www.unc.edu/staff/forum

InTouchUNC Employee Forum News July 20, 2005 A special section to the University Gazette

HistoryThe Chancellor’s Administrative Council

approved, in the early spring of 1992, the es-tablishment of the Employee Forum for SPA and EPA non-faculty employees. Chancellor Paul Hardin said he was excited to get the Forum going because improving commu-nications among all University groups was a top priority. Laurie Charest, associate vice chancellor for Human Resources and ex-of-ficio member of the Forum, was instrumen-tal in developing the Forum Guidelines and continues in the role of liaison to the Forum, serving as an important resource and advo-cate.

Mission StatementThe University of North Carolina at

Chapel Hill Employee Forum is a group of SPA and EPA non-faculty employees elect-ed by their peers. The Forum’s mission is to address constructively the concerns of University employees by: Seeking out the issues, interests, ideas,

and participation of employees; Developing proactive, progressive recom-

mendations and advocating these recom-mendations to the administration and to represented employees;

Providing an effective two-way commu-nication link between the administration and the employees;

Supporting achievement of the University’s mission of teaching, research and public service.

VisionThe Employee Forum seeks to continually

improve the quality of life at the University for its students, faculty and employees through better understanding and recogni-tion of the value of employee contributions and respect for the worth of the individual.

StructureDelegates are elected to the Forum from

each of nine federal employment classifi-cations (known as divisions) and serve for a period of two years. Forum meetings are held the first working Wednesday of every month from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the Wilson Library assembly room. Forum meetings are considered work time by the University as are Forum committee meetings.

Many committees try to schedule monthly meetings at lunchtime in order to avoid interfering with employees’ regular work schedules. The Forum also schedules two community meetings each year for all University employees and attendance, which is voluntary, is considered work time.

Many delegates are named to University policy-making committees, and the expec-tation is that the employee will clear this service with a supervisor before agreeing to serve.

ABOUT THEFORUM

See About the Forum, page 4

Administrators meet with Forum delegates to address issuesnce a month, Employee Forum officers and about 10 Forum delegates meet with Provost Robert Shelton, Vice Chancellor Nancy Suttenfield and Associate Vice

Chancellor Laurie Charest. The meetings are in-formal but bring about big results.

Delegates bring concerns to the table and are able to speak directly to people with the knowl-edge to answer questions and the power to make things happen.

Each meeting begins with Shelton, Suttenfield and Charest giving updates on issues raised at the previous meeting. In some cases, the admin-istrators share information they’ve gathered in response to questions. Sometimes, they report that an item has been delegated to the appropri-ate director or manager for action or resolved since the previous meeting.

The meeting proceeds in an “around the table” format. Each delegate has a chance to ask for in-formation on University policies, describe a prob-lem on campus or bring up an issue of concern to fellow employees.

Any topic of interest to University employees is open for discussion. Previous topics have in-cluded parking, crosswalk safety concerns, build-ings in need of repair, questions about health insurance, Heels for Health, status of legislative actions on pay raises and the effects of career banding.

These can be problems that individuals have tried to address on their own without results. Sometimes, an attendee simply wants a ques-tion answered by someone in authority. At other times, an individual wants to make the adminis-tration aware of an ongoing situation.

Forum delegate Tom Arnel has seen the value of these monthly meetings first hand. It was at one such meeting that he raised the matter of low salaries paid to him and fellow University li-braries employees. After hearing what he had to say, administrators encouraged him to get more

information. With the help of Human Resources, Arnel discovered statistics that showed his hunch was correct: library employees were earning only about 80 percent of the salaries for which they qualified, and they received smaller in-range in-creases than employees in other departments.

Shelton, Suttenfield and Charest followed through. Their efforts, combined with those of former University Librarian Joe Hewitt, current University Librarian Sarah Michalak and Deputy Librarian Larry Alford, resulted in library employ-

ees receiving pay raises to bring them closer to their qualifying salaries.

They’ve got mailriter’s cramp.

Some employees are feeling the ef-fects after spending hours at informal

meetings addressing postcards to state legisla-tors to express support for pay raises and better health insurance for UNC employees.

