The Voice - The Staff Senate Newsletter, Spring 2003 Issue

Compiled by the Staff Senate Public Relations Committee

Annis Barbee
Amy Davis
DJ Lane
Penny Lewter
Lisa Miles
Joye Stephenson
Deborah Vivod

Senior Editor Janny Flynt, Chair

Design Editors Phyllis Jernigan
Judie Marns

Staff Senate Homepage: www.ncsu.edu/staff_senate/

Questions? Comments? staff_senate@ncsu.edu

Did You Know?

Congratulations to the January 2003 Pride of the Wolfpack Award winners. The Pride of the Wolfpack Award program is an "on the spot" award designed to recognize NC State employees for a special or unique contribution to their college/unit or the University. The Pride of the Wolfpack Award program is funded by TIAA-CREF. In January, four colleges granted twenty-one awards, including a $20 gift certificate to each receipient, as follows: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (10 winners), the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (7 winners), the College of Engineering (3 winners) and the College of Textiles (1 winner).

To find out more about the program, please go to http://www2.acs.ncsu.edu/hr/pwa.html! If you have questions, please contact your college/unit coordinator or Rob Stevenson at 515-4282.

University Awards for Excellence Luncheon

The 2003 University Awards for Excellence Luncheon will be held at 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday, May 28th at the McKimmon Center. The 45 nominees from across campus will be honored at the luncheon, and five distinguished employees will be named University Awards for Excellence winners. Tickets for the luncheon are $7 and will be on sale from April 14, 2003 through May 19, 2003. Please see your unit coordinator to purchase tickets or call Laurie Dean at 515-4295. For more information, including a complete luncheon menu, please go to: www.ncsu.edu/hr/awardsa.html.

Legislative Update from Chancellor Fox

As the 2004 Legislative Session begins, members of the General Assembly are facing a multitude of difficult decisions that will not only affect the future of NC State University, but the future of North Carolina. Fifty-two members of the 170-member body are new to the General Assembly. Many of these members are also new to NC State. In order for NC State to continue to move forward, it is critical for us to educate these individuals on our mission.

It is important to meet with as many members of the General Assembly as I can. It is preferable to meet with them in their home districts in order to listen and understand the issues surrounding their communities. This will allow us to determine how NC State can better serve their particular region of the State. We are the largest institution of higher learning in the State. Unlike any of the other universities in our state, we have a physical presence in all 100 counties. It is our duty to inform all members of the General Assembly of this presence, and our duty to serve the citizens of these counties by assisting them in solving problems.

As stated, legislators are in store for one of the most difficult sessions in recent history. Of the many issues the Legislature will be addressing, the one that is of primary concern for NC State is the state budget. The General Assembly will be addressing another budgetary shortfall for the 2004 fiscal year. Projections of this shortfall have been as high as $2.0 billion. This figure represents approximately 13.8% of the $14.5 billion State Budget. Very much like last year, NC State will have to address this budgetary shortfall per the direction of the General Assembly. Undoubtedly, reductions will have to be made. My efforts will be focused on keeping these reductions to a minimum. There are a number of budget-related items that are of concern to our University. I have highlighted two of these items below.

One item that not only affects NC State, but the entire University System, is that of faculty and staff salary increases. Due to the recent budget problems, the General Assembly has not been able to grant adequate legislative salary increases to faculty and staff. It is critical for us to provide salary increases to members of our university community on a regular basis. Recruiting the best faculty and staff for NC State University has become more and more difficult. Competition is fierce between Research I institutions. Being able to offer salary increases is necessary for this University to continue to move forward as a leader in education and research. NC State University, along with the overall UNC System, will be working with the General Assembly this session to address this concern.

A second issue revolves around protecting funds related to overhead receipts (indirect costs). Over the past couple of years, the General Assembly has contemplated using these funds to assist in balancing the budget. Recognizing that research requires necessary administrative, facilities, and other expenses above the direct costs of a specific project, federal agencies as well as other foundations, nonprofits, and commercial entities have included a portion of funds to assist in offsetting these additional costs. NC State relies heavily on these funds to help support the cost of building, operating, or leasing facilities for the research enterprise of the University. Research awards by NC State University faculty support projects that address human health, agriculture, education, national defense, as well as a number of other areas that are critical to the nation and North Carolina’s economy. In order for the University, and its faculty and students to continue to be in the business of education as well as an engine for the economy, we must maintain the current level of overhead receipts.

