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Academic Plan Task Force membersRobert Shelton, executive vice chancellor and provost Darryl Gless, senior associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Steve Allred, associate provost for academic initiatives Harry Amana, professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication Ned Brooks, professor in the School of Public Health Linda Carl, assistant provost for educational programs Ray Dooley, Chair of the Department of Dramatic Art Arturo Escobar, professor with the Department of Anthropology Sue Estroff, chair of the faculty Frances Ferris, senior majoring in international studies Rebecca Frucht, junior in political science Elizabeth Gibson, professor in the School of Law Carol Jenkins, director of the Health Sciences Library Joseph Jordan, director of the Sonja Haynes Stone Black Cultural Center Gary Lloyd, coordinator with the University Registrar Jerry Lucido, director of undergraduate admissions and vice provost Laurie Mesibov, professor with the School of Government Britt Mize, graduate student with the Department of English Gene Orringer, executive associate dean of faculty affairs with the School of Medicine David Reeve, professor with the Department of Philosophy Stephanie Schmitt, a graduate student in the School of Goverment MPA Program Linda Spremulli, professor in the Department of Chemistry Ron Strauss, chair of the Department of Dental Ecology Rich Superfine, professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy |
Five down. Fifty-two to go.
That's where Carolina stands with its building program being funded by the higher education bonds.
The recent opening of Murphey Hall, following extensive renovations, marked the fifth bond project completed here since North Carolina voters in November 2000 approved $3.1 billion in capital improvements at UNC system schools and community colleges. Carolina is receiving about $510 million of that amount. The other four bond projects that have been finished are the Bioinformatics Building, the third phase of the Carolina Living and Learning facility, the third phase of the South Chiller Plant and renovations to R. B. House Undergraduate Library.
Under way are another eight projects, including an addition to the School of Public Health and preparations for the first phase of the Science Complex. And yet another 26 projects are under design.
All of that adds up to almost 80 percent of bond projects having at least reached the design phase.
"Overall the program is moving along well," said Bruce Runberg, associate vice chancellor for facilities. "We have a few projects that have slipped a little, but the vast majority are doing well."
According to Runberg, the completed projects came in on schedule and within budget, and so far it looks like those under construction will do so as well.
Seven projects now in design have been delayed because of factors such as changes to the scope of building plans and project sequencing. But given the overall size of the construction program, Runberg said he feels good about how it's going overall.
"It's important to understand that our capital program includes another 40 self-liquidating projects totaling more than $600 million," he said. "All of the projects comprise one very complex $1.1 billion program.
"Maintaining schedule is a complicated process as there are so many dependencies. None the less, we are maintaining excellent headway."
Planning for projects' infrastructure -- such as water and electrical systems -- has added time to schedules, as has involving the campus community in deciding how building designs should match programming needs.
But those efforts have been worth it, Runberg said.
"Much of the difficult front end macro-level planning is completed," he said. "This includes the Development Plan for the Town of Chapel Hill, a mini master plan for the Arts Common, stormwater and utilities studies, to name a few. This effort will pay dividends in the future, as we will have critical data to better plan each of the individual projects."
Runberg also said Facilities Services will be beefing up its staff in the coming weeks, with positions including someone whose sole job will be to make sure that projects are scheduled in such a way that they won't interfere with one another.
A study of Runberg's division supported the need for the additional staff as well as developed a way to pay them.
"That means we will be able to keep our collective noses above the water line," he said. "So all in all, I feel optimistic about our ability to perform well."
And he praised the employees already on board, saying they "do such a magnificent job, day in and day out."
The audience usually shows up for the main meetings of the University's Board of Trustees. It is at these meetings of the full board where all official decisions are made.
But the nitty-gritty discussion -- the give-and-take exchanges that drive the decisions that will be made by the full board a day later -- almost always occurs in committee, with fewer people on hand to watch.
The Jan. 22 meeting of the University Affairs Committee turned out to be an exception.
Present were UNC System President Molly Corbett Broad and Sue Estroff, the chair of the faculty. Also present were Chancellor James Moeser and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Robert Shelton.
Estroff was there at the invitation of Russell "Rusty" Carter, committee chair.
Last year, the full board had rejected a joint request from the Faculty Council and Employee Forum to allow a non-voting representative from both the faculty and staff to sit on the full board.
In turning down the request, Carter and other trustees had said they would try to find alternative ways to seek and gain the perspective of faculty and staff. The invitation to Estroff, he said, was sent in that spirit.
And Estroff didn't waste the opportunity. She began her remarks by saying she found it strange to be saying she was glad to be at a meeting, but that she welcomed the chance to participate and "looked forward to an ongoing, constructive relationship" between faculty and trustees.
The committee itself is almost as new as Estroff's invitation to sit on it, having been created last fall when trustee committees were reconfigured into four groups. University Affairs is responsible for academic degrees and programs; admissions; intercollegiate athletics; personnel and salary administration; student conduct, activities and government; student financial aid; and student services.
Or, as Carter described it at the Jan. 22 meeting, "We have everything that is not bricks and money -- the heartbeat of the University."
But as the two-hour meeting unfolded, Estroff and Broad found themselves driving the discussion on several key fronts, including the threat posed to the University because of the widening gap in faculty salary between public and private research universities.
The group also touched on a range of other issues, from the status of the academic plan to pay inequities for woman faculty and what should be done to remedy them to the reasons behind campus-based tuition increases.
Philip "Phil" Carson, a trustee, ignited a discussion on campus-based tuition increases when he said he opposed them philosophically because using them lets state legislators off the hook. They have a responsibility under the state constitution to supply the financial support needed for higher education.
The debate, at least this year, is theoretical because the UNC Board of Governors voted last month to freeze all campus-based tuition increases for the 2003-04 academic year.
Carson argued that parents' pay taxes to the state to support higher education; therefore, their child should not be overcharged to pay for somebody else to attend.
Shelton responded to Carson by saying it was an "important, complicated and legitimate question" to ask.
But Shelton said an overriding consideration that the tuition task force considered was protecting access by using 40 percent of the revenues generated by tuition increases for need-based student aid.
Broad said this "hold-harmless" policy for needy students was a condition that the Board of Governors established when it began allowing campus-based tuition increases in the late 1990s.
These tuition increases have been called "Robin Hood money," she said, in that they draw money from families of students who can afford tuition increases based on their household income.
The average household income for a student attending Carolina is more than $80,000 -- an income much higher than the average North Carolina family.
Just as important for individual campuses, Broad said, is that all revenues from campus-based tuition increases stay on the campus where the increase was imposed. And each campus, through trustees and administrators, gets to decide how that money will be spent, she said.
Moeser pointed out that when the state General Assembly has passed tuition increases affecting the entire UNC system, it has done so without setting aside a portion of the revenues for need-based aid.
"The facts speak for themselves," Moeser said. "Oddly enough, through campus-based increases, we have actually increased the amount of need-based aid on this campus."
Statistics from the provost's office show that this formula has actually benefited low-income students by increasing the proportion of financial aid that they could receive in outright grants, which in the end decreased their loan indebtedness upon graduation.
Carter pointed out that the Board of Governors' freeze on tuition increases came at a bad time, at least for Carolina. This is the first year he could think of that there was strong support even among students to raise it, he said.
In regard to the study that indicates there may be a salary inequity at the University between women and their white male counterparts, Broad applauded the University for examining a problem many other universities share. The problem, Broad said, is that the state is not in a fiscal position to address it.
Broad said one factor that may explain the disparity is that traditionally women have not responded to outside offers in the same way men have because of family considerations.
At the same time, though, Broad said that the UNC system has made progress over the past 10 to 15 years in removing barriers for both women and minorities, resulting in a more diverse pool of people in the upper reaches of professorships and administration.
That diversity, she said, is a marvelous example for students.
Moeser noted that the same study that showed women were paid less compared to their white male counterparts showed that African-American faculty members were paid slightly more compared to white males.
"We've not heard a word of complaint about that," Moeser said.
Moeser said he and others are proud of the progress that has been made on this campus for recruiting, promoting and paying African-American professors. "We want to be able to speak with the same amount of pride in the area of gender," Moeser said.
Estroff and Broad began a different discussion about faculty pay; namely, the threat that non-competitive pay for all faculty could have on the future of the University if it is not corrected.
Estroff said many professors now at Carolina receive outside offers from other universities seeking to lure them away with more money. In many cases, a professor will choose to stay here if the counter-offer from Carolina will increase his or her pay half as much as the outside offer.
Faculty members choose to accept less money because of their deep loyalty and sense of affection for this place.
But future faculty may not have that same impulse, Estroff said. Broad agreed with her assessment.