In the last year, the Employee Forum passed resolutions advocating that Chancellor James Moeser and the N.C. General Assembly sup-port a pay increase for University employees and the Pilot Health Care Initiative that was recently drafted by UNC system President Molly Broad’s office.

Moeser’s office recently forwarded the health-care resolution to key legislators with a note indicating his support.

“All these issues we’ve tried to make ap-parent to the legislature with our Employee Forum resolutions — they’ve not decided them yet,” Forum Secretary Patty Prentice said. “So with these postcards, we’re reminding them of how we would like them to vote.”

The postcard project, she explained, is an independent effort by Forum members to

promote pay raises for all, while ensuring em-ployees do not effectively lose the raises by having to pay higher health insurance premi-ums — and worse, premiums for coverage that is too often inadequate.

Hundreds of cards have been sent so far,

and more are ready for delivery. The project has been taken up by employees at all 16 UNC system institutions, producing a steady stream of postcards coming from all over the state and filling the “in” boxes of legislative offices throughout the Capitol.

All employees are urged to join this ongo-ing campaign.

“We’ll keep on doing this until the legisla-ture meets and votes on these issues,” said Prentice.

To do your part — either by signing cards or by making a donation to cover the costs of postcards and postage — contact Ernie Patterson, vice chair of the Employee Forum, at 962-2136 (efpatterson@bio.unc.edu). You may also contact Employee Forum Chair Tommy Griffin at 962-1086 (tgriffin@fac.unc.edu).

They will provide postcards with a pre-printed message about pay and health insur-ance issues, a list of all legislators and a pen.

You, however, will have to supply the mus-cle liniment.

O

W

To have a question or concern brought to one of these meetings, speak to a Forum delegate. Minutes of meetings from the past year are posted at the Forum Web site, forum.unc.edu/meetings.htm. (See “Provost/Vice Chancellor Meeting” links).

From left, Provost Robert Shelton and Associate Vice Chancellor Laurie Charest talk with Forum members Peggy Cotton and Rebecca Ashburn.

Postcard campaign draws attention to important employee issues

David Brannigan, left, and Tommy Griffin, center, discuss the finer points of the postcard signing project, while Bradley Bone gets down to business.

2 www.unc.edu/staff/forum

Rogers takes advantage of training opportunitiesBasic Clerical Skills courses offer enrichment to employees

eraldine Rogers has overcome shyness. “You have to,” she said, “in order to work

with the public.” Today, she’s taking advantage of her opportu-

nities and training the University has to offer. Rogers, a postal clerk with Mail Services, is a

recent enrollee in the University’s Basic Clerical Skills program. She’s taking classes in business writing, customer service, resume creation, self-projection and computer skills. With the coop-eration of supervisors Keith Moser and Tommy

Brickhouse, Rogers can take all of these classes as part of her work duties, from 8 to 10 a.m.

“I couldn’t do it without [their] help,” Rogers said. “I’m really grateful for the chance.”

Rogers began with the University as a Tar Heel Temporary five years ago, working at Student Stores and the Nook snack bar as a cashier. Before that, she worked as a cafeteria cook in Research Triangle Park and as a cashier and postal clerk at Pope’s Hardware in Cole Park Plaza. But she knew she had to move on, as “the money wasn’t right.”

Katherine Graves, program assistant with the Department of Maternal and Child Health, re-membered Rogers from her time at the Nook.

“She’s a great person and such a joy to know,” Graves said.

She encouraged Rogers to apply for the University’s new computer loan program.

Rogers won a loaner laptop and subsequently received tutoring in computer use from Campus Y students like undergraduate Will Davis.

Travis Lassiter, Rogers’ co-worker in the Mail Services offices located below the Bioinformatics Building, praised her “good wisdom” and ability to keep others from getting down.

“She smiles a lot, but there’s a lot behind her smile,” Lassiter said.

Rogers can smile because she knows she’s on the way to a better future. A native of Chapel

Hill, she wants to stay with the University and use her office skills.

“I’ve learned a lot,” Rogers said.

