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Moeser responds to forum's call


Members of the Employee Forum said last month they wanted the entire campus to get a chance to see more of Chancellor James Moeser. At their April 4 meeting, they learned the chancellor was more than happy to oblige when he can.

Chair John Heuer announced that Moeser has agreed to hold a campuswide community meeting this spring and that the chancellor plans to use the occasion to introduce two new members of his senior staff, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Robert Shelton and Nancy Suttenfield, vice chancellor for finance and administration.

The forum now typically sponsors meetings each fall and spring that address current issues of campus interest. While administrators attend those meetings to make presentations and answer questions, they have not routinely included the chancellor.

But Moeser's appearance at a community meeting last fall went so well that members said they wanted the chancellor to hold more such gatherings, which are open to all employees.

At the Oct. 26 meeting, Moeser was accompanied by his top administrators. Together, they talked about the importance of the upcoming election on the statewide bonds and also on the importance of the contributions that staff make to the University on a daily basis.

In another April 4 matter, the forum reviewed the first reading of a resolution in support of fare-free bus service for Chapel Hill Transit.

In its resolution, the forum outlined arguments for fare-free bus service, including the immediate need to find a way to bring faculty, staff and students into campus over the next five years when thousands of parking spaces will be lost for use because of building construction.

University students voted in February to raise student fees to support and partially fund fare-free transit service for the towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro. The students' contribution would take effect in the fall of 2002.

Suttenfield, who appeared at the forum's April 4 meeting, said the University is now discussing fare-free transit with the towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro. She said the administration is "very optimistic that we will have some form of fare-free transit in the foreseeable future," if not next fall then in the fall of 2002.

The forum resolution said the fare-free service would increase bus usage on campus and off and would provide the most substantial financial benefit to lower-paid employees, faculty, students and town residents who rely or on the bus service for transportation.

The resolution must go through two readings before the forum can officially approve it.


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