"You have an important institution in your hands," Broad said. It is important because it is one of the few public research universities with the reputation and ability to compete with private research universities.
Private universities in the 1990s, fueled by private contributions that were leveraged by being invested in the long-running bull market, built reservoirs of capital that allowed them to offer ever-higher faculty salaries, Broad said.
These escalating salaries at private research universities, in turn, widened the salary gap between public and private institutions. And this salary gap poses a growing threat to the sustained excellence of universities such as Carolina as they compete to attract and keep talented faculty.
"Sue Estroff is absolutely correct," Broad said.
Special
to the "Gazette"
By
Chrys Bullard, Office of Development
It was supposed to be "a nice little lunch" at the Carolina Club.
"And it was!" Alice Cotten exclaimed. "Then Bill Whichard, president of the North Caroliniana Society, got up and read a resolution announcing the endowment in our names. When he finished, he asked us if we wanted to say a few words. Jerry and I were so startled, we couldn't say anything!"
The North Caroliniana Society established the $25,000 endowment in recognition of Alice and Jerry Cotten's service to the North Carolina Collection in Wilson Library. Lauded as "the memory of the department," by H.G. Jones, curator emeritus of the collection, Alice joined the library in 1973 and stepped down as reference historian in December. Jones credited Jerry, the collection's photographic archivist, with building "a disorganized jumble of photographs and negatives into one of the two largest iconographic archives in the state." Jerry joined the library in 1972 and retired effective this month.
"(The Cottens') collective six decades of service to the North Carolina Collection, and through the collection to the University and state, will probably never be exceeded," Whichard said.
The North Caroliniana Society promotes the knowledge and appreciation of North Carolina's historical, literary and cultural heritage. It is housed in the North Carolina Collection, the largest and most comprehensive repository in America of published materials relating to a single state. Interest from the endowment will support two of the Cottens' passions: the study of Thomas Wolfe and preservation of photographs related to the state.
"What brings me the most joy is how personal the endowment is," said Alice. "It's tied to things each of us is interested in."
Alice is a leader of the Thomas Wolfe Society and serves as president of the Historical Society of North Carolina. She edited Thomas Wolfe's "Composition Books" and "Always Yours, Max" and is a trustee of the Paul Green Foundation. One of her fondest memories comes from an encounter with a first edition of Wolfe's classic, "Look Homeward, Angel."
"A relative of Wolfe's in South Carolina called the North Carolina Collection and said she wanted to donate some books," Alice said. "I traveled down there with (retired assistant archivist) Frances Weaver and the woman handed us a copy of `Look Homeward, Angel.' It was a first edition. Inside was an inscription from Wolfe to his mother, dated just a couple of days before the novel's first publication. It said, `To my mother Julia E. Wolfe -- I present this copy of my first book with love and with hope for her happiness and long life. Thomas Wolfe, October 15, 1929.' It's a treasure."
Travel also helped Jerry make significant acquisitions for the collection.
"I went to New Bern to the antebellum house that (pioneering female photographer) Bayard Wooten was born in and lived in until she died," he said. "There, in her attic, were thousands and thousands of photographs dating from the 1930s. There were also photographs her father made in the 1800s. It was a treasure trove." Jerry wrote "Light and Air: the Photography of Bayard Wooten" published in 1998 by UNC Press.
The North Carolina Collection housed roughly 15,000 photos when Jerry joined the library. By his retirement, historic photos numbered more than 400,000. But more than acquisitions have changed in the North Carolina Collection over the years.
"When we started out in the collection, the department didn't even have an electric typewriter," said Jerry. "As we leave, the computer reigns. It's hard to imagine life without it."
"We've also enjoyed seeing our student assistants grow up and join the profession," adds Alice. "Many were with us throughout their four years at Carolina."
The Cottens' contributions to the North Carolina Collection have been equaled by their satisfaction with their jobs.
"I can't imagine having a job that I liked better or that I was better suited for," said Alice. "Who would think you could enjoy any job for 30 years?"
Most students who go to medical school want to help people. A large number of these medical students want to take their care of people beyond the exam room and help people in the communities where they live and work.
That impulse is reflected in the hundreds of Carolina medical students who routinely volunteer their time and talent and hearts to reach out to underserved people throughout Durham, Chatham and Orange counties every year. Indeed, a large percentage of the 50 recognized School of Medicine organizations and interest groups have community service as part of their mission statements.
