August 20, 2019 Executive Committee minutes
Attending: L.E. Alexander, Ashley Belcher, Jen DeNeal, Phil Edwards, Shayna Hill, Todd Hux, Angenette McAdoo, Arlene Medder, Kadejah Murray, Katie Musgrove, Natiaya Neal, Jim Potts, Laura Pratt, Kevin Robinson, Greg Smith, Rose Thorp
Excused Absences: Tiffany Carver, James Holman, Rocky Riviella, Tracy Wetherby-Williams
Chair Shayna Hill called the meeting to order at 11:30 a.m. She welcomed delegates to the Carolina Coffee Shop. She also welcomed Vice Chancellor for University Communications Tanya Moore and Director of Internal Communications Jane Calloway to discuss the Well, the new communications resource for University staff. Two years ago, University Communications surveyed staff to see what they thought about internal communications strategies and particularly the University Gazette. The survey showed that people read and liked the Gazette, but most respondents wanted to read the Gazette on-line.
The Well was conceived as a one-stop shop for employees to read at the beginning of the workday. The site will contain top stories updated daily in addition to features like “In the Know,” “Carolina People,” and external media links. Departmental and local links will feature on the page as well. The University calendar will hold a prime spot on the page.
The Well will launch in mid-September, with an all-campus email sent in mid-October notifying employees about the University Gazette’s sunset issue in November. Jim Potts asked if there were a way to manipulate the page to make it more print friendly. Calloway would check on this idea and noted the need to make the page mobile friendly also.
Kevin Robinson asked how faculty and staff could submit articles to the page. He suggested a “submit a story” link on the page. Calloway said that the Well might institute a separate process for story submissions. Robinson asked how user experiences of the page will unfold. Calloway said that options include jumps from a “Read More” link or placing stories all on one page. Robinson asked about search functions on the page. He said that he had not seen the search function as it was currently a black bar.
Calloway thanked Greg Smith and Lori Haight for serving on the Well steering committee. She said that their involvement was important, and she thanked the committee for its input.
Jim Potts and Laura Pratt suggested making the “5 Things to Know” feature more prominent on the page.
The Chair said that the Coffee Shop was louder than expected and so asked members for an early adjournment of the meeting. She asked if there were any delegates interested in assuming the vacant Treasurer’s role. There were no volunteers.
The Chair noted that the Forum will soon host a community meeting on the State Health Plan in conjunction with Faculty Governance and the Carolina Black Caucus. She asked listeners for help with necessary tasks on the day of the meeting. Jeff McQueen spoke on what he would attempt to do as the meeting M.C. The Chair hoped that the meeting would lay the groundwork for future productive meetings towards finding solutions to the health care crisis.
Angenette McAdoo asked the process for submitting discussion questions for the meeting. Tiffany Carver noted that the Forum had sent a request for questions to staff. Participants who cannot attend the meeting can log in via Zoom and submit questions.
The Chair invited delegates to the Forum Office to see its recently renovated floors and painted walls. She was delighted to share the new space’s improvements with delegates.
In the absence of further discussion, the meeting adjourned at 1 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Matt Banks, Recording Secretary