Governor McCrory Announces State Human Resources Director to Depart for Higher Education Role

Governor Pat McCrory announced that C. Neal Alexander, a Lincolnton resident, is stepping down effective August 31 as State Human Resources Director to pursue a role at Gardner-Webb University, his college alma-mater. 
 
“Neal has been an instrumental part of our efforts to modernize the way state government approaches Human Resources,” said Governor McCrory. “Not only has he helped us attract the best and brightest talent to state government, his leadership in employee safety and worker’s compensation has helped save taxpayers millions.”
 
Assuming Alexander’s role on an interim basis will be Paula Woodhouse, who has served as Deputy Director of State Human Resources for the last three and a half years. Woodhouse has a master’s degree in human resources from Vanderbilt University. Over her twenty-six-year career, she worked in education and health and human services prior to joining the State Human Resources Office.
 
Over the last three and a half years, Alexander led improvements to shorten the time to resolve employee grievances, to implement the NC VIP performance management program and prepare for the implementation of the Statewide Compensation System.   
 
Additionally, employee safety has improved since 2013, with the number of new cases and injuries down 20 percent and worker’s compensation costs on the decline.