Adam O. Goldstein, an associate professor in the University's Department of Family Medicine, has seen the passion and commitment of students firsthand as an adviser for SHAC, the Student Health Action Coalition, and the oldest student-run free medical clinic in the country.
Now a new $570,268 grant from the Bureau of Health Professions within the Department of Health and Human Services awarded to the Department of Family Medicine will help students and student organizations do an even better job of reaching out to communities.
The grant will support a program called Education for Lifelong Service (ELS).
"The ELS project is designed for those students who know they want to get involved in the community but don't know where to start," Goldstein said. Goldstein joined Lisa Slatt, Beat Steiner, Michelle Focier, Diane Calleson, Pam Frasier and Becky Hunter in the School of Medicine and Vicki Kowlowitz from the School of Nursing to write the grant. "It also will help existing student groups that want to improve their community projects but need mentorship and support," Goldstein said.
Slatt, an assistant professor with the Department of Family Medicine, will serve as the ELS coordinator.
She said part of the grant will support an office in the medical school's Office of Student Affairs that will put under one umbrella all the various volunteer initiatives already in place.
In this new position, Slatt will be responsible for helping to organize student volunteer efforts and making the best use of resources available to them to reach out to underserved communities.
There is a twofold benefit, she said. First, incoming students with a desire to volunteer can plug into an existing program. Second, various volunteer groups can work together to stretch their resources and manpower to reach more people and serve them better.
"The ELS program will raise the visibility of service with the medical school," Slatt said. "So many of the students who come to medical school arrive here wanting to do service and bring a great sense of altruism with them. This project just helps to foster that altruism."
Goldstein, who also advises for "Insight Out: A Journal of Community Service," believes that there is a great need not only to celebrate the school's commitment to service, but also to reflect on ways of improving the service to underserved communities. The grant will be officially launched to students and faculty on Feb. 15, Community Service Day at the School of Medicine, when student leaders are inducted into the Eugene Mayer Community Service Honor Society. The Mayer society celebrates outstanding student leaders and community physicians who dedicate volunteer time in caring for many societal problems.
The ELS grant will extend over a three-year period, with $197,219 allocated for this fiscal year; $192,199 for the 2003-04 fiscal year; and $180,850 for the 2004-05 fiscal year.
Besides the ELS office, a second major thrust of the ELS program will be directed at medical school curriculum.
Slatt said the ELS program seeks to remove the notion that community medicine is separate from clinical medicine. The best way to do that is to interweave the study of community medicine into mainline curriculum that all students will take regardless of their eventual specialty.
The additions to the curriculum will teach students how to be become familiar with the communities where their patients live and how the resources within those communities affect their ability to provide adequate treatment.
"By learning specific skills, and by supporting the application of these skills, medical students will feel more confident and effective about working with these populations when they begin practice," Slatt said.
The ELS program will institute a required curriculum for first- and second-year students covering four content areas:
* Knowledge and understanding of communities with an emphasis on care to the underserved;
* Cultural competence including an emphasis on social context in the delivery of care;
* Effective interaction with communities in order to meet health needs of underserved populations; and
* Effective leadership within communities.
Besides the required curriculum, a new elective in community leadership will be developed. A summer program, Working with the Underserved, is being revamped to give students training in medical Spanish before they begin their five-week community projects.
A motivational speaker series, Voices from the Community, will allow community leaders to speak with students about their programs. And project staff will identify communities with high-risk populations, such as older adults, the homeless and victims of domestic violence, to serve as training sites for students.
According to Georgette Dent, associate dean for student affairs in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, "The ELS program creates a win-win situation for the medically underserved across our state and for our students.
"By helping our students gain skills to serve these patients and experience the rewarding feeling of truly making a difference, we hope to instill an abiding commitment to service that will stay with our students throughout their careers."
The William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education, described since its early days as the "citizen's classroom," is set to offer its spring installment of an enrichment program for local citizens -- the Community Classroom Series.
Each course in the series, also open to Carolina faculty and staff, costs $100 and meets weekly for two-hour sessions at the Friday Center. Sample courses include "American Culture in the Era of Ragtime," "Shaping the Story: A Workshop in Fiction Writing," "Reconnecting with Family and Community History: An Oral History Workshop," "Hog Farms, Tobacco, and Wal-Mart: North Carolina's Economy" and "The Holy War For God: Warriors in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam."
This is the second program of community classrooms that has been offered through the Friday Center. The first program featured 11 courses in April of 2002.
