InTouch: UNC Employee Forum News
Volume 3, Number 4 May 2002
From the Chair, Tommy Griffin…
Helping Hands
Hello friends, here it is already May and we are having summertime temperatures and beautiful weather. It’s a good time of the year to enjoy all of the outside activities that we all appreciate this time of the year. We are going to need more somber time this summer so that we can relax and rest and work out all of the stress that we are having because of the budget cuts and all of the problems for employees throughout the whole state. Each day we hear about more budget cuts and the problems in the state and how it affects us all. Whatever happens to all of us on our jobs affects our families, our friends and our co-workers and everyone that we come in contact with on and off the job. This makes it very important that we support each other as much as we can.
When you see someone at there ropes end or just overburdened by the lack of enough help to get their job done because they are trying to do the work of two or more people, step in and give them a hand if you have a few extra minutes to help out. A smile, a friendly hello, a kind word, a thank you for doing a great job, can mean a lot to someone who is stressed out and overworked. Take time for yourself and learn to relax and enjoy life. This will help you enjoy your job and all of the people around you.
Families support each other through trying times and all of the problems that come up in their daily lives by working through them together. That’s why I know that the employees here at the University will make it through all of the hard times that we are having because of the budget cuts and the lean economy in the state because we all are one big family and are working together to make this a great University. As I always say, we are in this together and we will get through it together by sharing the good times and the hard times.
Let us stand united together and work towards our common goal of making this the greatest University that it can be. Take time to thank each other for a job well done because each one of you deserves to be thanked many times every day. As a fellow employee and as a friend and as the Chair of the Employee Forum, I want to thank you for all of your hard work and dedication. We must continue to be heard throughout the whole state and especially here on campus and in Raleigh so continue to support your Employee Forum.
Community Meeting with Chancellor Moeser
The first Employee Forum Community Meeting of the year has been scheduled for Thursday, June 27 from 10:30 am until 12:00 noon in 100 Hamilton Hall. Chancellor James Moeser will be the featured guest. At this time, a specific topic for the meeting has not been determined; however, there will be an opportunity for employees to ask question s about the Chancellor’s visions for the University and how the staff fit into his visions. Attendance at Forum community meetings does count as work time, but Employees must get approval from their supervisor to attend. The Forum hopes to see you there!
Construction Update
We all know that construction will be a fact of life at Carolina for many years to come. But we thought you might be interested in major projects coming up within the next few months. Here is what to expect:
May
- Peabody Hall renovation
- School of Dentistry (original building) renovation
- Hot Water Phase I – Raleigh Road
June
- South Building elevator installation
- Stormwater – Intramural Field #3
- Stone Center
- School of Public Health addition
- Memorial Hall renovation
July
- Hill Hall/ Battle/Vance/Pettigrew Halls hot water project
August
- Health Sciences Library renovation
Special Note: Work on the Hot Water Phase I project means Raleigh Road will be closed off the week after graduation at various times and locations over the summer. Work at the intersections of Franklin/Raleigh, Raleigh/Cameron and Raleigh/South Road will be completed on weekends. Access to Davis Library, Lenoir Hall, and Hamilton will be maintained.
Additional details can be found at http://www.fpc.unc.edu/CIP/Projects.asp Also, you can send email to WorkInProgress@fac.unc.edu if you have any questions.
Many thanks to Karen Geer from Facilities Planning for this information
Staff Awards from the Center for Public Service
Congratulations to the following staff members who are 2002 Carolina Center for Public Service Award and Grant recipients:
Mary Morrison, APPLES Service-Learning Program, received a 2002 Robert E. Bryan Public Service Award. Morrison is a passionate advocate for students and service learning.
Jenny Edwards and Monica Pallet, Department of Psychiatry, received a grant to complete a “Housing and Community Needs Assessment” for individuals with severe and persistent mental illness.
Barbara Grant Schliebe, School of Medicine, received a grant for “Be Your Best,” a project done in partnership with the Pines of Carolina Girl Scout Council.
