DRAFT

Resolution 08-06 Concerning Staff Priorities in
the Next Development Campaign at UNC-Chapel Hill

Proposed Resolution of the Employee Forum

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

1.    WHEREAS, the Mission of the Employee Forum is to constructively address the concerns of the Employees of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, including the presentation of staff concerns to University officials, University General Administration and the citizenry of North Carolina;

2.    WHEREAS, the University is currently drafting the development plan for a new cycle of fundraising activities; and

3.  WHEREAS, the previous Carolina First campaign, though extremely successful, did not contain any initiatives directly relevant to the needs and concerns of staff employees; and

4.  WHEREAS, future development campaigns would be more beneficial for the University as a whole if they incorporated fundraising goals that benefit the wider campus community; and

5.  WHEREAS, staff employees are an important demographic group within the University community and are regularly invited to contribute financially to the University’s development efforts;

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Employee Forum respectfully requests Chancellor Holden Thorp, Vice Chancellor for Development Matthew Kupec, and the University Development Office include a minimum of two fundraising initiatives that would directly benefit staff employees in the next University development campaign. 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that among the funded initiatives staff would like to see are:

Education Initiatives

1.  Funding for the proposal developed by an ad hoc faculty committee in 2007 to provide free in-state, UNC system college tuition to the children of all permanent, full-time faculty and staff. 

2.  Funding for the Family Scholarship Fund sufficient to enable it to annually support 100 students of permanent, full-time faculty and staff

3.  Funding to double the number of internships available in the Basic Clerical Skills Program

4.  Establishing a fund to provide a permanent high-quality apprenticeship training program for the skilled trades on campus. 

5.  Establishing a fund to provide tuition cost offsets for the spouses and partners of permanent, full-time staff and faculty, thus effectively reducing the cost of tuition for them. 

Work-Life Initiatives

1.  Establishing an affordable housing program for UNC staff employees similar to the EmPOWERment, Inc. program in Chapel Hill, which works to increase affordable, working-class housing by competing with investors to purchase and renovate existing homes and build new homes for sale to low and middle-income families. 

2.  Funding to provide increased subsidies for the vanpool and carpool programs in order to increase their number, make them more affordable to staff employees and more attractive as a commuting option. 

3.  Funding a UNC Quality Child Care Tuition Assistance Program that provides up to $5,000 per year, per family, for permanent faculty and staff employees with total family incomes under $60,000, to help make quality child care provided by licensed providers affordable. (modeled after the NIH Child Care Subsidy Program benefit for employees.)

4.  Expanding the Employee Assistance program to serve more individuals, with a higher loan limit, and a longer repayment period. 

5.  Establishing a campus-based elder care facility for the aging parents (or spouses) of faculty and staff. 

Signed on behalf of the Delegates of the Employee Forum,

Tommy Griffin, Chair