science, the Tepper School of Business, the School of Computer Science and the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management. In addition to the Pittsburgh campus, Carnegie Mellon has a West Coast campus, offering master’s programs in software engineering in California’s Silicon Valley, and an undergraduate campus in the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar. Carnegie Mellon also has educational partnerships in Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and Australia.
Carnegie Mellon is one of the most technologically sophisticated campuses in the world. When it introduced its “Andrew” computing network in the mid-1980s, it pioneered educational applications of technology. The “Wireless Andrew” system, developed in the mid-1990s, covers the entire 140-acre campus. Today, Carnegie Mellon is among the “Most Connected Campuses,” according to the Princeton Review’s survey of colleges and universities offering the most cutting-edge technology.
Industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie founded the Carnegie Technical Schools in 1900 for the sons and daughters of Pittsburgh blue-collar workers. The institution became the degree-granting Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1912; and in 1967, Carnegie Tech merged with Mellon Institute to become Carnegie Mellon University.
The core values that Carnegie instilled in the Carnegie Technical Schools more than 100 years ago – problem solving, collaboration and innovation – continue to drive the university today.
INTRODUCTION
The story of Carnegie Mellon University is unique and remarkable. After its founding in 1900 as the Carnegie Technical Schools, serving the young men and women of the Pittsburgh area, it quickly became the degree-granting Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1912. “Carnegie Tech,” as it was known, merged with the Mellon Institute to become Carnegie Mellon University in 1967. Carnegie Mellon has since soared to national and international leadership in higher education—and it continues to be known for solving real-world problems, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation.
The story of the university’s famous founder—Andrew Carnegie—is also remarkable. A self-described “working-boy” with an “intense longing” for books, Andrew Carnegie immigrated from Scotland with his family in 1848 and settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He became a self-educated entrepreneur, whose Carnegie Steel Company grew to be the world’s largest producer of steel by the end of the nineteenth century.
On November 15, 1900, Andrew Carnegie formally announced: “For many years I have nursed the pleasing thought that I might be the fortunate giver of a Technical Institute to our City, fashioned upon the best models, for I know of no institution which Pittsburgh, as an industrial centre, so much needs.” He concluded with the words “My heart is in the work,” which would become part of the school’s official seal, designed by Tiffany and adopted in May 1912.
The Mellon family of Pittsburgh and its foundations later became strong and visionary supporters of Carnegie Tech and Carnegie Mellon. Thousands of faculty and staff, students and alumni, corporations, foundations and friends have joined this great educational venture. Carnegie Mellon would not be Carnegie Mellon without their vision, service and commitment.
PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATIONS
CARNEGIE MELLON HISTORY
Andrew Carnegie chose Arthur Hamerschlag to head the Carnegie Technical Schools because of his fine reputation in trade schools in New York. Mr. Hamerschlag supervised the construction of buildings designed by architect Henry Hornbostel. He administered the original schools: the School of Science and Technology, the School of Fine and Applied Arts, the School for Apprentices and Journeymen, and the Margaret Morrison Carnegie School for Women, which was named for Andrew Carnegie’s mother.
President Hamerschlag led the school to bachelor’s degree status and a new name, the Carnegie Institute of Technology, in 1912. Carnegie Tech’s first master’s degrees (in architecture and physics) were granted in 1914, and its first doctoral degree (in engineering) was completed at the end of 1919 and conferred in June 1920. Tech granted the first undergraduate degree in drama in the United States in 1917. Carnegie Mellon’s research tradition also began under President Hamerschlag, with the founding in 1916 of the Division of Applied Psychology.
At the beginning of Dr. Thomas Baker’s administration, it was finally possible for a landscape architect to replace the mud of constant construction with lawns and trees. An open-air theater and stone shelter for streetcar commuters were built, and the class of 1923 erected the Senior Fence. Night school enrollment continued to rise because of the president’s outreach to local companies.
President Baker was a strong advocate of research in pure and applied science, supporting the establishment of research laboratories for metals, coal, chemistry and physics, and organizing three international conferences on bituminous coal. With a background in university and preparatory school teaching, Dr. Baker emphasized the importance of instruction in English throughout the curriculum.
Robert Doherty, an electrical engineer with a corporate background, also believed in the need for a broader education for engineers. President Doherty developed a new kind of education, which started a revolution at Carnegie Tech and across the nation. It became known as “liberal/professional education” and as “the Carnegie Plan” for its origin at Carnegie Tech. Under the Carnegie Plan, students were taught to think independently and to become problem solvers in their science and engineering courses; one-fourth of their courses were required to be in the humanities and social sciences and these courses also emphasized problem solving.
