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The title may be interim, but not the attitude.
Interim Chancellor William O. McCoy will approach his stint in South Building
as if it's his permanent job, he told the Employee Forum at the group's Aug. 4
meeting.
"I'm trying to make decisions that look not only at short-term needs but
long-term needs as well," he said.
Meeting capital needs in the wake of the failed bond-funding proposal, as well
as planning for enrollment growth and a $1 billion-plus capital campaign, will
rank high among McCoy's list of priorities, he said.
"We have a lot of important things to work on -- all of us together," he
said.
UNC General Administration -- with input from UNC system chancellors -- will
take the lead in trying to get bond legislation through future legislative
sessions, McCoy said, and Carolina will "tell the story ever better about our
needs."
"Why do we need a more modernized Venable Hall, for example?" he said.
Along with stressing how capital projects will be key to accommodating
enrollment growth at Carolina, the University's lobbying efforts will point out
a fiscal reality, McCoy said: "The longer we wait on some projects, the more
expensive they will be because of inflation."
McCoy will be involved in planning for the University's 7-year, $1
billion-plus fund-raising campaign, and he said the effort has "great potential
to move us up another notch."
In the short-term, McCoy said he and his staff already are working on
improving the University's budget process "so that then we can build a budget
based on a planning process, based on priorities that have been established by
using that planning process."
That effort will come with the background of a $6.8 million budget shortfall
for 1999-2000. While any shortfall is "unfortunate," McCoy added that it came
in the context of an overall $1.2 billion University budget.
"The University is on a strong, sound footing," he said.
McCoy said that while searches for a provost and vice chancellor for finance
and administration will culminate after a new chancellor comes on board, the
campus is in good hands in the meantime, with Provost Dick Richardson in office
until retiring in June 2000 and John "Jack" P. Evans, a business professor,
filling in for finance and administration.
"We are very fortunate when it comes to the leadership at this school," he
said.
McCoy also commented on:
* Working with the Employee Forum -- "I consider this forum to be very
important. I do want to hear your views";
* All campus resident students starting the year in permanent housing --
"There's been strong teamwork throughout the campus as we've done this"; and
* Employees whose work duties put them outside in the heat this summer --
"It's been a real challenge, and everyone has done an outstanding job."
At the Aug. 4 meeting, the Employee Forum also:
* Heard a presentation from Evelyn Hawthorne, associate vice chancellor for
government relations.
Hawthorne described herself as employees' representative with legislators --
"those folks who have so much influence over our day-to-day lives."
She said she tries to communicate that Carolina is a resource for the state
and to develop friendships with lawmakers -- making it harder for them to say
no to the University's needs.
Hawthorne said Carolina already enjoys strong support from local state
legislators -- senators Howard Lee and Ellie Kinnaird and representatives Joe
Hackney and Verla Insko.
"They will move heaven and earth to help us," she said.
It's lawmakers outside the local area who need convincing about Carolina's
importance, Hawthorne said.
"We have to remind them that Carolina is important to the entire state and not
just Chapel Hill," she said.
Hawthorne also said that the campus scored some successes in the past
legislative session: permanent funding for LEARN North Carolina, the web-based
resource for public school teachers, and for institutes that study aging and
alcohol; and the authority to plan for the Horace Williams tract as N.C. State
University did for its Centennial Campus.
As for what employees can do to help accomplish her task, Hawthorne said they
can stay informed about legislative issues affecting Carolina and -- on their
own time with their own resources -- tell legislators about Carolina's
importance to the state.
Employees also should thank local legislators already championing Carolina's
cause, Hawthorne said.
* Elected Kathy Dutton forum secretary. Dutton, senior deputy director in
human resources, replaces Vicki Pineles.
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