May 21, 2024 Employee Forum Executive Committee minutes
Delegates Attending: Sharron Bouquin, David Bragg, Shane Brogan, Renata Buchanan, Shavon Carey-Hicks, Tiffany Carver, Elizabeth DuBose, Leah Hefner, Keith Hines, James Holman, Rebecca Howell, Brigitte Ironside, Haydeé Marchese, Arlene Medder, Katie Musgrove, Joseph Ormond, Theresa Silsby, Annetta Streater, Matthew Teal, Jacob Womack
Excused Absences: L. E. Alexander, Adrianne Gibilisco, Natiaya Neal, Laura Pratt, Charlissa Rice, Lori Shamblin, James Stamey, Julie Theriault
Chair Katie Musgrove called the meeting to order at 9:43 a.m., noting that the committee met in the wake of a special session of the Forum full body earlier that morning. She said that the committee had received its monthly packet of materials for the morning’s meeting, including the minutes from the group’s April meeting. Arlene Medder noted that she had submitted an edit for the April meeting minutes. With this change, Medder made a motion to approve the April meeting minutes, seconded by Brigitte Ironside. The motion passed unanimously.
Matt Banks presented the Forum’s monthly budget report, describing the status of the Forum budget at that time. Banks said that he had worked on making updates with the help of Brigitte Ironside. He said that there are some inconsistencies in the listing of the UNC System Staff Assembly expenses that await reconciliation. He hoped that the System Office would provide the Forum the promised reimbursements for expenses undertaken to support Staff Assembly operations. He thanked Ironside for her work in itemizing the Forum’s particular expenses.
Banks added that the majority of remaining expenses have been zeroed out to denote a lack of activity between now and the fiscal year’s end. He drew the committee’s attention to the remaining expenses for this fiscal year, which include captioning expenses and catering expenses for the Forum’s June general meeting and peer recognition event. He said that the Forum will enjoy a carryover of funds from this fiscal year for use in FY 2025.
Theresa Silsby said that the Community Service committee no longer needs support for a June Habitat for Humanity build, but would require support for a June 11th volunteer effort at the Carolina Community Garden. Silsby said that the committee will need bottled water and fruit and other snacks for this day’s work. The Chair asked that Banks work with the committee to purchase needed items for this work in the next week to ensure that these expenses fall in the current fiscal year.
The Chair then led the committee in consideration of the Forum’s FY 2025 proposed budget, with some negotiation occurring over the distribution of funds among various Forum initiatives for the next year. She said that the top of the proposal features a high-level overview of the pre-pandemic budget, which the Forum hopes will eventually be restored. The Chair also noted the eventual addition of the University Managers’ Association budget into Forum accounts with the recent merger of the two groups. She noted the reasoning for other changes in the proposed budget, and thanked James Holman and SEANC for sponsorship of the Forum’s retreat lunch expenses for July 9th.
The Chair asked for suggestions on how to trim costs from the budget to meet additional needs. Brigitte Ironside recalled that the advent of the UMA budget could alleviate some of these costs. Shavon Carey-Hicks said that the Leadership, Education, and Career Development committee had discussed the mini-conference idea and was unlikely to have the ability to resume its effort in 2025, offering up these funds. The Chair added that the Forum could reduce its proposed budget for graphic design in the coming year.
Elizabeth Dubose proposed asking about reserving meeting space near her office for the Forum’s upcoming events. The Chair shared a goal to formulate a list of hybrid meeting spaces on campus. Dubose further proposed combining some Forum events in order to save money on meeting overhead. The Chair noted additional proposals to reduce expenses for Employee Appreciation event support and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee spending. She also suggested reducing the overhead for Forum Office expenses. Members agreed generally with these proposals.
The Chair said that she would incorporate these proposed changes into the Forum’s FY 2025 budget for submission to the Office of Human Resources business office.
Moving on, the Chair thanked Jacob Womack for his work on the Forum’s proposed Bylaws revisions which had received approval from the Forum earlier that morning. She said that Standing Rules would need to be adopted at the annual retreat in July.
Jacob Womack spoke on the progress of Forum officer election preparations for the June 6 meeting, which he and Matt Teal were co-managing. The Chair discussed whether representatives to the UNC System Staff Assembly would require election at an upcoming Forum meeting under the new Bylaws revisions. Committee members agreed to discuss these proposed changes in Staff Assembly representation at a future meeting.
The Chair discussed the likely agenda for June’s general meeting, recalling that Vice Chancellor Nate Knuffman is scheduled to provide a finance and operations quarterly update to the Forum then. She did not think that the Forum would have time for its committee updates in June due to the crowded agenda.
The Chair said that invitations to peer recognition award winners inviting them to the June 6 peer recognition event would go out that week. She looked forward to the event and praised the Recognition & Awards committee for its review of the numerous nominations.
The Chair provided a brief preview of the happenings associated with the July 9-10th retreat, including the optional zip line event for delegates to open the first day’s events. Team-building work will follow the zip-line exercise, with other formal activities to occur at the following day’s half-day meeting. David Bragg shared his experience as a person afraid of heights who was kindly convinced to go ahead with the zip-line training after encouragement from fellow delegates. He thought that all delegates would benefit from attending this morning session.
Shane Brogan of the Communications and Public Relations committee said the group would publish its next edition of InTouch in the summer. Delegates with story additions could contact him or Joe Ormond for more information.
There was no further report from the Community Service committee. The Blood Drive committee had done a fantastic job with the May blood drive, sustaining collections after campus conflict the previous day. There was no report from the Carolina Community Garden committee.
Rebecca Howell said that the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee had held an in-person lunch meeting earlier that month. She said that this had been the first in-person meeting she had attended during her time on the Forum. The committee discussed recent news reports and how they will likely impact different groups of staff.
Shavon Carey-Hicks reported that the Leadership, Education, and Career Development committee will consider professional development grant and Carolina Family Scholarship applications through the next couple of months and needs volunteers to assist with this effort. There was no further report from the Membership and Engagement committee.
Leah Hefner said that the Personnel Issues committee will meet again May 30th. The Chair said that the work of the Recognition and Awards committee has already been noted. There was no further report from the Rules committee or the UNC System Staff Assembly, aside from an upcoming meeting occurring at Western Carolina University this July.
The Chair said that the Transportation and Advisory committee had approved the final revisions to the campus ordinance as part of the 5-year plan. She noted the new pricing structure that will take effect starting in August. She said that these changes had been presented to the Forum at its March general meeting. Employees earning less than $70,000/year will pay less for parking charges under the new structure. Other ordinance changes deal with sustainability efforts and transit improvements, among other concerns.
Matthew Teal said that the Chancellor’s Office has created a new generative A.I. working group, which will interact with current groups in unforeseen ways. Members discussed the membership of this new committee. Teal added that the Policy Review committee had held its second annual policy review committee celebration via an in-person lunch event. He added that OHR has put out a new policy on the use of external search firms and their use related to executive level and other position searches. The committee also addressed policies and procedures for graduate student health insurance programs. He shared links in the chat regarding these proposals.
There were no other reports from university committee representatives. The Chair cited James Holman and SEANC’s support for the upcoming Forum retreat in July.
In the absence of further discussion, the meeting adjourned by acclamation at 10:55 a.m.
Respectfully submitted, Matt Banks, Recording Secretary