May 14, 2009 Provost Vice Chancellor Employee Forum minutes

              Vice Chancellor Dick Mann called the meeting to order.  A question arose as to whether Executive Committee members or Forum delegates generally were to attend these meetings.  Associate Vice Chancellor Carolyn Elfland said that the break room issue for housekeepers was being dealt with at the departmental level, and so should not be addressed in this meeting.  She said that break area space was not common area space.  She also said that housekeepers were not being asked to reveal their medications.  Instead, that issue had to do with moving lockers.  Steve Hutton said he had raised the issue to obtain clarification of something he had heard among the housekeepers. 

              Mary Campbell raised a question about the budget office wanting money in reserve for permanent employees that departments do not have.  Elfland explained that this was a state policy requiring a computer solution.  She said that this had been a problem in prior years.  Campbell said that departments need to find money to work around the issue.  Elfland said that this is something that the University or the State needs to address to prevent departments from losing valued personnel. 

              Tommy Griffin raised the subject of a community garden for valued employees.  He noted that there is a need for running water to supply the garden.  He also said that the area will probably need a fence to keep out deer, but that Town of Chapel Hill historical district concerns will govern the design of the fence.  It was suggested that Griffin contact Janice Ashley or others in Bruce Runberg’s office for assistance.

              Associate Vice Chancellor Brenda Malone updated the group on the furlough mechanics, particularly that the furlough will apply regardless of funding source.  SPA employees will sacrifice .5% of their salary over 3 pay periods, while EPA employees will sacrifice over 2 pay periods.  Mann said that the House had found that the fundamentals of the upcoming budget are much worse.  He said that the chances of obtaining a new budget by July 1 are not likely. 

              Mann said that the Bain Corporation continues its work and would likely publish a report by July.  Griffin said that the Forum generally tries to get representatives from all nine divisions in each Provost/Vice Chancellor meetings but has not restricted itself to the Executive Committee.  Aluoch Ooro asked about employees funded solely by federal grants and what would happen with their furloughed monies.  Mann said that the principal investigator of each department would have authority to determine what to do with this money . 

              Marc ter Horst asked about audit details.  Mann said that much depends on whether federal, state or internal audits apply.  He said that audits are not necessarily a bad thing, as they help prepare for new processes and ideally help prevent problems. 

                                                                          Respectfully submitted,

                                                                          Matt Banks, Recording Secretary