Ethridge, who is co-chairing Emory's 1995 United Way campaign along with Ronnie Jowers, associate vice president for health affairs, has a history of volunteering with a number of agencies that benefit from the United Way. He has also served on a committee that evaluated the applications of health-related agencies seeking United Way status.
"The United Way extends across most communities in this country," Ethridge said, "and an awful lot of people benefit from that work. Because United Way is so broad in scope, it is the kind of effort that we as a community should support."
For the first time, the Emory United Way campaign, which seeks to raise $262,000 from Oct. 16-31, is being divided between the health sciences units, chaired by Jowers, and the rest of the University, chaired by Ethridge. Jowers believes this new structure will significantly increase the likelihood that the campaign's message will reach more employees at all levels, especially in the health sciences units.
"Running two separate but concurrent campaigns reflects how complex the Emory family has become and also how interrelated it is," Jowers said. "The hospitals and The Emory Clinic have separate payrolls, making it harder to coordinate deductions. On the other hand, most of the physicians, as well as some other employees, have overlapping roles in the University and in the clinical programs. That's why the Emory-Egleston Pediatric Care Foundation, the physician organization in pediatrics, also is included."
Jowers added that Charles R. Hatcher Jr., vice president for Health Affairs and director of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, would like to see contributions increase this year from Emory's clinical components. "Dr. Hatcher hopes this targeted approach will be more effective in getting the United Way message to our employees," Jowers said.
Ethridge, who noted that United Way contributions from Emory employees have dropped in recent years, is hoping that financial improprieties by the former president of the national United Way organization several years ago will not prevent Emory faculty and staff from contributing this year to the Emory campaign, which benefits only the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta. "There has been lots of concern the past few years about the national United Way leadership and how it was handling its money," Ethridge said. "I think a lot of people lost confidence in the fact that their contributions would be properly used."
He said another likely reason that contributions fell was a change in how gifts made through payroll deduction are handled. Until a few years ago, payroll deductions for employees who had contributed the previous year were automatically continued for the next year. Several years ago, campaign leaders changed that policy, and now each employee must sign a form every year to enable the payroll deduction to continue. Ethridge said that a lot of employees probably were not aware of the change. "I think that continuing education on this issue and on the situation with the national United Way organization will help," he said.
All employees should receive United Way pledge forms from their divisional or departmental representatives by early this week. Employees may designate a specific United Way agency or agencies to receive their contribution, or they may make a general contribution whose allocation is determined by United Way. Although one-time contributions are welcome, employees may give to the United Way through payroll deduction.
In addition to the Emory United Way campaign, The Emory Clinic will conduct a separate campaign.
--Dan Treadaway