Mary Morrison, continuing education specialist, said one thing people should be aware of is the high caliber of the professors who designed and will teach the courses. Qualified staff and alumni are teaching several courses as well.
"I feel like these faculty members are extending themselves to make these courses possible," Morrison said. "This is additional work for very little compensation. Many of them are truly approaching this as public service."
Morrison said the future of the program hinges on participation levels. If not enough people sign up to take courses, fewer professors will be as willing to teach them in the future.
"We have a commitment to serve the people in North Carolina and education is what we can bring to them," Morrison said. "These community classroom courses are wonderful opportunities for people to avail themselves of these incredible faculty, staff and alumni."
The courses are set in the evening to accommodate working people with families. There are suggested readings to facilitate discussion but no penalties for failing to do so. There are no grades, so what you get out of each course is what you went into it to learn.
For more information on course meetings, other available courses, or for registration information, visit www.fridaycenter.unc.edu/cni/ccs. htm or call Morrison at 843-4483.
Carolina faculty and staff will be able to take advantage of a new late-night bus service set to begin a pilot phase Feb. 6.
A student-led initiative called the Safe Ride Program, it will provide two routes running from Franklin Street, with one serving the Airport Road area up to Timberlyne and the other the Merritt Mill Road/Smith Level Road area to Rock Creek Apartments.
The fare-free buses will run on 30-minute round trips on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. through the end of this semester. Service will be provided through a special contract the Safe Ride Program has entered with Chapel Hill Transit, which will provide the two buses and drivers. The program is being funded under the auspices of Student Government with student fees devoted to transportation.
According to student organizers, the program's goal is to give students a safe and convenient way to get to downtown Chapel Hill and surrounding area businesses and resources. The service also aims to enhance pedestrian safety, as well as decrease commuter traffic and parking congestion.
Student organizers said the idea is to use Franklin Street as a late-night transportation hub, with the option of on-campus Point-to-Point (P2P) buses getting students there and picking them up and Safe Ride buses going back and forth to destinations beyond campus.
But while the Safe Ride Program targets students, faculty and staff stand to benefit as well. That's because the service also will be available to anyone who works late on campus, attends evening activities here or goes downtown at night. Local residents will be welcome to use the buses as well.
"Not only do we want to do something for our peers as representatives of the student body, we want to give something back to the community," said Sumit Gupta, a student government member who directs the program with Anup Dashputre, also a representative.
Future service may be offered after the pilot phase of Safe Ride is evaluated. The program is currently being paid for by the Safety and Security Committee of Student Government and by the University's Division of Student Affairs.
For more information about Safe Ride, see www.unc.edu/saferide or contact Dasphutre at (919) 260-1711, anupd@email.unc.edu.
Training has taken a new turn in the Finance Division with the addition of web-based training modules (WBTs) that should be available through the Internet some time in February.
These self-paced WBTs typically will cover five to seven topics including conceptual information, a built-in glossary, job aids, assessment questions that measure comprehension of key learning points, and online course critiques. Information is divided into understandable sections containing content overviews, explanations, demonstrations and simulations, and delivered to users without the use of a database or instructor. Interactive graphics will assist in determining your level of comprehension.
The three WBTs that are planned for a February launch are:
* Module 1, UNC-Chapel Hill Financial Resources
This course provides an overview of the financial resources available including financial functions, systems, and applications. The resources are divided into three main accounting functions: budgeting, spending and receipts, and reporting.
* Module 2, UNC-Chapel Hill Accounting
This course provides an introduction to basic accounting concepts and standard accounting terminology. Topics covered include: Carolina account code structure and an introduction to the types of funds.
* Module 3, UNC- Chapel Hill Funds Management
This course provides an introduction to funds management policies and procedures, including understanding the University's accounting cycle and accounting transactions, and information on the importance of preparing and monitoring a budget.
The WBT courses are designed to assist new employees as well as other employees who wish to strengthen their University accounting knowledge. Some course content will benefit support staff such as accounting technicians or processing assistants, while other information will be of value to University managers.
The WBTs will be available through Finance Central. Internet Explorer version 5.0 or higher is required to view the courses. An e-mail will be sent to the business managers listserv when the site is ready to be accessed. To sign up for the listserv, go to www.ais.unc.edu/bfhome/finance/ campus_training.htm. At the bottom of that page is the link for signing on to the business managers listserv.
The duration of each course is approximately 60 minutes. Comments and/or suggestions regarding the WBTs may be e-mailed to FinanceTrainer@unc.edu.
