Friday, October 21, 2016

Dawn Brown, past UNCW Staff Senate chair, has been selected to serve as chair-elect of the UNC Staff Assembly. She will assume the chair position in 2017 for a two-year term. Brown will be the first UNCW staff member to lead the assembly.

“The UNC Staff Assembly is comprised of extremely talented employees from across our state, and to be elected by these individuals is truly an honor,” said Brown, access operations coordinator at Randall Library. “This is the biggest challenge of my career thus far and I look forward to stepping up to meet their expectations. I have no doubt I will continue to learn as much as I lead in the coming years.”

The UNC Staff Assembly is the elected body of representatives of the staff of the 17 campuses of the University of North Carolina System. Its goal is to improve communications, understanding and morale throughout the system, and to increase efficiency and productivity in campus operations.

Brown plans to continue the progress made by previous chairs. “I have seen what can happen when staff have advocates in upper administration and employees across all divisions work together for the same goals,” she said. “I hope to continue to unify the staff assembly voice so we can advocate and advise on the state level for the betterment of all UNC employees."

She is also interested in developing an in-depth analysis of campus practices on issues impacting staff. “Although all campuses are unique, there are commonalities we all face and struggle to overcome. By better understanding varying approaches, we can better assess and advocate,” she continued. “We are all UNC system employees and I hope to increase cross-campus collaboration and communication to better utilize all our resources.”

Brown is the second UNCW employee to take an executive leadership position within the UNC system. Gabriel Lugo, past UNCW Faculty Senate president and associate professor of mathematics and statistics, was named chair-elect of the UNC Faculty Assembly in 2015. He is currently serving as president.

“With Dr. Lugo serving as the chair of the UNC Faculty Assembly, we demonstrate the strength of UNCW statewide as we represent the collective bodies of faculty and staff,” said Brown. “I believe serving in an executive role will continue to highlight the importance of staff and hopefully encourage increased shared governance and expanded inclusion of staff, both on our campus and at the state level.”

-- Venita Jenkins

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