Anthony Walters, Sonya Haynes Stone Black Cultural Center, received a grant to implement “In Our Voice: Youth Review of the Arts and Humanities.” The project works with local high school students to create an art review journal.
The Center would also like to express sincere appreciation to the seven Employee Forum Staff members who gave generously of their time and talents to the grants and awards selection committees: George-Ann Bissett, Gary Cocker, Lee Edmark, Chris Koltz, Joanne Kucharski, Diane O’Connor, and Brian White. For more information on the above recipients as well as a complete listing of all the 2002 Award and Grant recipients, please visit http://www.unc.edu/cps
Computer Training Classes
Last month InTouch provided information on training available to University employees through Human Resources. Another excellent source of training is the computer training courses available through Academic Technology and Networking (ATN).
ATN provides hands-on computer training workshops free to UNC-CH staff, faculty, and current students. The workshops are typically two hours long and scheduled throughout the day from 9am to 7:30pm. They provide a wide variety of courses, for computer users of all levels, including folks who have never used a computer before.
There are lots of different classes, in the following areas: calendaring, email, Internet, research applications, databases, financial systems, operating systems (which includes the courses for people new to computers), spreadsheets (Microsoft Excel), desktop publishing, image editing, presentation graphics, and word processing (Microsoft Word). In most of these areas, ATN offers both introductory and more advanced courses.
For more information on ATN computer training, including the current class schedule, see http://www.unc.edu/atn/training/
To sign up for a class or to get information on the classes from a person, call 962-1160. You’ll need to provide your PID (from your UNC One Card). As with other job-related training, attendance in ATN workshops can count as work time as long as you have prior approval from your supervisor.
Computer Labs on Campus
While many UNC employees can’t imagine going through a workday without using a computer, there are other staff members who have very limited computer access. Fortunately, there are a number of labs on campus with public access to both PC and Macintosh machines. Here is a summary of where you can go to use a public computer:
ATN (Academic Technology & Networks) Labs (http://www.unc.edu/atn/labs/)
ATN Labs in Residence Halls (make sure you are authorized to be in the dorms before using these labs)
- Cobb Residence Hall
- Craige Residence Hall
- Ehringhaus Residence Hall
- Hinton James Residence Hall
- Morrison Residence Hall
- Spencer Residence Hall
- Teague Residence Hall
Other ATN Labs
- Davis Library
- Greenlaw Hall
- Health Sciences Library
- Law School Library
- School of Public Health
- Venable Hall (Room 307)
Cheek-Clark Computer Lab
The Cheek-Clark Computer Lab at 505 W. Cameron Avenue provides UNC-Chapel Hill employees in pay grades 50-54 access to computer equipment in a convenient setting. The lab houses 10 computers and a printer and is designed for individual use. For assistance call:
Stephanie Lombardo (962-9681 or 962-2550), Ray Doyle (962-0762) or Claire Miller (962-2550)
Policy Response: Winmore Project
We spoke with Bob Knight, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, about the recently proposed Winmore affordable housing project and how that would affect Employees.
Could you outline particular aspects of the project?
The project is an experiment by the University to provide a beginning step towards increasing the supply of affordable housing for the employees of UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC Healthcare System and the Town of Carrboro.
Winmore Land Management, LLC (“Winmore”) was already working with the Town of Carrboro on the development of a 66-acre tract of land on Homestead Road, following principles that reflect social and environmental responsibility and smart growth. The Winmore tract is contiguous to the southern edge of the University’s Horace Williams satellite property (see map below). The Horace Williams satellite tract has no direct access from existing roads and is not covered in the current Master Plan. 
The Winmore partners, Phil Szostak, Herman Green and Bob Chapman approached the University to sell them the Horace Williams satellite tract for traditional neighborhood development. Their proposal notes the shortage of appropriately priced, quality housing in the Carrboro/Chapel Hill area, making it difficult for the University to attract and retain faculty and staff. Winmore wants to combine the two parcels into a larger joint development would optimize the “new urban” design concept, increase the availability of economical housing, and create a more walkable and integrated community. In preliminary discussions with these developers, Town of Carrboro officials welcomed the idea of a housing development with affordable housing components.