Research and a commitment to the development of the local region were major emphases of President Doherty. Government-funded research grew out of World War II, including the Nuclear Research Center, which Tech operated until 1969. President Doherty was a driving force in the Pittsburgh Renaissance and joined Richard King Mellon’s initiative to form the Allegheny Conference on Community Development in 1943, serving as its first chairman.
William Larimer Mellon, then chairman of Gulf Oil, offered President Doherty an endowment to found a business school to provide interdisciplinary education, which Mr. Mellon believed was needed by managers in local corporations and not available elsewhere. His foundation endowed the Graduate School of Industrial Administration (GSIA), which opened in 1949 and was named the Tepper School of Business in 2004.
Dr. John Warner, a Carnegie Tech chemistry professor and dean of graduate studies, became president in 1950 and led the school during its mid-century “golden period.” Hunt Library, the Scaife Hall of Engineering and the GSIA building were constructed. The industrial administration programs grew rapidly, fostering research and adding undergraduate business, doctoral and executive education programs to the master’s program.
Before computer science had a name, GSIA professor Herbert Simon and doctoral student (and later Carnegie Tech professor) Allen Newell “created a thinking machine” in December 1955. During several preceding years, Carnegie Tech had been discussing the possibility of a program in this new field; and in 1956, GSIA and the psychology, electrical engineering and mathematics departments established the Computation Center. In 1958, the Center began offering the first programming course in the nation for freshmen, and it was immediately popular.
Computing became part of both research and coursework throughout Carnegie Tech during the Warner years. By 1965, Tech was rated with MIT and Stanford as having the best computing programs.
The administration of President Guyford Stever, a scientist and former MIT administrator, brought major changes for Tech, including further development of computer science. Building on a decade of computing research and teaching, and generously funded by Richard King Mellon and Constance Mellon, the Department of Computer Science was formally created in 1965 to offer a Ph.D. program.
The year 1967 was transformative in the university’s history: Carnegie Mellon University was created by the merger of Carnegie Institute of Technology and the Mellon Institute, the nation’s first major research institute. Founded in 1913 in Pittsburgh by Andrew W. and Richard B. Mellon, the Mellon Institute in the 1960s focused on both basic and applied research.
The School for Urban and Public Affairs opened in 1968 (and was re-named the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management in 1992). Also funded by Richard King and Constance Mellon, the school grew out of the couples’ interest in addressing the problems of cities.
In 1969, the forerunner of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences opened as a coeducational, liberal arts college. Later that year, the decision to phase out the women’s college, Margaret Morrison Carnegie College, was made and the last class graduated in 1973. In 1970, the College of Engineering and Science was divided into the Carnegie Institute of Technology (engineering) and the Mellon College of Science.
President Richard Cyert’s vision for Carnegie Mellon would catapult the university to remarkable growth in strategic research areas as well as an excellent national reputation. An economist, behavioral scientist and former dean of GSIA, President Cyert initiated strategic planning and the concept of focusing on fields in which the university’s strengths would give it a comparative advantage among universities.
In 1988, the computer science department in the Mellon College of Science became the School of Computer Science. With Dr. Cyert’s leadership, the Robotics Institute, Software Engineering Institute, and Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center were established.
Dr. Cyert believed that another innovation, the “Andrew” computing network, would be “perhaps the most significant development in higher education in the twentieth century.” The Andrew network, developed at the university and named after Andrew Carnegie and Andrew Mellon, linked all the thousands of computers on campus to make Carnegie Mellon the first university to have a completely wired campus.
President Robert Mehrabian, an internationally recognized materials scientist, led a university-wide strategic planning process and focused Carnegie Mellon on revitalizing undergraduate education. A vice provost for education was named to focus on undergraduate education and student life, curricula were revised, and the Undergraduate Research Initiative was established and is now a hallmark of Carnegie Mellon education. These initiatives in undergraduate education were later recognized by the Higher Education Research Institute.
During Dr. Mehrabian’s presidency, the “Wireless Andrew” system was developed in the mid-1990s, building on the university’s wired network infrastructure and giving students, faculty and staff increased freedom to learn and connect anywhere on campus. Also central to campus life, the University Center was constructed as part of President Mehrabian’s major building program and provides fitness, dining and meeting facilities, a career center, post office, interdenominational chapel, bookstore, and art and computer stores.
Carnegie Mellon’s current president, Jared Cohon, a leading authority on environmental and water resource systems analysis, came to Carnegie Mellon in 1997 from Yale University where he was dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. During his administration, the university has constructed the nation’s first “green” dormitory as well as a “living roof” on Hamerschlag Hall. The Cohon administration is also known for increasing Carnegie Mellon’s engagement with the world by nurturing diversity within the university community and through research and educational partnerships in the Middle East, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and several U.S. cities.