G

SECC celebratesrecord giving

Robert Blouin, center, dean of the School of Pharmacy and also Carolina’s chair of the 2004 State Employees Combined Campaign (SECC), cel-ebrates Carolina’s record giving at a Feb. 14 luncheon for volunteers. With him are, from left, Debra Workman, program assistant and Judy Lev, office assistant, both in Family Medicine; Jean Allen, office assistant, Health Policy and Administration; Chris Simms, clinic manager and Carolyn Joines, stu-dent services assistant, both in Family Medicine. Blouin honored these em-ployees with World Class awards for ser-vice and dedication to the campaign.

Travis Lassiter and Geraldine Rogers in the mailroom.

Part of the mission of the Employee Forum is to develop proactive, progressive recommen-dations and advocate these to the University administration and employees. These recom-mendations usually take the form of resolu-tions, which are voted on by the Forum in its monthly meetings. Forum resolutions are then provided to various recipients, particularly the chancellor.

In the Forum’s inserts in the July 2003 and 2004 issues of the Gazette, we provided lists of resolutions the Forum made over the previous year, to give readers a flavor for the types of is-sues of concern to the Forum. We’re continu-ing this year with a report on the Forum’s most recent resolutions, those adopted between July 2004 and June 2005.

Educational Assistance Program, 9/1/04

The Forum recommended that the chancel-lor increase the maximum annual funds of the Educational Assistance Program (EAP) from $250 to $350 per employee and allow funds to be used for job-related and non-job-related educational activities.

These changes were at the recommenda-tion of Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources Laurie Charest, who advised increas-ing the flexibility of the program as all EAP money was not being used.

Honoring Rachel Windham, 11/3/04The Forum thanked and conferred lifelong hon-

orary delegate status upon Rachel Windham, who chaired the Forum in 1995.

Staff salary increases, 12/1/04The Forum asked the N.C. General Assembly to

provide all state employees with a minimum an-nual pay raise of $3,500 or a 2.5 percent pay raise based on current annual salary, whichever is great-er. All raises would begin at the start of the fiscal year 2005-06. In addition, the Forum strongly rec-ommended that the chancellor and administration convey and support publicly the concepts of this resolution in dealing with the UNC system Office of the President and the legislature.

Health-care costs, 2/2/05The Forum reaffirmed its resolution of June 2,

2004, which asked the legislature for affordable health-care coverage, a cafeteria plan that would allow employees to choose and tailor benefits ac-cording to their health-care needs, representation on all boards and committees making health ben-efit decisions, and easily accessible information on administration of the State Health Plan.

UNC staff assembly, 3/2/05This resolution authorized Forum officers to ne-

gotiate with officers of staff organizations from the

other 15 campuses of the UNC system to create a staff assembly, a single body to voice the opinions of the staffs from all UNC campuses. There are sys-tem-wide bodies for faculty and students, and this resolution urges the creation of such a body for staff. UNC system President Molly Broad turned down a similar proposal eight years ago, because at that time not all campuses had their own representative groups. Since that is no longer the case, the Forum pushed again this spring for the system-wide group. The Employee Forum voted to suspend its rules and passed this resolution on the first reading so the pro-posal could be presented at the March meeting of system forums in Winston-Salem.

Pay periods, 4/6/05In response to meetings held on campus to

consider the proposal to move all University em-ployees to a monthly payroll, the Forum resolved that “without a fully open, inclusive, and meaning-ful university-wide discussion that seeks employee opinions and allows for employee input — particu-larly from low-paid employees, who would be the most adversely affected by this change — any pos-sible move to a monthly pay period cannot receive University-wide support” and that the Forum will actively oppose any such policy.

Health plan costs, 4/6/05The Forum stated that it is resolutely and cat-

egorically opposed to any increases in employee costs or reductions in coverage associated with any aspect of the state health plan that may be enacted in the state budget 05–07 biennium of 2005. The

Forum strongly recommended that the chancellor and administration convey and support publicly the concepts of this resolution in dealings with the University’s Office of the President and the state legislature.

