GREENVILLE, NC

East Carolina University

~ a newspaper for ECU faculty and staff ~Volume 23, Number 17 June 15, 2001

Contested State Budget Awaits Approval By HouseBy John Durham

The state budget spotlight hasswitched from the North Carolina Senateto the House of Representatives withexpectations that the two chambers willhave to resolve significant differences.

The Senate has approved a budgetfor the University of North CarolinaSystem that calls for a 2 percent reductionin the number of SPA and non-teachingEPA positions at East Carolina and theother 15 UNC institutions. The Senatebudget also would cut spending on

Freshmen Flourish withRenovated Orientation

contractual services, travel cell phonesand furniture and equipment by 5 percent.

The reductions, while serious, aremuch smaller than earlier calls by somelegislative leaders for cuts of nearly 7percent.

University leaders and employeesvigorously contested those proposedreductions. A delegation of State Employ-ees Association of North Carolinamembers, including several from ECU,staged a protest at the Capitol in Raleigh.

J.B. Milliken, vice president forpublic affairs and university advancement

for UNC, said the Senate budget was agreat step forward. We went fromproposed cuts of $125 million to $4million.

He praised the $28 million increasein the Senate budget for enrollmentincreases across the system. That wasUNCs highest priority, Milliken said.

Once the House completes itsversion of a state spending plan, observersin Raleigh expect the conference commit-tee process to take another two weeks.The new state fiscal year begins July 1.

The Senate budget includes a 5

percent across-the-board tuition increaseon top of the 4 percent increase alreadyapproved for the 2001-2002 academicyear by the UNC Board of Governors.

The budget includes a $625 annualraise for state employees, includinguniversity faculty and staff. That trans-lates to about 2 percent for someonemaking $31,250 a year.

The budget also would give UNCcampuses, including ECU, increasedauthority to make their own decisionsabout personnel matters, tuition, purchas-ing and information technology.

By Joy Holster

Summertime on campus brings forthfamiliar sights of pink and purpleblossoms, alternatively soaking insunshine and sudden afternoon rains. Likethe perennials that bloom by the walk-ways, each summer another fresh cropsprouts at ECU incoming freshmen. Oncampus for orientation, they arrive wide-eyed and eager, with parents in tow,

clutching a campus map and an orienta-tion packet.

Cultivating this crop is the job ofKaren Kus, director of Orientation and theFirst-Year Experience, with officeassistant Betty Johnson and a capablecrew of ECU upperclassmen.

Kus joined ECU in May 2000, justtwo days before orientation training. Shecame from Babson College, a privatecollege in Boston, where she worked inorientation and first-year experienceprograms for 10 years.

A newcomer to campus, Kusexperienced that summers orientation

program in much the same way as anincoming student or parent. Following herinitiation, Kus collected feedback on theprograms effectiveness from participatingstudents and parents, as well as the ECUcommunity.

What she learned prompted Kus torevamp the program. The most strikingcomment was that, while studentsappreciated what they learned duringsummer orientation, they often forgot vitalinformation by the time they arrived oncampus for the start of classes. At the startof last falls semester, Kus noted, incom-ing freshmen moved in on a Saturday andwere left alone until classes began onWednesday.

That first week is a critical time forthem, she said. They are scared andhomesick. In their first week here weshould keep them so busy that theycomplain they have no free time.

In addition, both parents andstudents suggested that the program wastoo long, and often took place on week-ends when university offices were closed.The programs ran through the 3rd week ofJuly, by which time many staff and facultymembers were away on vacation.

That first impression of theuniversity is important, said Kus.Incoming freshmen should see activityon campus, and be able to interact withfaculty, staff and students. New parentsshould be able to conduct universitybusiness while they are visiting thecampus.

As a result, Kus developed a revisedorientation program in two phases,providing information sessions in thesummer and following up with additionalresource training in the fall.