Computer science has continued to flourish under Dr. Cohon. The Gates Complex for Computer Science is under construction and will help Carnegie Mellon continue to transform the field of computer science. A West Coast campus, founded in 2002 in California’s Silicon Valley, offers master’s degrees to computer professionals. A campus in Doha, Qatar, offers undergraduate computer science and business degrees. Partnerships in Athens, Greece, in Seoul, Korea and in Kobe, Japan, are teaching the latest in information technology and software engineering.
Among recent additions to the university are a Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Purnell Center for the Arts, which is home to the drama school. The Collaborative Innovation Center leases laboratory space to high-tech companies to foster easy collaboration between company and university researchers, with the goal of making research breakthroughs available to society more quickly.
The Cohon administration will also be remembered for milestones: the Carnegie Mellon Centennial (2000), the College of Fine Arts Centennial (2005), the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Centennial (2006), the Margaret Morrison Carnegie College Centennial (2006), the Computer Science fiftieth anniversary celebration (2006), and more to come. Their reviews of the past and showcases of the present point to remarkable opportunities for the future of Carnegie Mellon.
It is the goal of Human Resources to provide the highest quality consulting, tools, products and services to the managers and employees of Carnegie Mellon in support of the goals of the university. Human Resources' mission is to:
For more information about the services Human Resources provides, go to the Human Resources web site, which includes information about benefits, learning and development, and job opportunities.
It is the policy of Carnegie Mellon to take affirmative action to enhance the diversity of our administration, faculty, staff, and student body. The policy supports the university's strategic plan to achieve excellence and recognition in teaching and research by developing and using the full range of human talent.
Carnegie Mellon is committed to promoting diversity initiatives that attract qualified candidates who are minority, female or disabled. Furthermore, the university is committed to:
The university is committed to basing its employment decisions on the principle of equal employment opportunity and to ensuring that all personnel actions, including, but not limited to, recruitment, hiring, training, promotion, compensation, benefits, employment transfer, layoff, and social and recreational programs are administered in accordance with the university's commitments to non-discrimination, equal employment and affirmative action.
The administration of Carnegie Mellon's equal employment and affirmative action policies is a shared responsibility. The president of the university oversees Carnegie Mellon's affirmative action program. The provost, vice presidents, deans, department heads and hiring supervisors support the president in maintaining the importance of affirmative action as a critical component of university operations. The director of equal opportunity services coordinates and implements policies and programs, monitors the university's efforts in these areas and reports results, and handles or refers complaints to appropriate university contact points. The broad-based, decentralized efforts of the campus community are key to meeting the university's equal employment opportunity and affirmative action commitments.
Through administration of these equal employment opportunity and affirmative action policies, the university intends to ensure that all people are included in the diversity that strengthens Carnegie Mellon in its pursuit of excellence.
Carnegie Mellon University is committed to maintaining a learning and work environment free from sexual harassment. Carnegie Mellon is dedicated to the free exchange of ideas and the intellectual development of all members of its community. For this exchange and development to take place freely, the institution promotes the confidence to work, to study, to innovate and to perform without fear of harassment.
Sexual harassment is specifically prohibited by Carnegie Mellon University. The definition of sexual harassment as formulated by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has been adapted for our educational environment. The adapted EEOC definition is: any unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when:
The free expression of ideas being essential to the mission of the university, discourse conducted in accordance with the University Policy on Free Speech and Assembly and with the statement on Academic Freedom and Responsibility enunciated in the Appointment and Tenure Policy of Carnegie Mellon University, whether in written, spoken or electronic forms, will not be regarded as creating an offensive work environment for the purposes of this definition.
Under federal, state and local legislation, employers have an affirmative duty to address the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace; to devise and adopt appropriate procedures for maintaining a working atmosphere free of sexual coercion or intimidation; and to investigate claims of sexual harassment.
The present policy (herein referred to as this Policy) is intended to implement the cited mandate. All members of the university community are expected to take reasonable measures to prevent and discourage any sexual harassment from occurring; prevention should, in particular, be a guiding concern for all involved in any proceedings under this Policy. Any faculty member, student, or staff employee found to have violated this Policy by engaging in conduct constituting sexual harassment will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action, which may include dismissal, expulsion, or termination in sufficiently serious cases.
In support of its commitment to maintain an environment that is free of sexual harassment, the university makes sexual harassment advising as widely available as possible. To that end, the university assigns special responsibility to the persons on its Panel of Sexual Harassment Advisors. The university also provides multiple avenues, both formal and informal, for addressing incidents of sexual harassment. Informal resolution may involve the assistance of sexual harassment advisors, supervisors or other administrators.