Carolina is convening four advisory groups beginning in February to offer input this spring about the potential future development of the Carolina North tract.
The meetings involve four University-appointed advisory groups: University Uses; Infrastructure; New Business Development, Private and Other Uses; and External Relations. These advisory groups include campus and community representatives.
Carolina North is the 900-plus acre tract of University-owned property located north of Chapel Hill that was part of a bequest by an esteemed University philosopher years ago.
Tony Waldrop, vice chancellor for research and graduate studies, has led the University's efforts to set up this planning process. He and other campus leaders have articulated a long-term vision for Carolina North as a living-learning community that can expand the University's multiple missions, create diverse partnerships and connect to and enhance both the main campus and neighboring communities.
In many areas of the United States -- and the world -- investment in renewable energy technologies is growing rapidly. North Carolina -- and more broadly the Southeastern United States -- is not one of these areas. Carolina's Student Environmental Action Coalition hopes to change this situation by raising student fees to support the installation of green power infrastructure on campus. The vote will take place Feb. 11, along with the election of new student government representatives.
The Green Energy referendum asks students to pay an additional $4 per semester to facilitate the use of renewable energy on campus. This fee would generate some $300,000 annually, starting in August 2004. The first priority, according to students spearheading this initiative, is to install renewable energy technologies directly on campus. Another option being considered is to purchase renewably generated electricity from an outside provider.
Currently, the campus generates approximately one-third of its electricity and produces all of its steam at the clean coal combined heat and power, or cogeneration, facility on Cameron Avenue. The remainder of the electricity used on campus is purchased from Duke Power. Half of the purchased electricity is derived from coal and the remainder from nuclear fuels. Because privately owned coal-fired power plants in North Carolina are old, they contribute to poor air quality in the region. The Triangle has the 13th worst air quality in the nation, according to the American Lung Association.
To spur investment in cleaner renewable energy technologies, demonstrate their viability and provide an educational opportunity, students are interested in erecting such technologies right on campus.
A high temperature solar collector that would generate steam to heat and cool campus buildings is the current front-runner technology of choice. The steam distribution system on campus could make immediate use of the solar-produced steam. The campus chillers that run on steam could make chilled water on the hottest days of summer, and throughout the year.
Students appointed to a green power advisory committee would make technology selection decisions with advice from staff in Energy Services and the Sustainability Office. A sunset clause would put the fee up for a reauthorization vote every two years.
The second option is to use the money raised by new student fees to purchase electricity generated from renewable sources. An "NC GreenPower" program will be launched by all of the state's major electric utilities during the latter half of 2003. Customers will voluntarily decide whether to pay a premium on their electric bill to spur investment in green power.
When most people think of "green power," they think of solar and wind power. Under one of the NC GreenPower proposals, the offerings would also include electricity generated from the methane gas produced at landfills, small hydroelectric facilities and boilers powered by a range of biomass fuel stocks.
Although wind is the fastest growing energy source around the world, and already provides 15 percent of Denmark's electricity, North Carolina has not been able to take advantage of this economically competitive power source. The windspeeds in the Blue Ridge and Smokey Mountains are high enough to justify investment, but the state's Ridge Law prohibits any type of mountain top development.
Moreover, North Carolina is now in the minority of states that do not allow independent power producers to sell the electricity they generate to electric utilities.
In contrast, 11 states now require their utilities to include renewables in their production mix. Texas has already installed more than 1,000 megawatts of windpower and is ahead of schedule to install 2,000 megawatts of power from renewable sources by 2009.
In some states, universities have led the shift to renewables. Carnegie Mellon, Penn State and the University of Pennsylvania are driving their state's market for windpower. At each university, windpower provides a minimum of 5 percent of the school's electricity. At other universities photovoltaic panels that generate electricity from sunlight are being erected on building rooftops.
Carolina has an opportunity to influence the market for renewables in the Southeast. If Carolina students approve a fee increase on Feb. 11, other universities and power customers in the region will take note. Combining a solar collector, cogeneration facility and district energy system would be a first of its kind technology combination anywhere in the country.
Sponsored
by Facilities Services
Writer:
Cindy Pollock Shea, sustainability coordinator
The Carolina Kids Camp is a summer day camp for children of permanent Carolina employees, students, UNC Health Care employees and General Alumni Association employees. This summer Carolina Kids will enroll campers ages 6-12 in four sessions with approximately 110 campers per session.