These are just two of many items that NC State will be focusing on in the upcoming legislative session. It is important to state that I recognize the difficulties the members of the General Assembly will have in regard to addressing the budget shortfall. I will be working closely with the legislators in helping to educate them on the importance of the many items of interest to NC State. There are no easy solutions for our elected officials. Although this may be the case, I believe it is NC State University’s duty to reach out and provide the necessary assistance and resources to the General Assembly, so we all can develop innovative solutions to the challenge.

Staff Senate Chair Report, April 17, 2003

The 3rd quarter has been a busy time for the Staff Senate. We have continued our work on our Crime Stoppers initiative. A Crime Stoppers representative met with our committee on March 18th and we hope to have the program up and running by the end of April. We are pleased that we have the cooperation of the Student Senate in this effort.

Another area that has been targeted for improvement is to develop a permanent means of communicating with the County Extension Secretaries. This has been an area of great concern for the past year. We have determined a method that will be used in the future to eliminate gaps in communicating with this sector of the SPA population.

The election process has begun for this year’s elections. The nomination forms have been distributed and we are now proceeding with the verification and confirmation process. We hope to mail ballots out no later than May 1st.

A new item that has come to the attention of the Senate concerns Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Several members of the SPA staff have expressed concern over the fact that we are scheduled to work on these days of observance. After a discussion of the Executive Committee regarding this concern, we came to the realization that there is no university wide observance of these holidays. It is the recommendation of the Executive Committee that the Staff Senate work with the Chancellor’s Office, Human Resources, and the University’s ROTC programs to establish a permanent university observance for these holidays. It is our opinion that in light of current events that these holidays receive the recognition they deserve. Although we cannot effect change regarding holiday scheduling we do feel that a service of remembrance would be an appropriate and feasible way to honor our veterans and current servicemen and women.

Respectfully submitted: Natalie Worth, Staff Senate Chair

"NC State Listens" by Chancellor Marye Anne Fox

It’s certainly no secret that NC State University has a strong presence in all 100 of North Carolina’s counties though the Cooperative Extension Service, Industrial Extension Service, research stations, 4-H centers and university forests spreading from Murphy to Manteo. NC State touches people in their hometowns every day fostering partnerships with individuals and communities to solve problems. It’s our legacy.

But it’s not enough to simply have a presence in these areas. It’s not enough to continue to offer our assistance and advice to farmers, homemakers, industry CEOs, engineers, textile executives and backyard gardeners.

Periodically we at NC State need to pause long enough to listen. We need to hear what the people of our state are saying about the needs of their communities, about changes in the business world and in technology, changes on the farm, changes that should be made in how we educate the leaders of tomorrow. We need to listen so we can continue that legacy of achieving results that make a difference for our state.

This spring we have begun a series of visits to smaller cities and towns in the state that we’re calling "NC State Listens". During these daylong visits I will be convening "Listening Roundtables" co-sponsored by local Chambers of Commerce. At these roundtables we hope that business, government and educational leaders will tell us about the important issues that are facing communities around the state. We hope to learn how NC State might be of greater service to these communities and how we can work together to ensure a brighter economic future for our state.

In the process we hope to renew and strengthen the connection that our state’s citizens already feel for NC State, as well as the connections NC State has with our sister UNC institutions and the Community College System.

We’ll listen, we’ll learn and then we’ll put our best efforts into finding solutions to the challenges that face our state’s communities. That’s always been what NC State does best - - help people solve problems.

A "Listening Roundtable" was convened on Jan. 30 in Wilson, co-sponsored by the Wilson Chamber of Commerce, where more than 30 local leaders and school officials discussed topics as varied as the tobacco buyout to ways to recruit new industry to the area.

We’ll be scheduling future events throughout the spring in Gastonia, where we’ll hear about the changes taking place in the textile industry, Waynesville, and right here at home in Wake County. Other towns will be added to the list as well.

As we face what will know will be a difficult budget year for our state, we want to make sure that our state’s taxpayers know that the investment they have made in our educational system is paying dividends not only in education but in public service across our state.