A Resolution Concerning the Proposal to Amend the State Personnel Act by
Adding “Article 16”
RESOLUTION OF THE EMPLOYEE FORUM
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL
April 2, 2008
WHEREAS the Mission of the Employee Forum is to address constructively the concerns of
Employees of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, including the representation of
staff concerns to University officials, the University community, the General Administration, and
the North Carolina General Assembly; and
WHEREAS, the UNC System operates in a highly competitive national—and increasingly
international—market for talented and skilled employees and therefore needs an efficient Human
Resources system to recruit, retain, and manage such employees; and
WHEREAS the “Report on the Recommendations of the President’s Task Force on Human
Resources” dated January 15, 2008, states that such a system does not currently exist; and
WHEREAS the Report recommends that the University:
· gain greater direct control over positions classified as SPA—that is, career civil service
positions that fall within and are currently governed by the State Personnel Act;
· once again expand the EPA Non-faculty
classification that it already essentially controls,
the existence of which has created a dual HR system within the University, and
· initiate 17 other listed changes in how personnel matters are handled; and
WHEREAS the Report recommends effecting these changes by adding a 16 th article to the
statute that set up the State Personnel System (NCGS 126), which article would provide for
setting up a “substantially equivalent” University-wide HR system whose exact parameters are
not specified; and
WHEREAS the wording of the final version of Article 16
· fails to affirm and support the legally defined property interest of career state (SPA)
employees in their positions, property interest being a strong factor in staff retention;
· gives greater position classification control to the new system, which opens the door for
current and future University employees potentially to be “(re)classified out of” their
career status—(re)classification for the purpose of creating a larger atwill
workforce having been recommended by three of the Task Force subcommittees;
and thus
· appears to weaken the protections that would remain to SPA employees under Article 8,
where employment protections for career employees are established; and
WHEREAS several of the 17 other proposed changes appear to focus on the management of
faculty and EPA Non-faculty positions (not SPA positions), focus on the need for or
redistribution of money, or focus on actions that can be done even within the current HR system
(such as looking for ways to reduce duplicate paper reporting requirements), and the passage of
Article 16 is not necessary for any of these; and
WHEREAS the second report on Personnel System efficiency and effectiveness commissioned
by the Government Performance Audit Committee, GPAC II, has valuable information and
suggestions for improving the State Personnel System as a whole, which would benefit the entire
State workforce rather than just one segment of it; and
WHEREAS the recommendations for management and cost efficiencies that were submitted by
employees to General Administration in the wake of the 2006 PACE Report appear to have been
ignored in the rush to frame a rationale for removal of the University System from key parts of
the State Personnel Act via the passage of Article 16; and
WHEREAS the UNC-Chapel Employee Forum is already receiving negative reports about the morale lowering
effects the proposed HR changes will have on the current staff working in the
University System;
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Employee Forum of UNC-Chapel Hill cannot at this
time support the passage of Article 16 and the subsequent implementation of a purportedly
“substantially equivalent” HR system as outlined in the 2008 HR Task Force Report; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that at this time the Employee Forum supports remaining
completely within the State Personnel System and working to make the kinds of changes from
within the System that will make it a more efficient and effective organization for all civil
service employees statewide; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Employee Forum of The University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill requests that the Chancellor and his Administration convey and support the precepts
of this resolution and the position of the Employee Forum to the University’s General
Administration and the North Carolina General Assembly.
Signed on behalf of the delegates of the Employee Forum,
Chair, Ernie Patterson