Center on Poverty, 4/6/05The Forum invited representatives of the new

Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity to con-sult and participate with the Employee Forum and its committees on issues affecting our common mission and goals. Further, in support of UNC’s tradition of intellectual innovation and inquiry, the Forum extended its most earnest welcome and best wishes for future success to the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity, thereby ensur-ing the continuation of the University’s finest tradi-tions of fearless, intellectual academic inquiry and public service.

Pilot health plan, 6/1/05The Forum endorsed legislative passage of the

UNC system pilot health-care plan, which would make it possible for the University to develop an independent health-care package that would im-prove benefits, extend coverage and decrease costs for employees and their families. The Forum voted to suspend the usual rules requiring two readings of a resolution before a vote, because of the immi-nent consideration of two important pieces of leg-islation by the N.C. House and Senate. Chancellor James Moeser forwarded a copy of this resolution to several state senators and representatives and added his strong support for the plan.

2004-05 FORUM RESOLUTIONS

Time to run for delegateIt’s time to elect new delegates and alternates to

the Employee Forum. The Forum, which began in 1992, is the collective voice for SPA and EPA non-faculty employees on our campus, and its effective-ness depends on your participation and support.

Chancellor James Moeser has repeatedly ex-pressed support for the Forum and its work on be-half of the University’s staff.

“The Employee Forum fills a vital role for all staff and, indeed, for the University as a whole,” Moeser said. “As

Want to help University employees?

See Run for Delegate, next page

www.unc.edu/staff/forum 3

CURRENT EMPLOYEE FORUM DELEGATESName CB#s Phone Department Term Ends (Dec) EmailDivision 1 — EPA Non FacultyJohn Adams 1250 6-1622 Financial Planning & Budgets 2005 john_adams@unc.eduBradley Bone 7182 3-2290 Molecular Biology and Biotechnology 2005 bradley_bone@med.unc.eduMeredith Clason 5725 2-0901 Center for Slavic Studies 2005 meredith_clason@unc.eduLisa Inman 5500 2-2156 Housing 2006 inmanl@email.unc.eduEszter Karvazy 7470 6-6572 Student Health Services 2006 karvazy@email.unc.eduKathleen Younce 8180 2-7322 FPG Child Development Institute 2005 bernier@mail.fpg.unc.edu

