Legislating on behalf of Faculty Council due to the need for prompt action, the Faculty Executive Committee on Monday, February 23, 2015 adopted the following resolution:
Resolution 2015-7: On Oversight Authority of Centers and Institutes
With reference to the recent recommendations of Board of Governors’ Working Group on Centers and Institutes, and in exercise of the legislative powers of the Faculty Council pursuant to Section 2-10(d)(2) of the Faculty Code due to the need for prompt action, the Faculty Executive Committee resolves:
Section 1. Under current UNC system policy, the authority to establish and discontinue centers and institutes rests entirely with the Board of Trustees of each constituent campus, subject to the general policies set by the Board of Governors. This policy is consistent with the long-standing principle that the individual campuses, as the University’s degree-granting institutions, are best positioned to evaluate the value of such units to their respective missions. It is also consistent with our experience that creativity and innovation, essential features of a world-class university, are best encouraged in an atmosphere of intellectual freedom rooted in campus autonomy. We therefore strongly recommend that this aspect of the policy remain unchanged.
Section 2. The important work of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity is consistent with UNC-Chapel Hill’s long and proud tradition of service to the state’s citizens and is entirely funded by non-state sources. In light of current policy, we respectfully ask the full Board of Governors to set aside the Working Group’s recommendation that this center be closed, and to leave that decision to UNC-Chapel Hill’s Board of Trustees.
