Article 1: The General Faculty

§ 1-1. Members

The General Faculty consists of the President of The University of North Carolina; the Chancellor of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; all persons holding faculty appointments to the ranks of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, instructor, lecturer, or any of the formally authorized lecturer-equivalent ranks; librarians holding the ranks of librarian, associate librarian, assistant librarian, and general librarian under procedures approved by the chancellor; the registrar; the director of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions; the director of the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid; and such other officers of administration having responsibility for educational policy as may be approved for ex officio non-voting membership by the Faculty Council.

§ 1-2. Organization

(a) Presiding officer. The chancellor is the presiding officer of the General Faculty. The chair of the faculty is chair pro tempore of the General Faculty and presides in the absence of the chancellor.

(b) Minutes. The secretary of the faculty keeps a record of the proceedings.

(c) Quorum. A quorum is conclusively presumed at any meeting of the General Faculty called on at least ten days written notice. Otherwise, the presence of 125 voting members is necessary for a quorum.

(d) Bylaws. The General Faculty may adopt bylaws to govern its proceedings.

§ 1-3. Meetings

The General Faculty meets at least once in the fall semester and once in the spring semester in each academic year. Special meetings may be called by the chancellor, or, in his or her absence, by the chair of the faculty. The chancellor calls a special meeting on the written request of ten percent of the voting members of the General Faculty.

§ 1-4. Voting

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this Code, the voting faculty comprises (i) all members of the General Faculty having tenured or probationary-term appointments, (ii) librarians who are members of the General Faculty, and (iii) fixed-term faculty whose positions satisfy the following criteria:

1) the position is for not less than 75% of an equivalent full-time position and is not a visiting appointment; and

2) the duties of the position include teaching, research, or both; and

3) the actual or anticipated length of service in the position is at least three years. This criterion is satisfied if (i) the current term of appointment is for three years or more, or (ii) the appointment is a renewal appointment to the same position and the combined length of the current term and the immediately preceding terms is three years or more.

(b) For the purposes of Articles 1 through 4 and Article 12 of the Code, a member of the voting faculty who retires but continues on the faculty with a fixed-term appointment that calls for at least one-half time effort is deemed to retain the faculty rank and voting status that he or she held immediately prior to retirement.

(c) Retired faculty who do not fulfill the requirements of § 1-4(b) are eligible to vote in the elections for Faculty Council, as provided in § 2-2(i) and 2-4(d), but are otherwise not considered members of the voting faculty. [Added March 18, 2011.]

§ 1-5. Office-holding

Only members of the voting faculty are eligible to hold offices established by the Code.

§ 1-6. Powers

The General Faculty has power:

1) to establish the policies governing the educational activities of, and the award of academic degrees by, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and to promulgate such regulations as are necessary to implement established policies;

2) to request information and reports from and to give advice to the chancellor with respect to any matter affecting the life of the University;

3) to act upon reports from and to make recommendations to the Faculty Council, faculty committees, colleges, schools, institutes, and other units of the University;

4) to discuss and resolve upon matters relating to the life of the University;

5) to join with the chancellor and other officers of administration and the student body in regulating student conduct and discipline; and

6) to delegate its powers, except the power to establish or amend this Code, to such officers and bodies as may be established herein.

§ 1-7. Resolutions and code amendments

(a) All resolutions of the General Faculty, including proposals to amend this Code, must be passed on two separate readings. The first reading must be passed by either the Faculty Council or the General Faculty in a meeting called under the provisions of § 1-3. The second reading must be passed by electronic ballot sent to all voting faculty as defined in § 1-4.

(b) Proposals to amend this Code must be considered by the Committee on University Government before being brought to the initial vote according to the procedure in § 1-7(a). The Committee considers the proposal and reports its recommendations promptly. [Amended April 12, 2019.]

§ 1-8. Technical corrections

The Committee on University Government may correct the language of this Code to update the names of units and the titles of officers to reflect changes made by the University. The Committee shall report such corrections to the Secretary of the Faculty and by him or her to the General Faculty. [Added March 9, 2018.]

§ 1-9. Policy on selection of officers

It is the policy of the General Faculty that in selecting persons to fill positions established by or pursuant to this Code, consideration should be given to the factors of departmental affiliation, faculty rank, tenure status, color, age, and sex to the end that diversity of interests among the faculty are appropriately reflected in the various organs of faculty government. [Renumbered from § 1-8 March 9, 2018.]