November 2021 Constituent Updates

Here are some updates from the November 3, 2021 Staff Senate general session:

There were four appointments made for vacant senate seats and alternate positions. 

  • District 8-University Advancement- Maura Conyngham (term ends June 2022)
  • District 12- Nikki Evans (term ends June 2022)
  • District 51-Gerald Cobb and Tarasa Jackson (alternate) (terms will end June 2023)

Jameco McKenzie was appointed as Chair of Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Administrative Update 

Margaret Erickson, Assistant Vice Chancellor for HR Operations

Still waiting on budget approval, but still have no updates on that. 

There is a new Associate Vice Chancellor of Human Resources, Timothy J. Danielson. Tim will be joining NC State on January 31, 2022.

If you have any federal Mandate questions please contact covidresources@ncsu.edu

Resolutions

Twenty-percent rule resolution with no motion for further discussion or debate, the resolution was voted on and via online and in-person vote. The resolution was unanimously adopted and passed. It will be forwarded to the University Staff Assembly. The resolution  specifically states that Staff Senate supports the UNC System Staff Assembly’s advocacy to the UNC System Office, OSHR(Office of State Human Resources), and the State Legislature, as needed, for the elimination of the approval process for SHRA salary increases of greater than 20% so UNC System institutions pay policies align with the intent of Executive Order 93

Vaccine Mandate resolution

A resolution in support of a campus COVID-19 mandate was presented for reading. The resolution was opened for discussion. After the first reading of the mandate, the mandate was approved with a majority vote in favor and will now go to the Chancellor. The resolution states that Staff Senate of NC State University supports a mandate for the COVID-19 vaccine for all students, faculty, and staff who have class or work responsibilities on campus, according to regulations for vaccine administration set by the FDA or vaccine manufacturer, subject only to medical or bona fide religious exceptions. 

Onboarding

Amy Grubbs, Onboarding Manager

The Onboarding Center opened in 2013 and supports all non-student campus employees when they come “onboard.” The mission of the Onboarding Center is to Provide Excellent Customer Service, Enhance Institutional Pride, and Maintain Positive Relationships. The center provides or facilitates most of a new employee’s initial experiences at NC State.

The center provides resources to both new employees and supervisors. including dynamic onboarding checklists and assists with offboarding of employees leaving NC State. 

The Onboarding Center provides additional experiences for current employees, too! The center helps coordinate engagement activities and tours like of the Belltower, Reynolds, Hunt Library, walking tours, the Nuclear Reactor and the JC Raulston Arboretum to name some of the most popular. The center is always looking for new experiences to share. Are there cool items, activities, or research within your district/department/unit that Onboarding can showcase that you’d like to suggest? If you have something you’d like to share, contact onboarding or your senator.  There were a few great ideas shared in person at the November meeting like the new Dairy Education facility and Creamery, University Police tour, the Murphy Center, Stewart Theatre, hallowed places walking tour, steam plant tours-if you have ideas, please share them! Look for upcoming tours in the “Howl You Know” newsletter. The Employee Resources page is available in both the Onboarding and HR sites and helps you “Get Connected” with great activities for new and current employees. You can also find affinity groups that you can use to connect to specific groups on campus.

Food Pantry

Maddy Smith, Feed the Pack Americorps VISTA

Feed the Pack is the on-campus food pantry and is here to combat food insecurity at NC State. The mission of the Feed the Pack Food Pantry is to meet the food needs of our campus community with dignity and respect. It’s located in the Quad Commons Building 2221 Dunn Avenue. The Pantry not only provides food, but other household products, and is open to everyone in our campus community with just a swipe of your allcampus card.

In a 2021 study, 23% of students have experienced food insecurity-equal to 8,000 students and that’s bigger than the size of the income first-year class. This number is up from 2018, where 14% of the student population had experienced food insecurity. The pantry continues to give out more food than is donated. In 2020, due in part to monetary donations, the pantry was able to begin purchasing food in addition to receiving donations. The pantry started a produce purchasing program which allows the pantry to purchase some items in bulk, and works with other farms in the area. Unfortunately  this program is not fully sustainable.

You can get involved in a number of ways if you want to help. The Pack Shelves program is back and lets a department choose a “shelf” to collect specific food, like a pasta shelf, or a breakfast shelf. If you’d like to donate in general, there is a “most needed items” list posted weekly on the website. Donations can be made via a collection bin outside the pantry location, Amazon wishlist, and monetary donations (Automatic payroll deduction-consistent, sustainable support is an available option). If you are bringing a large donation or perishable food items, please do so during open hours. You can volunteer your time too too! Volunteering requires a short 30-minute virtual volunteer training and the pantry really needs volunteers during break, coming up (November 22 thru January 10). Volunteer, Donate, Contribute.

Chair’s Report

Helen DiPietro, Chair, Staff Senate

Several officers attended the UNC Staff Assembly meeting. Pat Gaddy, past Chair, was elected a Delegate at Large and Janice Sitzes, past Chair, was elected Secretary.

Several senators and the Chair planted flags at the Court of North Carolina in honor of Veterans Day.

Chair DiPietro is preparing for her next BOT presentation this month. Expect to see some information about a couple of employee appreciation opportunities coming up soon.  

New Business:

Scooter Safety on Campus:

Staff Senate will be creating an ad-hoc committee to work on Scooter Safety on campus.

Implementation of Onboarding Committee for new Senators recommendations:

The previous ad hoc committee chair is unable to work with the implementation of the recommendations from the committee, so a new ad hoc committee will be formed.

Service drives start on Monday November 8. The service drives include food drives, winter clothing drives and Toys for Tots. Look for more information from your Senators with specific dates for drop off locations/times and new ways to donate like Amazon delivery addresses on campus.

Mental Health First Aid– Vice Chair Jill Phipps sharing information about this new program as one of NC State’s first participants! Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an eight-hour training program designed to help you develop essential skills to help someone experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge. The training helps you identify, understand and respond to signs of addictions and mental illness. The MHFA workshop is available as a single full-day session or as two half-day sessions. Funding for the program comes from the University of North Carolina System and allows NC State to offer MHFA workshops at no cost to participants. 

Computer Loan Program

The Computer Loan Program is constantly interested in acquiring more laptop computers to use for the program. The program utilizes computers that are not End of Life (EOL) to give employees that meet the criteria the opportunity to check-out a computer and build their computer skills. If your unit or department is considering surplusing computers that are not EOL-consider sending those computers to the Computer Loan Program. The Program may even be able to accept your gently used personal computer, if it’s not considered EOL, too! If you have computers to donate, please contact computerloan@ncsu.edu

Faculty & Staff Ombuds Office

Roy Baroff, NC State Faculty & Staff Ombuds

Please feel free to reach out for any help or guidance concerning key areas of how to navigate/empower/connect/coach. Roy is available at 919-515-7685.

Please join us for the next Staff Senate general session on December 1, 2021, from 10 a.m.- 12 p.m. via secure Zoom or in-person in Talley Student Union. General Sessions are open to all NC State staff.  Contact your staff senator for the Zoom meeting link as we draw closer to the meeting date. 

We are happy for the opportunity to serve you in the Staff Senate. If you should have any questions or concerns you would like Staff Senate to address, please feel free to contact your District Staff Senators: https://staffsenate.ncsu.edu/about/find-your-senator/ 

Please click here to watch the recording