August 27, 2024 Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
Attending: Sharron Bouquin, Renata Buchanan, Shavon Carey-Hicks, Shayla Evans-Hollingsworth, Tiffany Carver, Chassidy Dixon, Sarah Green, Meagan Harvell, Keith Hines, James Holman, Rebecca Howell, Stacy Keast, Katie Musgrove, Natiaya Neal, Joe Ormond, Lisa Petersen, Charlissa Rice, Lori Shamblin, James Stamey, Annetta Streater, Charles Streeter (ex-officio), Matthew Teal, Ally Wardell, Tiesha Williams
Excused Absences: David Bragg, Arlene Medder, Theresa Silsby
Chair Katie Musgrove called the meeting to order at 11:32 a.m. She welcomed all of the new Executive Committee members, namely the new committee chairs and divisional representatives. She asked for a motion to approve the June minutes of the committee. Tiffany Carver made this motion, seconded by Keith Hines. The motion was approved by acclamation.
The Chair invited the Forum’s newly elected Treasurer, Annetta Streater, and Program Manager Matt Banks to present the Forum’s monthly budget update with her. She noted that the Forum had not obtained everything it requested in this fiscal year’s budget, but the Forum did obtain rollover funds exceeding what was expected. She said that last year’s budget was at around $56,000, and in the end totaled around $48,000. A few items in the previous year’s budget did not clear until this fiscal year. She said that initial estimates were that the Forum would have around $10,000 in rollover money, but OHR Business found double this amount.
Keith Hines asked if this meant that the FY 25 budget is greater than the FY 24 budget. The Chair said that the overall number is larger (around $62,000), but the Forum was not granted a return to pre-pandemic levels in its trust fund account. She said that the Forum has committed to increasing the Carolina Blood Drive’s budget to $4,000 to meet increasing obligations related to food and other expenses. She added that ongoing expenses are captured in the “paid expenses” and “commitments to spend” sections of the budget.
Meagan Harvell asked about prospects of the Forum devoting more money and time towards holding in-person meetings. She has heard from several of her constituents who would appreciate the chance to attend and share their views in person. The Chair said that the budget dedicates additional funding towards holding three in-person meetings beyond the large June peer recognition event and the in-person July retreat. She hoped that the Forum could possibly meet in person in the fall, winter, and spring to supplement the June and July events. Much depends on available resources for planning these meetings, however. She clarified that attendees desiring to attend the Zoom meetings should obtain passwords from Matt Banks in advance of the meeting, to avoid the possibility of hackers at these events.
Lisa Petersen asked about question marks placed next to her budget entry for her trip to Western Carolina associated with the UNC System Staff Assembly. Banks said that there was a question about travel reimbursement rates. Petersen said that she had not yet received her reimbursement for the event, nor had Keith Hines.
The Chair said that the Executive Committee will likely consider another, less involved round of Bylaws revisions this year. The committee will also consider ways to fold in the history of the University Managers’ Association on the Forum website following the merger with that group this past year. The Forum will also work to absorb the budget from the UMA following the merger to support annual employee awards.
In addition, the Forum will continue work on the Forum’s SharePoint site to supplement work completed this past year. Charlissa Rice said that she would work with task force members from last year to revitalize this effort. The Chair said that work still remains on the 2023-24 annual report for the Forum. She would provide the committee the report’s final tweaks and revisions for review hopefully in September.
The Chair noted that the university has rolled out instructor-based training for emergency preparedness and is working on a staff version of that training. She said that the Forum has been tapped to provide feedback on this training. Keith Hines has spearheaded the process of assembling a group of delegates for this purpose and sending them to Justin Miller of Emergency Management and Planning. James Stamey said that the group will begin meeting in late September. Stamey added a happy birthday wish to delegate David Barnette.
The Chair asked delegates’ opinions on holding a community meeting jointly with Human Resources officials on the State Health Plan conversion to Aetna. Members indicated that enrollment in the State Health Plan will begin in late September. The Chair asked for volunteers to lead the effort to plan this community meeting, perhaps in collaboration with Senior Director of Benefits Joe Williams. Keith Hines said that he would reach out to Williams that afternoon.