Division 2 — Service/Maintenance David Brannigan 1800 2-2069 Grounds 2005 brannigan6172@aol.comAnthony Eubanks 1850 2-1444 Moving Services 2005 asuebank@email.unc.eduRoberta Massey 1850 2-6586 Facilities Servvices 2006 massey5789@bellsouth.netDivision 3 — Skilled Craft Chuck Brink 1800 2-1660 Facilities Services 2006 CTBrink@fac.unc.eduMichael Burch‡ 1800 2-0161 Facilties Services 2005 Keith Fogleman 1800 2-3962 Facilities Services 2006 Tommy Griffin 1800 2-1086 Facilities Services 2005 tgriffin@fac.unc.eduHarold Hill‡ 1800 2-0260 Facilities Services 2005 Jim Pike‡ 1800 2-2160 Facilities Services 2005 Division 4 — Clerical/Secretarial (Academic Affairs) Bill Abbotts 3280 2-3454 Biology 2006 abbotts@bio.unc.eduRebecca Ashburn 2300 2-9484 Office of Scholorships & Student Aid 2005 stories@email.unc.eduTom Buske‡ 3330 2-2761 School of Government 2005 buske@iogmail.iog.unc.eduJacqueline Carlock 3380 3-5644 School of Law 2005 jcarlock@email.unc.eduVictoria Dowd 3285 2-4984 Communications Studies 2005 dowd@email.unc.eduDarline Millett‡ 1020 2-3345 Friday Center 2005 dmillett@email.unc.eduDivision 5 — Clerical/Secretarial (Health Affairs) Dan Barmmer‡ 2400 6-7835 Biostatistics 2005 dbarmmer@unc.eduMaria Carrasquillo 7595 6-2718 Family Medicine 2006 maria_carrasquillo@med.unc.eduKatherine Caudell Graves 7445 3-4900 School of Public Health 2005 katherine_graves@unc.eduNichole Henry 7081 6-8436 Surgery 2006 nichole_henry@unc.eduPatty Prentice 7080 6-2513 Medicine 2005 pprentic@med.unc.eduBrian Whitling 7365 6-3354 Pharmacology 2005 brian_whitling@med.unc.eduDivision 6 — Clerical/Secretarial (Other) Peggy Cotton 5500 2-5239 Housing 2006 peggy_cotton@unc.eduDarryl Harris 1350 6-5625 Office of Sponsored Research 2005 dharris@email.unc.eduJill Hartman 1800 2-0785 Financial Grounds 2006 jhartman@fac.unc.eduRebecca Molinary 3420 6-5999 ITS 2006 rebecca_molinary@unc.eduDivision 7 — Technical Tom Arnel 3914 2-2050 Academic Affairs Library 2005 tarnel@email.unc.eduCamilla Crampton 7470 6-6565 Student Health Services Lab 2005 ccrampto@email.unc.eduBrenda Denzler 7180 6-8183 TEACCH 2006 denzler@email.unc.eduMarshall Dietz 1855 2-5245 Electric Distribution Analysis 2006 marshall_dietz@energy.unc.eduLeon Hamlett 2100 2-5162 Registrar’s Office 2005 lhamlett@email.unc.eduMichael McQuown 7400 6-0160 School of Public Health 2006 mmcquown@sph.unc.eduCathy Rogers 3350 3-5299 School of Social Work 2006 cbrogers@email.unc.eduDivision 8 — Professional Greg Alvord‡ 3420 3-4890 ITS 2005 greg_alvord@unc.eduWallace Ambrose‡ 7455 6-5223 Dental Research Center 2005 wallace_ambrose@dentistry.unc.eduSarah Causey 8120 6-0977 Carolina Population Center 2006 scausey@email.unc.eduDebra Galvin 1000 2-7248 Facilities Planning & Construction 2006 debra_galvin@unc.eduCurtis Helfrich 1800 2-5245 Energy Services 2005 chelfrich@fac.unc.eduJeanne Hiesel‡ 1150 8-8659 ITS-AE 2005 jchiesel@email.unc.eduJackie Kylander 7015 3-4586 Cardiovascular Biology Center 2006 jek@med.unc.eduBob Lesser 3455 2-4026 ITS 2006 bob_lesser@unc.eduLori Lewter 1100 2-1685 Purchasing 2006 llewter@email.unc.eduKirk McNaughton 7545 6-1202 Cellular & Molecular Physiology 2005 kirk_mcnaughton@med.unc.eduErnie Patterson 3280 2-2136 Department of Biology 2005 efpatterson@bio.unc.eduKaren Rowe 1045 3-6776 Human Resources 2005 kwrowe@email.unc.eduJane Teeter‡ 7045 3-7919 School of Medicine 2005 teeterj@med.unc.eduPenny Ward 8146 2-1634 ITS 2005 crunchy@email.unc.eduDivision 9 — Executive/Administration/ManagerialJudy Anderson‡ 7455 6-1455 Dentistry 2005 judy_anderson@med.unc.eduDan Chegash‡ 3330 3-2032 School of Government 2005 Chegash@iogmail.iog.unc.eduGloria Farrar 1020 2-2598 The Friday Center 2006 gfarrar@email.unc.eduMartha Fowler 1045 3-8676 Employee Services 2005 martha_fowler@unc.eduEllen Hill‡ 3380 3-9918 School of Law 2005 eshill@email.unc.eduBrian White 3175 2-1786 Computer Science 2005 white@cs.unc.edu

NOMINATIONSWe need your help in identifying people who are will-ing to serve on the Forum. You may nominate any permanent Carolina employee, including yourself, from any electoral division. Please verify that your nominees are willing to serve. You’ll receive a nomina-tion form in the mail. Find a web nomination form or a form you can print at forum.unc.edu/nominate.html.

chancellor, I have found that the Forum enlightens and informs me, and through it I hear the collective voices of Carolina staff. That’s why employee participation in the Forum is so important.”

Please talk with your colleagues about participation in the Forum, and send us the names of those you would like to rep-resent your interests.