No person will be reprimanded or retaliated against in any way for initiating an inquiry or lodging a complaint in good faith regarding sexual harassment; any conduct constituting such a reprimand or retaliation is a violation of this Policy and is equally subject to disciplinary action under it. Any person subjected to conduct perceived as a reprimand or retaliation for initiating an inquiry or lodging a complaint in good faith regarding sexual harassment should promptly report all relevant information to one of the sexual harassment policy coordinators (the administrators charged with the supervision of all matters relating to sexual harassment). The university is also committed to protecting the rights of any person against whom an allegation of sexual harassment is made.
Human Resources has produced an online program called " Preventing Sexual Harassment" to increase awareness and understanding of potentially offensive behaviors, to foster an atmosphere of respect and professionalism, and to set the tone and expectation that sexually-harassing behavior will not be tolerated.
This computer-based training program explains the different forms that sexual harassment can take and university and individual legal obligations, and provides practical guidance on how to determine if an action could be construed as harassing. It can be accessed from the Quicklinks on the Human Resources home page. All Carnegie Mellon staff are expected to complete this training program.
The sexual harassment hotline at (412) 268-4747 is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
6B. Sexual Harassment Policy Coordinators
The following is a summary of the principles that shall govern all procedures under this Policy, to the extent permitted by law.
6D. Sexual Harassment Advisors
Trained advisors are available to talk with members of the university community who have questions or concerns about sexual harassment. The Sexual Harassment Advisors can also provide information about established guidelines and procedures for dealing with issues of sexual harassment and its prevention, and will help individuals pursue effective courses of action.
In the exercise of their functions, the sexual harassment advisors will maintain the greatest degree of confidentiality consistent with their responsibilities as university representatives.
A current list of sexual harassment advisors can be found on the policy website.
6E. Responsibility of Supervisors
Supervisors are responsible for maintaining an environment that is free of sexual harassment. A supervisor observing any conduct that appears to constitute sexual harassment, or receiving a report of such conduct, is required to proceed as follows:
Note: For the purposes of this Policy, the term supervisor denotes a university employee who has been given the authority to evaluate, direct, reward or discipline one or more other employees and/or students, or to effectively recommend such action.
Any member of the university community, whether faculty member, student or staff member, who believes she or he has been subjected to sexual harassment or knows of the occurrence of probable sexual harassment is strongly urged to immediately contact one of the sexual harassment advisors or policy coordinators directly or with the help of the sexual harassment hotline. Because of the sensitivity of sexual harassment issues, an advisor will then promptly endeavor to thoroughly review the matter with the person making the allegations to determine whether sexual harassment appears to have occurred, and proceed, in consultation with the person having brought the matter to the advisor and a sexual harassment policy coordinator, to take or recommend appropriate action. Such action may be, for example, obtaining an informal agreement to stop the harassment, or reporting the action to an appropriate supervisor. All reviews conducted with the assistance of a sexual harassment advisor will be designed to consider the privacy of all parties concerned and to minimize suspicion toward any of them.
Note: This Policy places great importance on the success of supervisors in taking early, effective action in response to reports of sexual harassment concerns. The Policy works best when supervisors are informed and can act to alert members of Carnegie Mellon University to alter behaviors that may otherwise evolve into sexual harassment.
A person who believes that she or he has been subjected to sexual harassment may choose, either initially or after having sought a resolution through consultation with a sexual harassment advisor and/or through a report to a supervisor, to lodge a formal complaint. A formal complaint must be lodged no later than one year after the most recent conduct alleged in the complaint to constitute sexual harassment. The lodging and processing of a complaint does not preclude the possibility of an informal resolution of the matter.
Anyone considering lodging a formal complaint is required to contact a sexual harassment advisor for advice. Merely discussing an intended complaint with an advisor does not commit one to actually lodging the formal complaint.
The procedures devised for the handling and disposition of a complaint are designed to consider the privacy of all persons involved in the complaint. Every effort is to be made to preserve confidentiality to the extent compatible with fairness and with the constraints of the law.
Appropriate sanctions will be imposed for violation of this Policy, regardless of whether there has been a formal complaint. The sanctions will depend on the circumstances and the gravity of the violation, and may range from reprimand to dismissal, expulsion or termination.
The decision to impose sanctions and the procedure for imposing them shall conform: in the case of a member of the regular, research or special faculty or a lecturer-track appointee, to the provisions of the section on Dismissal for Cause and Other Sanctions of the Appointment and Tenure Policy of Carnegie Mellon University (except that action regarding such a person's administrative appointments is at the discretion of the president); in the case of a student, whether undergraduate, graduate or special, to the provisions in the section on Discipline in the Student Handbook; in the case of a staff member, to the provisions in the section on Staff Relations in the Staff Handbook, unless superseded by the provisions of an applicable collective bargaining agreement.
This is an excerpt from Carnegie Mellon’s policy against sexual harassment. For the complete policy, refer to the policy web site.