UNC Employees May See Change

A possible change to how university employees are classified has the UNC system and employee rights groups bickering.

Dave DeWitt: About 22,000 employees who work on the UNC system’s 17 campuses are classified in one of two categories. EPA employees are exempt from the state personnel act, SPA employees are not.

The UNC Board of Governors wants to streamline, and create one category. They say it will allow more local control and create a system that rewards the best employees and allows universities more flexibility in recruitment.

But the state employees association says such a move would make it harder for rank-and-file workers to file grievances and it would remove any external oversight.

UNC leaders say a new system would address these concerns. A bill in the State Senate did not pass this year, but could be inserted into a future budget bill.