Briefly Noted

UPMC Health Plan Offers Free Flu Shot Clinic on Campus

UPMC Health Plan is offering free flu shots to members who are University of Pittsburgh faculty, staff, or graduate students.

Shots are available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 12 in Room 540 Bridgeside Point; from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 16 in Room 341 Craig Hall; from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 27 in Room 500 Medical Arts Building; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 27 in Posvar Hall’s Galleria; and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 16, in the William Pitt Union’s Dining Room B.

Faculty, staff, and graduate students are required to show their UPMC Health Plan ID cards. UPMC Health Plan members may also receive free flu shots by visiting their own health care providers or by visiting a designated community location, which can be found by visiting www.dsf.health.state.pa.us/health or by calling the Pennsylvania Department of Health at 1-877-724-3258.

Should the H1N1 vaccine become available, it is a separate shot from the seasonal flu vaccine. Updates on the H1N1 flu can be found at www.upmchealthplan.com.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, those who are most at risk for the flu and flu complications are people six months to 24 years of age, people 50 or older, pregnant women, those with at least one chronic medical condition, people living in a nursing home or other long-term care facility, and those who live or care for any of these people.

—Kristin Shearer

Pitt to Issue New Faculty, Staff, Student ID Cards

University of Pittsburgh students, faculty, and staff will receive new Panther identification cards, which will include computer chips so the cards can be scanned on Pittsburgh Port Authority transit buses.

Faculty, staff, and undergraduate and graduate students will be required to return their old ID cards to receive new ones. The new ID cards will be preprinted, so new photos will not be required unless Panther Central does not have a photo on file. Any Pitt students or employees who do not have their old IDs will be charged a $20 lost-card fee to receive their new IDs.

Faculty, staff, and graduate students will receive the new ID cards from their department administrators.

Undergraduate students may pick up their new cards in Posvar Hall Galleria on their assigned days, which are determined by the first letter of students’ last names. The new cards will be available between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays from Nov. 2 to Nov. 13, according to Jessica Larson, Panther Central manager. Students graduating in December 2009 or May 2010 do not need new IDs and can keep their current cards. Students who have lost their IDs can go to Posvar Hall on their scheduled day or to Panther Central.

The schedule for students to pick up their new ID cards at Posvar Hall Galleria is Nov. 2, letters A and B; Nov. 3, letters C and D; Nov. 4, letters E, F, and G; Nov. 5, letters H, I, and J; Nov. 6, letters K and L; Nov. 9, letters M and N; Nov. 10, letters O, P, Q, and R; Nov. 11, letter S; Nov. 12, letters T, U, V, and W; and Nov. 13, letters X, Y, and Z.

—Kristin Shearer

Pitt Plans Conference On Benefits of Bariatric Procedures

The long-term health benefits of surgical weight loss procedures will be the focus of the conference Bariatric Surgery: Weight Loss, Metabolic Adaptations, and Physical Activity Considerations, beginning at 12:30 p.m.

Oct. 15 in Ballroom B of Pitt’s University Club. The event is sponsored by Pitt’s Department of Health and Physical Activity and the Obesity and Nutrition Research Center.

The conference will include a series of lectures about the physical and psychological issues underlying bariatric procedures. Featured speakers will include Anita Courcoulas, director of the Division of Minimally Invasive Bariatric and General Surgery at Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC; Joseph Houmard, director of East Carolina University’s Human Performance Laboratory; and Dale Bond, a professor in Brown University School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior.

The event also will feature a panel discussion titled “Future Scientific and Clinical Opportunities,” which will be moderated by John Jakicic, professor and chair in Pitt’s Department of Health and Physical Activity, and Bret H. Goodpaster, a professor in Pitt’s Department of Medicine.

The event is free and open to the public, and refreshments will be served. Registration is required. For more information or to RSVP, contact Diane Casile at 412-488-1059.

—Anthony M. Moore

Pitt’s Teaching Excellence Showcase Set for Oct. 21

The University of Pittsburgh will hold its annual Teaching Excellence Showcase from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 21 in Alumni Hall’s J.W. Connolly Ballroom.

Sponsored by the Provost’s Advisory Council on Instructional Excellence and coordinated by Pitt’s Center for Instructional Development and Distance Education (CIDDE), the fair celebrates faculty initiatives and innovations related to teaching and the use of instructional technology.

Recipients of the 2008-09 Innovation in Education grant awards will present their prize-winning teaching projects. Also featured will be small-group discussions on teaching and learning facilitated by faculty who have been recognized for their teaching excellence. Throughout the day, information sessions will be held on a variety of such teaching-related topics as motivating students and developing a teaching portfolio. For more information and to register, visit CIDDE’s Web site at www.cidde.pitt.edu, or contact Michelle Lane-Ogden at mlane@pitt.edu or 412-383-9729.

—Joanne M. Nicoll