Jan Zink was brought here to head up University Advancement. This means that her primary job is to develop and maintain relationships (of the positive kind!) that UNCG has with donors and to cultivate new ones. This is an especially important role given the push by the state to dry up funding to the university system as a whole. One of the problems is though, that Jan doesn't seem to understand the personal interactions that are such a vital part of creating new relationships and deepening existing bonds.
University Advancement at UNCG has been a very successful department and has been filled with people whose love for the university and deep involvement with the community has showed in the hours they have worked and in the connections they have sustained. Unfortunately, since Jan's arrival more than 50% of the department has disappeared either through layoffs, earlier-than-planned retirements, or departures in the interest of self-preservation.
When she arrived there were 51 people working to help build the university's future...now there are only 21.
The most recent losses:
- Lynne Bresko, Executive Director of Development who had worked for UNCG for 16 years will be leaving in April
- Judy Piper, served as Interim Vice Chancellor, and who had dedicated the past 8 years to the advancement of UNCG has resigned
- Rebecca LaPlante, a University Program Specialist had served UNCG in that capacity for 12 years has also resigned - the 12 years listed belies her actual commitment to UNCG which has been ongoing since her days as an undergrad
We have here 36 years of experience in the community (and as I said, this is still a gross underestimation because the immersion began long before these employment figures suggest) driven out by the toxic environment that Zink has created. And that's only three of the 30 people who are gone. I don't know how we would even begin to recover from this kind of wholesale devastation - not to mention the psychological toll this takes on those left behind.
Zink never learned the culture here, in fact it never even interested her. She thinks of us as country bumpkins and blames her difficulties in raising money on the quality of our donors:
"UNCG people don't give."
This has never been a problem before. I think UNCG people give and they give deeply. They just don't give to Zink. And this is because she has the personal touch of a black widow spider. Sure, you understand that they are part of nature and a have a right to live, but it's not a part of nature you want to get to know up close and personal and then set up a recurring donation with.
In her first year, she spent $150,000 on ice sculptures.
Her current budget allows for $100,000 in gift baskets.
Any time she has had to cut the budget, she takes it in personnel.
Let that sink in.
We're not made from oil money, Greensboro is a different kind of place. Our connections are built with a personal touch not through frigid demonstrations of ostentatious wealth. Our donors give because they love UNCG not because they want a gift basket. The connections we have with those who support us are just that, connections - a bond created among people and place that makes UNCG something worth supporting. This runs from the biggest donor to the smallest contributor: all are welcome and all are part of the fabric of the university.
Jan doesn't understand this and it is clear in the way she treats her people, in the way she treats those relationships, and in the amount of funding she has continually failed to raise. But she wants to lay the blame for all of those problems on the people who have given so much already: the staff and the donors.
UNCG people do give, Jan.
Now, politely step aside so we can begin the work of healing the wounds you have inflicted.
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