Carolina Kids is located at Fetzer Gym and operates Monday through Friday, with drop- off beginning at 7:30 a.m. and pick-up ending at 5:30 p.m. Campers will have opportunities to enjoy the gyms, playing fields, swimming pool and other campus resources, including group visits to campus facilities and visits from special presenters. A variety of age-appropriate recreational, social and educational activities (including sports, games, and arts and crafts) will be offered. Snacks will be supplied during the day, but campers are required to bring their own lunches and water bottles every day.
The camp uses a lottery system that assigns a random number to each family. Campers are then assigned to requested spaces according to the family lottery number.
An application fee of $35 per child is required in advance for families choosing to participate in the lottery. If a family receives a space in the camp through the lottery -- regardless if they accept, decline or cancel the space(s) -- their application fee will not be refundable.
Families who apply for spaces after the lottery date will be billed for application fees when, and only if, they are offered and accept session spaces. Payment of application fee and security deposit and tuition as needed must be completed within 48 hours of acceptance of a space.
Completed applications, with correct advance payment of application fees, must be received by Employee Services, CB# 1045, by the lottery deadline of 5:30 p.m. Feb. 28. After Feb. 28, families may submit application forms without advance application fees. These applicants will be added to session waiting lists in the order in which they are received. Families will receive notification of lottery results by mail during the week of March 16.
If your child is offered a session space from the lottery, a security deposit of $100 per session per child enrolled must be received by Employee Services no later than April 4 at 5:30 p.m. For scholarship applicants, a security deposit of $5 per child is required. This year the Chancellor's Child Care Advisory Committee has contributed a limited amount of funds available only for assisting eligible University employees and students with the tuition cost of Carolina Kids Camp. Although there are no specific income criteria, camp scholarship funds are awarded first to families with the greatest financial need. In recent years, families with total annual household incomes less than $35,000 have received assistance. Please note: UNC Health Care System and General Alumni Association employees are not eligible for this program at this time.
Application fees are waived for families receiving camp scholarships.
The Carolina Kids Camp is sponsored by the Office of Human Resources, Employee Services Department, with the support of the Department of Exercise and Sport Science and UNC Health Care Systems. A full-time camp director, the Carolina work-family manager and experienced counselors will help to make the campers' summer both fun and memorable.
Camp brochures have been mailed to Human Resources facilitators and to families who participated in the 2002 Kids Camp. More information on the application process and camp deadlines is available on the camp's web page at www.ais.unc.edu/hr/es/kidscamp.htm.
Interested families may submit the application below (duplicate as needed for additional children) or download the application from the web site (you may list up to three children on the downloadable form).
If you have questions about the camp or the application, contact Employee Services at 962-1483.
Four sessions of funThis year four Carolina Kids Camp sessions will be offered during an eight-week period. Sessions and tuition rates per child are:
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The Office of State Personnel (OSP) plans to suggest changes to the State Personnel Act during the 2003 legislative session. In an effort to gain input from SPA employees about issues such as pay, performance and their satisfaction with the current state benefits program, OSP is conducting an employee survey to provide SPA staff with an opportunity to express their opinions.
OSP has stated that the confidentiality of your responses will be protected. Only you will know how you responded to the survey questions and any added comments that you may choose to make. Once your responses are compiled and analyzed, proposed changes to the State Personnel Act will be forwarded for legislative review.
Any employee interested in completing the survey may do so online. The survey web address is: www.formsite.com/waters/EMPSURU/secure_index.html.
Employees who prefer to complete the survey on paper can receive a copy from Chris Chiron, Office of Human Resources, 720 Airport Road, or call 962-0266.
Surveys must be returned to the Office of State Personnel no later than Feb. 14.
Carolina employees will receive a 15 percent discount on individual tickets. Valid only for weekday performances March 13-28, seating availability on specific days may vary. Weekday performances are considered to be all day Tuesday through Thursday, and Friday performances only at 4 p.m. Service charges will be applied. VIP tickets are not included in this offer.
To order, call 1-800-678-5440 and mention "RG15 discount." Or order online at www.admission.com/adm/RaleighDiscount.htm.
For group reservations, call the box office at 1-800-450-1480. Mention "RG15 discount." A service charge will not be applied to group purchases of 20 or more tickets.
For more information on the show, see performance.cirquedusoleil.com/dralion/conference_a.html.
Session
1, June 16-27, $220;