Employee Forum elects new officers

The Employee Forum held elections for the offices of chairperson, vice chairperson, secretary, treasurer and parliamentarian on Wednesday. With the exception of the position of secretary, all candidates ran unopposed. 

They also gave out awards and said farewell to outgoing chairperson Charles Streeter. 

What happened? 

Shayna Hill, the outgoing treasurer and a delegate from the Department of Dental Ecology, will serve as the new chairperson of the Employee Forum. Tiffany Carver, Naquan Hill and Katie Turner will serve their first terms as the forum's secretary, treasurer and parliamentarian, respectively. Kathy Ramsey will continue to serve as the vice chairperson

Kay Wijnberg Hovious Outstanding Delegate Awards were given out to Kathy Ramsey, Katie Musgrove and Shayna Hill. Outgoing delegates  were presented with certificates.

 Who talked?

Incoming Secretary Carver was nominated on the floor by Turner to run for the position, which had previously been an uncontested race for incumbent Kathy James. After Carver's nomination, both candidates had the opportunity to give some brief remarks. 

"So I don't have a whole lot to say. I have been involved on the forum for several years on and off and kind of been nudged towards trying some type of leadership position," Carver said. "I'm not sure exactly what all the role of secretary entails. I will say that if I'm elected to that, I will take it seriously and I will support the forum and employees as best I can in whatever role is needed."

James said if she was elected she would enjoy her second term in the position.

"I would like you all to consider keeping me as secretary because I enjoy doing this and I like UNC and I've been here 21 years, so I know everybody," she said. 

Linc Butler, associate vice chancellor for human resources, presented an update focused on potential state employee salary increases within the proposed state budgets. 

"It sounds like that there is high activity trying to get an approved budget by the end of the week," Butler said. "Obviously, a lot could happen between now and then, so we'll keep you updated on how that shakes out."

The North Carolina governor, Senate and House budgets all have some form of pay increase in their proposals. The NC House is also proposing to implement five days of special leave.

Outgoing chairperson Charles Streeter and outgoing parliamentarian Philip Edwards' terms officially ended at the close of the June meeting. Outgoing secretary James will remain on the forum as a delegate until the end of her term in 2019.

Streeter didn't have any closing remarks concerning his time as chairperson, but he did have a closing song. A theater enthusiast with credits at PlayMakers Repertory Company, he sang a brief section of the opera "Roman Fever."

Why is this important? 

The Chairperson of the Employee Forum serves as a representative to the University Board of Trustees and serves as a liaison of the University's employees to its student body and administration. 

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