Hines announced that Athletics has offered to sponsor a tailgate event for the Forum prior to the September 7th football game versus Charlotte. The first-of-its-kind tailgate will take place on Polk Place with Employee Forum delegates, dignitaries, and their families in attendance. The event will run from 11:30 – 3:30 p.m., with delegates due to be at Kenan Stadium at 3 p.m. for on-field recognition. Tiffany Carver has already begun the search for a caterer, Hines said. He added that the 160 people signed up are the largest group that the Forum has ever had for a football game.
Hines asked that the Forum purchase wristbands to sort tailgate attendees. He said that delegates and their guests will have access to the tailgate. He clarified that alcohol will not be served at the tailgate, although this arrangement may change in the future. Hines added that future arrangements may reveal additional features for this event, to make this a showcase event on the day.
Members discussed other aspects of the tailgating event. The Chair thanked Hines for working with Athletics to get this idea off the ground.
The Chair noted that an invitation to the September 12th Vice Chancellors’ representatives’ meeting will go out to delegates soon. She said that Provost Clemens would not be available for the Forum’s September 13th general meeting, so Chief of Staff Christi Hurt will likely provide roundtable remarks. The meeting will also feature two special presentations. The first is from Justin Miller regarding the emergency preparedness festival and the second is from Dawn Osbourne-Adams concerning the work of the Ombuds Office. She added that the September 13th meeting will also feature a proclamation marking International Housekeeping week.
The Chair asked if there were other issues for discussion. Megan Harvell recalled that she had raised an issue in a previous Vice Chancellors’ representatives’ meeting, regarding the distribution of money as a result of newly instituted salary banding rates in Facilities Services. She had spoken with Keith Duple, the Executive Director of Class and Compensation in the UNC System Office. Duple had said that each of the UNC System institutions are deciding how to distribute this money on their own, including UNC-Chapel Hill.
UNC-Chapel Hill has moved to distribute this money to lower paid employees first, which has led to salary compression among other employees. Harvell received a request from the HVAC unit asking that she inform the Forum that many HVAC employees have left the university because these salary banding rates are not being implemented for all in the unit.
The HVAC employees told Harvell that around a year ago, they were told they would receive an increase of 110 to 115% of market rate, which is what they understood Housekeeping and Grounds employees had already received. Later, they were told that this funding was not in the budget, so many of these employees left state service. Now, HVAC has a lot of open positions and the unit is unable to complete tasks, leading to customer complaints.
Harvell conceded that there is no money currently available in the budget. Still, she said that these employees are making minimal amounts of money and are not asking for a huge increase. She thought that the $6-8,000 increases in pay every year would not put a dent in the university’s overall budget, especially since many employees have already left.
Harvell said that this is a large issue in other work centers beyond HVAC, but HVAC employees had asked her to bring the concern up. She had a letter written from all HVAC employees which she offered to read verbatim. The Chair asked if Harvell could perhaps forward the letter to the Executive Committee listserv. She would work to anonymize the letter but would forward it following that.
The Chair suggested that the Personnel Issues committee take up this concern perhaps by writing a resolution or proclamation to address the issue, particularly regarding compression. Stacy Keast reported similar concerns from employees in Energy Services as well. The Chair thought that perhaps the updates to the pay bands did not resolve all of the current issues and are leading to other problems, including retention issues when increases are not made available. Sharron Bouquin said that the beginning of the semester has made finding meeting times difficult, but she would check again this week. The Chair agreed that the start of the semester is difficult to accomplish Forum work with all of the students returning. Still, she asked if the committee could work to find an early September meeting to begin discussing Harvell’s concerns.
Bouquin said that a range of factors play into compression becoming a systemic issue. Harvell added that once employees leave it is difficult to replace them, as the money offered in salary is too low. Retirement incentives have also gone away for new hires, further detracting from the allure of working for the university.
Sarah Green said that salary compression was also affecting administrative staff in the Business School, leading veteran staff who are outearned by new hires to simply leave employment. She said that the Business School has lost 12 people in the past three years. She thanked Harvell for bringing this issue forward.
The Chair summed up that while the pay band being updated was a critical first step, it is now creating some other issues needing advocacy, including having funding provided equitably across units so that existing employees can receive pay increases based on these new bands. She asked that the Personnel Issues committee work to create a resolution on this issue for consideration by the Forum perhaps at its October 4th meeting.
