January 18, 2022 Executive Committee meeting minutes
Attending: L.E. Alexander, Jessye Bongiovanni, Sharron Bouquin, Shane Brogan, Tiffany Carver, Jen DeNeal, Phil Edwards, Shayla Evans-Hollingsworth, Stephanie Forman, Shayna Hill, Brigitte Ironside, Kira Jones, Anthony Lindsey, Arlene Medder, Katie Musgrove, Natiaya Neal, Brooke O’Neal, Laura Pratt, Matthew Teal, Tracy Wetherby-Williams, Alice Whiteside, Jacob Womack
Chair Katie Musgrove called the meeting to order at 11:32 a.m. The Forum approved a motion to approve the minutes of the November Executive Committee meeting. Tracy Wetherby-Williams and Matt Banks presented the Forum’s customary budget report. Banks noted that he had corrected errors in the previous month’s report. He had also made explicit outstanding professional development grant expenses on the Staff Development side of the report. He calculated that given the two sources of funds, the Forum is currently running just under a $6,000 surplus.
A question was raised as to whether the Forum could forego the captioning cost incurred for each general meeting. Members thought that the automatic captioning feature through Zoom was not quite up to the standards of the digital accessibility office just yet. The Chair asked about purchasing items for the Employee Appreciation Event in March. It was noted that strict restrictions on spending are still in place. Members offered to help write justifications for these expenses.
The Chair noted that the future of work design team had heard that the administration had finally approved the draft playbook for the group.
The Chair hoped that the group could do a debriefing of the January 6th Vice Chancellor representatives’ meeting. Members liked that administration officials submitted answers beforehand for discussion. The Chair appreciated the explanation of the Bright Horizons situation. The Chair proposed that delegates study the January 6th minutes once those become available. Discussion also touched on how requests for data are considered and fulfilled.
The Chair hoped to combine with student and faculty leaders to shine a light on the Housekeeping vacancy issue, for one example. Other members suggested involving the Carolina Black Caucus and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion on these questions. It was noted that the Student Body President Lamar Richards had engineered the purchase of several thousand K95 masks for the students. Members also raised questions about the use of temporary employees to fill permanent needs in some departments.
The Chair requested committee support as she readies remarks to the Board of Trustees later that month. The committee discussed the roster of proposed speakers and topics for the February general meeting. Shayna Hill separately proposed exploration of personal and health information in correspondence with the State Health plan administrators.
The Chair requested updates for the various Forum committees’ work. The Communications and Public Relations committee planned to publish InTouch soon, said Shane Brogan. Brooke O’Neal said that the Forum Book Club looked to have a very good group for its January discussion.
Jacob Womack reported that the Community Service committee would meet again February 9th to discuss possible cooperation with the Ronald McDonald House. Jen DeNeal reported that the Blood Drive committee will start meeting next month to prepare for the June drive. She invited other committee members to volunteer for the Drive.
The Chair reported that the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee currently lacks a chair as Antonio Squire has left the University to take a position at Mercer Law School. Jessye Bongiovanni reported the group had met and sought a chair. A member suggested nominating co-chairs for the position.
L.E. Alexander reported that the Education & Career Development committee has worked on changes to methods of financing Professional Development grants. The committee will also work to revamp the application for that award.
There was no update from the Membership & Assignments committee. Stephanie Forman said that the Personnel Issues committee had hosted a great presentation from Alert Carolina and Clery Act representatives about recent Alert messages concerning sexual assaults in campus dormitories. The committee is also considering creating a housekeeping resolution.
Natiaya Neal had no updates from the Recognition & Awards committee. There was also no report from the Rules committee. Jacob Womack noted that the University’s UNC System Staff Assembly delegates should be elected in July rather than September. He also recalled comments that some wanted the Forum to hear a presentation on salary compression that had recently been made to the Staff Assembly.
There was a question regarding recommissioning a historian to finish the work that had been done on the Forum’s history. The Chair was interested in this option given that the Forum may have a bit of extra money. She hoped that this could be finished by the Forum’s 30th anniversary celebration. She proposed speaking with the Chancellor about possibly obtaining special funding for the celebration next year.
The Chair noted that February is the busiest month of the year for her. She said that she would likely have to ask other delegates to pitch in to help cover business that arises throughout the month.
In the absence of further discussion, the meeting adjourned at 12:54 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Matt Banks, Recording Secretary