Sent on behalf of Matt Brody:
To: Chief Human Resources Officers
When the COVID-19 pandemic first surfaced in February, it was hard to imagine the extent to which this event would profoundly impact our institutions and all of the faculty and staff. But there can be no doubt that the toll has been significant and that COVID-19 has introduced many added stressors. This includes but is not limited to looking after family members who are at elevated risk, overseeing remote schooling for children and dependents, and missing out on in-person interactions with family, friends, and colleagues. The typical demands of juggling home and work life have taken on new dimensions and have been impacted in unforeseen ways, both large and small.
As human resources professionals, we continue to seek ways to manage the stresses of these times and especially to offer added support to members of the University communities that we serve. To augment and assist in these efforts, System Office Human Resources has newly curated a series of web-based resources that we thought might be informative to faculty and staff in the weeks and months ahead. We have collected these resources at https://myapps.northcarolina.edu/hr/health-safety/fac-staff-resilience/.
This content includes various video and written materials. While we realize many of your campuses may have compiled similar resources, we hope that this web page will provide additional supports for your community. Feel free to share as you deem appropriate and helpful.
I would add that we are presently exploring several additional resources including a mental health and wellness campaign and the potential of some added mental health supports that augment the existing employee assistance program (EAP). We will continue to keep you updated over the next several weeks as we have more information to share.
My thanks to each of you and your teams for working through these difficult times and for all you do to help our faculty and staff navigate these added challenges.