James Holman recommended that the Personnel Issues committee check with other universities to see what employees on these campuses are earning. He had checked on salaries of housekeepers at NC State University and found that UNC-Chapel Hill’s housekeepers are underpaid. He recommended a similar approach.
Moving to committee updates, Joe Ormond said that the Communications and Public Relations committee will work to publish InTouch soon. Delegates with content should contact Ormond or Shane Brogan by the end of the day Wednesday. The Chair said that the group will also discuss the October 18th scavenger hunt arrangements.
Natiaya Neal said that the Forum Book Club will discuss Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin on Thursday, September 26th at the Hooker Research Center. The Picnic Basket will provide lunch for attendees who register in advance. The Chair thanked Neal for her planning efforts and looked forward to more in-person meetings this year.
Ally Wardell of the Community Service committee said that the group hopes to hold a Habitat for Humanity build day in the fall. Renata Buchanan of the Carolina Blood Drive said that the group will meet for the first time tomorrow morning. The Holiday Drive will take place December 11th at Fetzer Gym. The Drive will have tables at the October 18th Employee Appreciation Fair whereby donors can sign up for appointments. There was no update from the Carolina Community Garden.
Lori Shamblin said that the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee will do some organizing work this year on initiatives and other matters. The committee will next meet Monday, September 9th.
Shavon Carey-Hicks said that the Leadership, Education and Career Development committee has made awards of twenty-four grants out of 120 applications for professional development awards. She thanked all who volunteered to help, particularly Tiffany Carver who jumped in at the last minute. Similarly, she was proud that the committee had awarded nine Carolina Family Scholarships for awardees to attend any UNC System institution or community college.
Keith Hines had nothing further to report from the Membership and Engagement committee. Sarah Green asked about the format of the Forum’s community meeting. Tiffany Carver said that collaboration with committees is suggested. The Forum’s community meetings are specified by the bylaws.
Sharron Bouquin had no further report from the Personnel Issues committee. Shayla Evans-Hollingsworth had no update from the Recognition & Awards committee. The Chair said that the winner of the Rebecca Clark Award for Moral Courage has been notified and their award will be presented at October’s University Day celebrations.
Keith Hines said that the UNC System Staff Assembly will hold its officer elections soon. He noted that the Chancellors’ Cup Golf Tournament will take place Wednesday, September 25th at Finley Golf Course here in Chapel Hill. He thanked all who have volunteered to assist with the tournament. He noted a need for twelve 6-foot tables, pop-up tents, personal chairs, and large coolers for the event.
Hines noted that there are preliminary plans for a reception the evening before the tournament, and he hoped folks would be available for that as well.
Annetta Streater asked in the chat whether the Forum has a special placement in the University Day processional. The Chair responded that staff usually process with their school or division and sit with those folks through the ceremony. She said that the Forum could investigate the possibility of renewing the tradition of a separate banner and march for delegates.
Regarding university committees, the Chair raised the point of Cheryl Stout’s eventual retirement and need for replacement as transportation and parking director. She would soon meet with other shared governance leaders to meet with finalists for the position.
Rebecca Howell took a moment to acknowledge the one-year anniversary of the campus shooting incident which affected so many people on campus and elsewhere. She asked staff affected to take care of themselves as they worked through the day. It was noted that the Bell Tower will play “Hark the Sound” at 1:15 p.m. in honor of slain professor Dr. Zijie Yan.
Sarah Green reported that the Board of Elections has approved the use of electronic OneCards as a voting identification. She thought that this approval is likely poorly advertised and should receive more coverage.
The Chair was pleased to have established monthly meetings with the Chair of the Faculty, the undergraduate Student Body President, and the Graduate and Professional Student Body President. She was pleased that the group had recently met to discuss possible joint resolutions on shared governance and other matters.
Megan Harvell confirmed that the Forum was alright with her bringing up matters of concern repeatedly at different meetings. The Chair said that Harvell’s voice is valued. She thought that systemic issues also might need to be addressed in the UNC System Staff Assembly as well. Harvell could contact Staff Assembly delegates on the Forum to submit concerns.
In the absence of further discussion, the meeting adjourned by acclamation at 12:59 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Matt Banks, Recording Secretary