Employee Forum Seeks Voice on BOT

The position would be nonvoting because it is illegal for any state employee to hold a voting position on the BOT.

Employee Forum Chairman Tommy Griffin said employees were discussing their own proposal at the time the faculty passed theirs.

He said UNC-CH employees deserve a seat on the BOT to "have some input in the decision-making that goes on around here."

An employee representative would serve as a communication point to and from the BOT, he said. "We're looking for any avenue of communication we can get," Griffin said.

Griffin also said the forum would like to play a role in any campus organization or committee like the BOT. "We want to make sure we don't get left out."

Griffin said there are advantages to an employee seat on the BOT. He cited as an example how he and other employees would have liked to offer their input in the recent approval of a tuition hike by the BOT and the UNC-system Board of Governors.

"I think it would be positive having some staff representation on the Board of Trustees," said Employee Forum delegate Glenn Haugh.

The forum sent the resolution to Chancellor James Moeser for approval and has not yet received a response. If approved, the resolution must then go before the BOT and the BOG.

If these two bodies recommend the addition, it will be sent to the N.C. General Assembly for final consideration.

If employee representation was added to the BOT, it would mark the second University-specific group to be given a seat on the board. Students were given similar representation in 1972 with the passage of the Higher Education Reorganization Act, which gave an ex officio seat to the student body president.

"In my personal opinion, it has a real good chance (of passing)," Griffin said.

But Sen. Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, said no specific group should have representation on the BOT, whether representatives are added systemwide or by specific schools in the UNC system.

Rand previously has said that to add a representative, the Higher Education Reorganization Act would have to be amended. This act created one governing board to oversee and set policies for all 16 schools in the UNC system.

"I think the board should be those who are responsible for running the institution and not have different interest groups running it," Rand said. "The board is there to represent those interest groups, and it should certainly take into consideration their interests based on what they want."

He said he also would oppose adding an employee member even if each school in the UNC system suggested it.

But Griffin remains hopeful that the forum's resolution will be approved even if it meets opposition. "I surely hope it passes and they'll give us a seat on the board," he said. "If not, we'll keep doing it until someone gives us a chance."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.