The process of electing delegates and alternates begins in June to allow time for new delegate orientation prior to the as-sumption of duties. Each of nine electoral divisions elects rep-resentatives based on the proportional number of employees in the division. In early August, you will receive a ballot asking you to vote for your new Forum representatives.

Delegate ResponsibilityEmployee Forum meetings are held the first Wednesday of each

month, and there is an attendance policy designed to encourage participation and true representation. If a delegate misses three con-secutive meetings or five in a nine-month period, he or she is auto-matically replaced. Term in office is 26 months, from the November meeting of the year of election through the December meeting two years later. Participation for delegates is considered work time.

It is an honor and a privilege to serve as a Forum delegate. Effective service requires dedication, enthusiasm and time. Monthly meetings are two hours in length. In addition, del-egates are likely to spend additional time each month on com-mittee and other essential work. Employees who accept nomi-nations should verify that their managers would approve the time to support this important service to the University.

Run for Delegate, from previous page

2004 Employee Forum members.

Employee Forum Chair Tommy Griffin watches as Chancellor James Moeser addresses the Forum’s retreat at the Friday Center on Jan. 14.

‡ Alternate Delegate

4 www.unc.edu/staff/forum

Carolina Blood Drive at Dean E. Smith Center.

The Forum has never been intended as a ve-hicle to deal with individual issues, grievances

or complaints, nor as a means to circumvent regular administrative channels. For this reason, when the Forum office hears from an employee with a concern, we help identify the office on

campus that would normally handle that type of problem. In cases where such a referral fails to respond adequately to an employee’s question or concern, the problem may be brought to a

Forum meeting or to the Executive Committee for discussion.

Find out more about the Forum’s work at forum.unc.edu or 962-3779.

About the Forum, from page 1

Employees enjoy Employee Appreciation Event.

Facility Services Director Jim Alty (left) works a shift in recycling with Jason Sanders.

Janice Burton (left), processing assistant in Human Resources, gives the ApplicantWeb job application software a whirl while Connie Boyce observes.

Facilities Services employees position the 5,000-pound top on the base of the Unsung Founders Memorial on McCorkle Place on May 11.

The Curbin’ Urbans get off to an early start in the Jingle Bell Jog, when departments on campus band together in December for the three-mile fun run/1.5-mile walk.

Win a free lunch EMPLOYEE FORUMWEB SITE REDESIGNED

In February 2005, the Employee Forum launched its newly designed web site forum.unc.edu. The new web site is designed to improve communication be-tween University staff and the Employee Forum. Information about the business of the Employee Forum is better organized on the new site, so anyone interested should have an easier time once online. The mission of the Employee Forum is to “address constructively the concerns of UNC-CH Employees.” The Forum is aware of many, but not all, of the issues and concerns that affect University employees. To aid us in learning and addressing your concerns, the new Web site has a link on our home page to the “Issues/Concern Submission Form” forum.unc.edu/issueform.htm.

Employees are encouraged to use this form when they have issues they would like the Forum to ad-dress. This resource allows delegates to be more aware of issues that affect work at the University. Please visit the site and complete the visitor’s survey — forum.unc.edu/visitorsurvey.htm — if you have sug-gestions for improvements.

Try the Web site Easter egg huntTraditionally, in video game lore, an “Easter egg” is an

unexpected graphic or event that occurs when the player stumbles across a less frequently explored portion of the game.

The Easter eggs typically have nothing to do with the game’s mission or completion. They don’t even have to do with bunny rabbits or eggs. Rather, they’re just included for fun as an unsolicited gift from game designer to player.

We here at the Forum Communications Committee in-serted an Easter egg somewhere on the Forum web site, forum.unc.edu, to reward the intrepid reader.

Readers who contact the Forum office at forum_office@unc.edu or CB# 3488 by July 30 with the correct location of the web site Easter egg will be entered in a draw-ing for a $10 coupon from a Franklin Street restaurant.

Oh, you’d like a clue? Hmmm ... OK.It’s well known that Tommy Griffin is chair of the

Employee Forum. Where would you find the names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of the Forum vice chair and secretary?

Finding the Easter Egg will confirm that you’re correct.Send that URL in today for your chance at a free lunch.

The new Forum Web page.