Phase one, the summer program, isacademic in nature with some student liferesource information. Students attendbased upon their intended major. Theyfind out about academic requirements,take placement tests and register for

c o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 8

As part of a week of extensive training, orientation assistants enjoy team-buildingexercises which enhance leadership skills and build self-confidence. Above,students learn trust and improve communication skills when one team memberis blindfolded and the other must provide adequate directions for navigating thewalkway without injury. (Photo by Tony Rumple)

Karen Kus directs an assistant duringtraining for the revamped orientationprogram. (Photo by Tony Rumple)

June 15, 2001

East Carolina University

Pieces of EightPage 2

Angelia Adams Admissions

Trina Baker Registrar, Information Processing

Lisa Butler Admissions

Gwendolyn Carter Employee Relations

Patsy Chappell Publications

Whitney Farmer English

Shannon Fox Environmental Health Sciences

Clarissa Garris Registrar

Jamie Hardee Materials Management

Ellen Hilgoe Mathematics

Janice McGowan Internal Auditor

Maura Pizarro English

Carol Rose Parking and Traffic Services

Christy Smith ECU Police

Patricia Spain ITCS

Kimberly Thompson Registrar

Sydney Whitehurst Facilities Services

Rosalyn Williams Comptroller

Wanda Wynne Student Loan Accounting

Housekeeping Services

Beverly Bobbitt

Alfred Green

Dennis McGee

Angelo Perkins

Diane Randolph

School of Allied Health Sciences

Rose Allen

Maha Banning

Paulette Brown

School of Medicine

Margaret Agnew Patient Services

Pamela Athey Generalist Physician Program

Debra Baker Department of Administration

Carolyn Brown Psychiatry, Education/Residency

Dannette Christman Psychiatry, Adult

Teresa Cunningham Business Affairs

Thelma Dawson IM, General Medicine

Lynn Gammell Social Work Services

Tula Garris Psychiatric Med. Administration

Sylvia Harrison Radiation Oncology

Helen Little Patient Services

Susan Loftin OB/GYN Patient Services

Yvonne Pearson OB/GYN ECU Womens Phys.

Denethia Smith Patient Services

William Taylor Radiation Oncology

Lisa Tyson Department of Medicine

Administrative Certification

Supervision Institute

Human Resources runs the training programs free of charge each semester.Supervisory approval and pre-registration are required. For additional information onboth the Supervision Institute and the Administrative Certification training programs,visit www.hr.ecu.edu/hr/staffdev.htm.

Employees Complete Staff Development Programs

Kimly Blanton Library Services

Timothy Gaddie Department of English

Cynthia Harper ICMR

Linda Lilley Department of Accounting

Catherine Marraccini Publications

Denise Rickman Human Resources

Judy Rodgers Theatre & Dance

Jonathan Taylor ECU Police Department

Delores Thompson Honors Program

Sandra Turner Registrar

Sixty-six ECU employees successfullycompleted staff development andtraining programs offered by theDeparment of Human Resources during the2001 spring semester.

Twenty-three employees graduated onMay 17 from the ECU Supervision Insti-tute. They began the program on Jan. 16.

As part of the program, participantsdeveloped a project addressing an issue orconcern in their own workplace. Through-out the semester, they developed and imple-mented an action plan to address the situa-tion, then presented results for fellow class-mates during the graduation ceremony.

The ECU Supervision Institute is de-signed to develop effective supervisoryskills. Topics in weekly training sessionsincluded basic training skills, conflict reso-lution, team building, coaching skills, em-ployee morale and goal setting.

Presenters who provided assistanceand guidance to Supervision Institute par-ticipants included Manny Amaro, JanetJohnson and Gretchen Van Dyke (Univer-

sity Housing), Carol Ann Tucker (Healthand Human Performance) and Greg Miller,Gwen Carter, Lisa Warren Sutton and ToyaSanders (Human Resources).

Forty-three employees completed theAdministration Certification program onMay 2, having successfully tested on ECUpolicies and procedures impacting SPAemployees.

The Administration Certification Pro-gram ran from Jan. 17 to May 2, and cov-ered topics such as budget policies, em-ployee leave, employee relations, interview-ing and hiring and salary administration.

Presenters whose support and hardwork made the ACP a success were LisaWarren Sutton, Linda Sutton, Rick Batts,Jim Mullen and Gwen Carter (HumanResources); Tom Pohlman (Environmen-tal Health and Safety); Ricky Hill andWayne Blanks (Facilities Service Center);and Susan Poole, Nellie Taylor and ElaineGarris (Materials Management).

Graduates of the Spring trainingprograms are listed below.

Housekeeping Services

Valeria Bradley

Sherry Landry

Information Technology

Sharon Collins Information Technology Consulting