The Chancellor’s Reception is an annual staff appreciation event. This year, it was held on Thursday, Oct. 17.
Chancellor Dubois stood at the front door of the multi-purpose room in the SAC to greet people as they walked in. All faculty and staff were invited to the event to have lunch, socialize with other members on the staff and talk to Chancellor Dubois.
“It is important to do events like this to remind the staff how much we appreciate them every day,” said Dubois. He added that it is especially important to show appreciation to the faculty and staff in these hard economic times.
There has been only one salary increase in the past six years. He said he knows that has been hard for people and understands that they might feel under-appreciated.
There are members of the faculty and staff who do not normally have access to the chancellor therefore this was their opportunity to get to know him.
Walter Kennedy, environmental supervisor for the football stadium, met Chancellor Dubois for the first time at the event. “When the chancellor does things like this you feel appreciated. I know I do,” said Kennedy.
The Chancellor’s Reception dates back to the early 1980s. Throughout the years the reception has changed venues from the Lucas Room, to the Student Activity Center and finally to the Student Union multipurpose room, explained Mary Olbrich.
Olbrich works for human resources at the university. She has worked for UNC Charlotte since 1992. She said that the changing location of the event to gradually larger venues is a reflection of the growing size of the staff and of the university itself.
Jessica Evans is the award recognition coordinator, a position created in April. She graduated from UNC Charlotte in 2006.
Staff recognition is a trend right now and her job is to refresh the way the university does it. They have been doing the same things for a long time yet this year it is different.
Usually the Chancellor’s Reception, a formal breakfast and luncheon events occur all in the same week but this year one of the changes is that the other two events have been moved to the spring.
“I want our staff to be proud of the university… and part of that is making sure that they enjoy their job,” said Evans. The goal with events like this is to create a sense of loyalty to the university and keep quality staff. “People have to work, but they don’t have to work here,” added Evans. Therefore the university wants to acknowledge people for a job well done.
Raffle tickets were handed out at the front door and the winners received gift certificates to local restaurants that helped sponsor the event.
By coincidence, the reception was on Chancellor Dubois’s birthday this year. The faculty and staff joined together to sing him “Happy Birthday.”
Trent Barnes, football stadium manager, said the Chancellor’s Reception was greatly appreciated. He described it as a nice gesture and a good opportunity to meet other people on campus.
