July 10, 2008 Provost/Vice Chancellor Meeting

              Vice Chancellor Dick Mann opened the meeting.  Forum Chair Tommy Griffin welcomed guests.  Forum Vice Chair Brenda Denzler, James Holman, Forum Chair Emeritus Ernie Patterson, Mary Campbell, Alan Moran, Forum Treasurer Marshall Dietz, Associate Vice Chancellor Carolyn Elfland, Faith Thompson, Myra Quick, Mike McQuown, Marc ter Horst, Odessa Davis, Associate Vice Chancellor Brenda Malone and David Fraley all introduced themselves. 

              Patterson advanced the idea to create a brickyard to recognize employees’ years of service.  He thought that bricks recognizing employees could be procured for $26 a brick.  Mann asked about revamping longevity recognition programs.  Patterson said that there had been tentative support for the idea from South Building to use the ‘Y’ court. 

              Holman thanked Elfland and her staff for meeting with housekeeping representatives.  He said that there had appeared to be some manipulation of the delegate selection process.  Elfland said that her office had sent out a charter for the committee with a cover memorandum stating how representatives would be picked.  She said that Chris Payne and Mike Freeman would co-chair the committee.  She thought that some areas had selected its members prematurely in a way that administrators did not intend.  She said that five housekeeping employees would serve along with five administrators.  The areas could use secret ballots to select representatives if they wished. 

              Elfland said that individual zone members could select who they wanted but should pick someone willing to come to meetings and express opinions.  Holman said that it seemed that zones were picking two people from each zone with a final weeding out of one of the two candidates.  Elfland disagreed.  Fraley noted that he had been told that Forum members could not be representatives of that group, and then later had heard that Forum members could serve.  Elfland said that Forum membership was not a criteria.  Instead, members should be an equal number of supervisory and non-supervisory employees.    She said that she had asked units to come up with a method to form the committee after the July 4 holiday, stating that the membership should be wide open.  She had also sent a memo to every housekeeper.  Patterson noted the importance of agreeing on common facts.  He thanked Elfland for sending the memo to every housekeeper.  Elfland said that each zone manager should have printed out the selection procedures and handed them to lien housekeepers. 

              Griffin noted that several years ago the University and the Forum had entered a collaborative effort to improve health insurance for state employees.  He recalled that the University and the State of North Carolina had lagged behind other southern states and peer institutions.  He recalled problems with various leaders of the State Health Plan.  He also noted the proposal to devote a portion of money devoted to salary increases to provide for the State Health Plan.  Mann remarked that he could not understand how some families manage to pay $450/month for family coverage under the Plan.  He noted that retiree health insurance also presents a concern.  Malone said that the State requires agency to focus on wellness initiatives.  Moran suggested that the University supplement the gym access for employees during the summertime.  Dietz noted the longstanding copayment requirement.  Patterson insisted on transparency in the State Health Plan’s financial dealings and administrative decisions. 

              Malone noted that she had been asked to work with General Administration on health plan concerns such as focus on possible modifications to the health savings plan.  Mann noted that a federal tax law prevents employees from carrying their health savings plan (NC Flex) balance from year to year.  Denzler suggested a sliding scale for University employees using UNC Hospitals.  Mann noted that big medical centers had set up a special program for their employees previously but had run into legal problems with discounting bills in this way.  Malone noted that the University typically has a healthier workforce than other State agencies.  Mann noted the financial pressures that hospitals across the nation face.  He also said that hospitals cannot offer differential benefits because their contracts with insurance companies require that they offer the best possible rates to all their policy holders. 

              Mann noted that the transit task force would have its first meeting July 15.  Malone said that thanks to the Forum, many departments had begun to change their mind about instituting a four-day, ten-hour a day workweek.  Some departments will still find such a schedule impractical.  McQuown noted that the State of Utah has implemented a mandatory four day work week. 

              Mann raised the holiday issue, recalling that on Christmas and New Year’s the University is officially closed.  He noted that at NC State University, that campus stays closed through those two holidays.  He asked what employees at UNC-Chapel Hill might think of a version of that for 2009 or 2010.  Malone described various combinations of holidays and vacation days.  Mann said that the University needed to make a decision in this area by next month.  Moran said that such a decision should be left up to the departments, not to the entire University. 

              Griffin said that he hoped these meetings would continue to improve communication throughout the University.  He said that he looked forward to working with Chancellor Thorp and others on these concerns. 

                                                                          Respectfully submitted,

                                                                          Matt Banks, Recording Secretary