Members of the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees agreed to consider the idea, but only with a greater allowance made for affordable and reasonably priced housing for University staff. The Board insisted on controlling some land in perpetuity on which it would build 96 apartments that would meet the legal definition of affordable rental housing. (Under this definition, a worker would not spend more than 30% of their income on rent, meaning a worker making $18,000 a year could only spend between $400-500 a month on rent.) The UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees was also interested in negotiating a deal stipulating additional reasonably priced housing, with at least 50-60 of the for-sale units priced at $175,000 or less, and set aside for University and Healthcare System Employees or Town of Carrboro staff.
The Winmore partners must go through the process of obtaining approvals with the Town of Carrboro, dealing with traffic flows, school overcrowding and environmental impact studies. This arrangement keeps the University out of the real estate business, while providing a way to increase the supply of affordable housing opportunities for lower paid Employees.
In return for our land, UNC would receive a $1,250,000 purchase money mortgage at seven percent interest. Also, UNC would participate in 30 percent of any gross revenue over $15 million on total lot sales for the entire 129-acre development, not just the Horace Williams satellite.
The proposal for the development calls for 398 residential units as follows:
- Single Family Units 192
- Town Houses 110
- Apartments 96
The proposal also specifies approximately 50 acres of open green space will be preserved, and offered as a gift to UNC. Additional sites may be available to the University or Hospital for uses such as a child care center or healthcare clinic.
There are 7,500 staff Employees on campus, many of whom make less than $30,000 a year. Why didn’t you get more affordable housing units in the deal?
The Town of Carrboro has zoning regulations that limit the number of housing units that can be built in this neighborhood. Also, Town regulations call for 40 percent of the land to be kept as open green space. And the Winmore partners are private developers whose profits are based on the price of the houses sold in the neighborhood. These factors combine to limit the amount of affordable units that can be built. The Town of Chapel Hill has similar zoning regulations, and that’s partly why houses are so expensive here!
Remember, this project is only a pilot project for the University. It does not represent the only effort that the University will make to help employees find affordable housing. But when the Winmore developers presented the idea, it looked like a good way to get started.
The 50-60 reasonably priced houses will cost $175,000 or less. This figure is large, but still not as much as the $300,000 average that houses cost in Chapel Hill. And, again the University has stipulated that Winmore would include 96 affordable apartments, all for Town and University staff. So, it’s a beginning, and we’re hoping that it will bode well for future affordable housing projects.
Why didn’t you sell the property for more money?
We could have gotten more money for the property if we sold it to developers that would build only expensive houses on the site, but we felt it an important point to try to increase the supply of affordable housing available for University staff in the area.
Also, the Winmore partners took on important restrictions with this purchase, and that established an upper limit on how much they were willing to pay for the property.
Which department gets the money from the sale?
Horace Williams was a professor in the Philosophy department. His will stipulated that all the property he owned should be used to provide income for fellowships in the Philosophy department. This includes the main 1,000-acre Horace Williams tract.
Also, an April 1999 Memorandum of Agreement between the University and the Philosophy Department called for the University to list for sale the satellite property (the 63-acre tract of land north of Homestead Road). The proceeds from the sale are to be added to two trust funds for fellowships in Philosophy.
How will the University select who gets one of the units?
This process has not yet been determined.
Does the University have to provide access to water and sewer for the project, or will the builder assume this cost?
Right now there is only dirt, rocks and trees on this property. The Winmore partners must handle all zoning issues and water and sewer hookup and access to all other utilities. They also have to develop all the roads in and around the development.
What happens next with the project?
As I understand it, the Winmore partners will present their plans to the Carrboro Board of Aldermen in the summer or fall of 2002. If they get all the necessary zoning approvals, the University will sell them the Horace Williams satellite tract, and they can begin building perhaps early in 2003.
One important thing to remember is that there will be a mix of affordable apartments, reasonably priced houses and more expensive houses all over the entire 129-acre development. The lower priced units won’t all be concentrated just on the land formerly owned by the University.