AVC Corner: Staff Senate, Campus Collaborators Teamed To Launch Much-Needed Loan Program

Colleagues,

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged our university community, nation and world in many different ways over the past 13 months. But we have supported each other like any family would and proved throughout this pandemic that we are resilient.

One way this pandemic has adversely affected many people across the country, including at NC State, is by putting a strain on their finances. A new poll from Impact Genome and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that while most Americans have avoided a financial crisis during the pandemic, about 15% are worse off financially than when the pandemic started. That’s 38 million Americans.

NC State launched a new program earlier this month to help employees when they have financial emergencies. The Emergency Loan Program allows eligible employees to apply for a short-term emergency loan and pay the loan back to the university via payroll deduction. As of April 23, UHR had approved 27 loan applications.

You can learn more about the criteria to qualify for a loan and how to apply by visiting the loan program’s website.

The loan program came to fruition after Staff Senate members began to discuss how to assist employees who could not work from home because they were caring for loved ones due to the closure of a child care or elder care facility for reasons related to COVID-19. After the staff senators’ initial discussions, they solicited input from members of the Faculty Senate. That collaboration led to a proposal for an emergency employee relief program. Chancellor Randy Woodson approved the creation of the program.

“I think this program allows staff to realize that the Staff Senate is really working for them and understand their needs,” said Pat Gaddy, chair of the Staff Senate. “We support, and we try to help and assist staff in any way that we can. Sometimes the answer may be, ‘No,'” but we’re just so thankful that this time the answer was yes.”

I want to commend the Staff Senate for initiating this program and having the forethought to ask Faculty Senate members for their input. I also want to thank university leadership for endorsing the creation of the program and the team members in University Human Resources, payroll, finance and information technology who helped launch the loan program. The loan program is an example of how collaboration can lead to the successful launch of a much-needed program for our employees.

I encourage members of the human resources community at NC State to promote the program to employees in your offices, units and departments. Anyone with questions about the program can send an email to emergency_loan@ncsu.edu.

Best regards,

Marie Williams
Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources