December 11, 1998 - Faculty Governance

Meeting of the General Faculty and Faculty Council

December 11, 1998, 3:00 p.m.

Assembly Room, 2nd Floor, Wilson Library

Chancellor Michael Hooker and the University Woman’s Club invite the faculty to a Holiday Reception preceding the December Faculty Council meeting at 2:30 p.m. in the foyer of the Wilson Library.

Agenda

INFO DISC 3:00 Chancellor’s Remarks and Question Period.

Chancellor Hooker invites questions and comments on any topic.

INFO 3:20 Update on Capital Campaign Case Statement. Provost Richard Richardson.

INFO 3:30 Chair of the Faculty’s Remarks.

Res. 98-23. Endorsing Participation by Staff and Students in Their Governance Institutions.

INFO 3:40 Annual Report of the Faculty Hearings Committee. Prof. Genna Rae McNeil, chair

DISC ACT 3:45 Annual Report of the Committee on Undergraduate Admissions. Dean Risa Palm, chair.

Res. 98-17. Endorsing Faculty Involvement in Recruiting Top Students.
Assoc. Provost and Director of Admissions Jerome Lucido and Prof. Miles Fletcher will speak to the matter of faculty involvement in student recruitment.

DISC 4:05 Annual Report of the Faculty Athletics Committee. Prof. Anne H. Fishel, chair.

DISC 4:15 Annual Report of the Committee on Scholarships, Awards, and Student Aid. Prof. Charles Daye, chair.

Director of Student Aid Shirley Ort will be available for questions and comment.

INFO Annual Report of the Committee on Instructional Personnel. Provost Richard Richardson, chair.

[This report is received for information only.]

INFO 4:35 Annual Report of the Committee on University Government. Prof. Janet Mason, chair.

ACT 4:40 First Reading of Proposed Amendments to the Faculty Code of University Government.

Res. 98-18. To Establish the University Committee on Copyright.
Res. 98-19. To Establish the Faculty Information Technology Advisory Committee.
Res. 98-20. Concerning Nominations, Elections, and Filling Vacancies.
Res. 98-21. To Merge the Divisions of Fine Arts and Humanities and to Establish the Division of the School of Information and Library Science for Purposes of Faculty Council Elections.
Res. 98-22. Repealing Rule 14 of the Rules of Procedure of the Faculty Council.

ACT 5:00 Adjournment.

Minutes

Attendance

Present (61): Adler, Angel, Bangdiwala, Black, Blackburn, Clegg, Collins, Cordeiro-Stone, Covach, Dalton, Daye, Debreczeny, Devellis, Eckel, Elvers, Estroff, Favorov, Fishman, Foshee, Graves, Grossberg, Hattem, Hooper, Huang, Hyatt, Johnson, Kaufman, Kjervik, LeFebvre, Lentz, Levine, Maffly-Kipp, Margolis, Marshall, McKeown, Melchert, Mill, Molina, Moreau, Newton, Owen, Pagano, Panter, Pfaff, Plante, Platin, Postema, Raab-Traub, Rabinowitz, Raper, Rosenfeld, Schaller, Sekerak, Straughan, Strauss, Taft, Thorp, Vevea, Werner, White, Williams.

Excused absences (22): Bender, Bluestein, Bolas, Bowen, Carl, Cravey, Gasaway, Graham, Harrison, Holmgren, Jackson, Lord, Lubker, Ludlow, Madison, Meehan-Black, Nord, Passannante, Powell, Shea, Steponaitis, Weiss.

Unexcused absences (3): Fox, Haskill, Tysinger.

Chancellor’s Remarks

Merit scholarships.

Anticipating the annual report of the Committee on Scholarships and Student Aid, Chancellor Hooker announced that he is working on a plan to dedicate a portion of our unrestricted endowment income to merit scholarships.

Horace Williams tract.

The Chancellor noted that the committee that has been appointed to produce a conceptual plan for use of the Horace Williams Tract has begun its work. He said that despite the impression that might have been left by some newspaper accounts, there has been no decision to locate a life sciences research park there. Neither are there any current plans to move academic programs to the Horace Williams tract. All options remain open. The entire campus community is invited to submit suggestions as to how best to use this property.

Technology transfer.

Chancellor Hooker praised Vice Provost Thomas Meyer and Assoc. Vice Provost Francis Meyer for splendid work in encouraging an enormous increase in technology transfer activity over the past three years. We have experienced major growth in the number of patents that the University has secured in intellectual property and the number of commercial licenses negotiated, leading to a very large increase in revenue from royalties and licensing agreements.

Collegiate licensing code of conduct.

The Chancellor said that he is aware that the collegiate licensing organization that negotiates on our behalf with businesses who wish to use the University logo as a marketing tool has developed a set of principles that such companies will be expected to honor with respect to their business activities, especially as concerns wages and working conditions for their employees. He has not seen a copy of the statement and therefore cannot react to it in detail, but he did sign a petition being circulated by a group of students that calls on companies using our logo to pay their employees a livable wage and to disclose the location of factories abroad with which they have contracts.

Capital Campaign Case Statement

Provost Richard Richardson reported that over 135 faculty and staff members are serving on the six subcommittees that are developing the reports that will eventually be melded into a case statement for the upcoming capital campaign. We are following closely the pattern used in the bicentennial campaign. Deans and directors have been asked to seek from units that report to them ideas for inclusion in the case statement. The deans and directors will then forward proposals to the Office of the Provost for assignment to the subcommittees. Subcommittees have been asked to report in February. The central committee will then produce a draft case statement in June. After review by the Council of Deans, the Chancellor’s Cabinet, and the University Priorities and Budget Committee, the statement will be presented to the Chancellor. Next, the Development Office will test the statement among potential donors. The final statement will be prepared after the Development Office reports its experience with the draft.

Task Force on Teaching Evaluation

Provost Richardson reported that, in response to Resolution 98-9, adopted by the Council on September 11, 1998, he has appointed a Task Force to Develop an Instrument for Student Evaluation of Teaching. The Task Force is chaired by Prof. Elliot Hirshman, Ass’t to the Provost. Members include Prof. Robert Adler (Kenan-Flagler Business School), Prof. Edward Carlstein (Statistics), Mr. Todd Lewis (Academic Technology & Networks), Prof. Margaret Miles (Nursing), Mr. Edward Neal (Center for Teaching & Learning), Prof. Abigail Panter (Psychology), Prof. William Ware (Education), Prof. Gilbert White (Medicine), and Ms. Cynthia Wolf-Johnson (Office of Student Affairs).

Chair of the Faculty’s Remarks

Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Prof. Richard Andrews called attention to the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948. Although the Declaration was non-binding, it represented a major breakthrough. Never before had so many governments ceded so many rights and freedoms to so many people. In the fifty years since its adoption, many nations have incorporated the Declaration into their constitutions or recognized it as binding law.

Special Olympics.

Prof. Andrews called for faculty volunteers to help with the Special Olympics that will be held here this summer. This is being billed as the largest sporting event of 1999.

Participation by staff and students in governance organizations.

Prof. Andrews said that the president of the Graduate and Professional Student Federation and the chair of the Employee Forum had discussed with him difficulties they have experienced in recruiting people to run for office in their organizations. Often these difficulties are due to opposition from supervisors and faculty advisors. Prof. Andrews said it is important for the University that all of our governance organizations have the support of the entire community. He hoped the Council shared his views in that regard. To that end, he moved adoption of Resolution 98-23 which “urges supervisors and faculty advisors to give all appropriate support to staff and graduate and undergraduate students who wish to seek office in the Employee Forum, the GPSF, or Student Government.” The resolution was adopted unanimously.

Annual Reports of Standing Committees

Faculty Hearings Committee.

Prof. Beverly Taylor presented the committee’s written report. She acknowledged with deep appreciation the distinguished service on the committee of Robert Gallman, Kenan Professor or Economics, who died on November 10, 1998. Prof. Gallman was always a strong voice in defense of faculty governance and fairness. He was very generous, astute about legalities, and always put the personal concerns and needs of colleagues first.

Scholarships, Awards, and Student Aid.

Prof. Charles Daye, Chair of the Committee on Scholarships, Awards, and Student Aid, presented the committee’s annual report. He cited a number of facts that place the committee’s work in perspective:

54% of undergraduate students and 31% of graduate/professional students receive some form of aid through the Student Aid Office.
67% of all aid comes from federal funds, 27% from University funds, and the remainder from other sources.
Last year, the Student Aid Office disbursed $98 million.
61% of all aid is in the form of loans, 38% in grants, and 1% in work/study.
We do not have complete data about aid that does not flow through the Student Aid Office.

Prof. Daye, speaking for himself and not necessarily for the committee, said that he has formed two strong opinions about student aid on this campus. First, there is not enough money available to meet our needs, either for need-based aid or merit-based aid. Second, we do not have enough data to enable us to understand properly the consequences of the decisions we are making about student aid.

Referring to the Chancellor’s earlier announcement about dedicating some of the unrestricted endowment income to merit-based student aid, Prof. Catherine Marshall (Education) asked whether some of this money would be available to graduate and professional students. Chancellor Hooker said that he has not yet thought that far ahead.

Prof. Craig Melchert (Linguistics) inquired about the use of student aid funds derived from trademark licensing revenues. Prof. Daye said that the great majority is used for need-based aid.

Advisory Committee on Undergraduate Admissions.

Assoc. Dean Richard Soloway presented the report of the Advisory Committee on Undergraduate Admissions. He asked Prof. Miles Fletcher to speak to the matter of faculty involvement in student recruitment.

Prof. Fletcher chairs a subcommittee on student recruitment that has been formed by the Committee on Undergraduate Admissions. He said that the need for faculty to get more involved in undergraduate student recruitment stems from two facts: (1) the competition for top high school seniors is escalating with each passing year, and (2) the University needs to work hard to maintain the quality of our entering classes as we experience significant enrollment growth over the next several years. Additional financial aid will help, but there is also a need for high school students to receive information about academic programs and academic opportunities at UNC-CH that only faculty members can provide. The subcommittee has developed several ideas that it thinks can be implemented rapidly: (1) each department and school could appoint a liaison to work with the Undergraduate Admissions Office; (2) each department and school could compose a letter explaining its undergraduate programs and their particular strengths; these letters could be sent with acceptance letters according to the student’s stated interests; (3) in the Spring there could be some evening phone-a-thons when faculty members could call prospective students to explain such things as the freshman seminars program and to answer questions. Other ideas that would probably require additional resources include a day-long open house when prospective students could visit different departments; creation of a university-wide system to facilitate classroom visits by interested students; and planning online chat sessions in which faculty members could field questions from high school students. Prof. Fletcher invited faculty to contact him at wmfletch@email.unc.edu with ideas or comments.

Mr. Gerald Lucido, Director of Undergraduate Admissions, summarized some of the things that his office is doing in this regard: personalized letters to high school juniors and seniors who scored very well on the PSAT or SAT; receptions throughout the State for top high school scholars; and delivering applications to high schools and meeting with counselors on their own turf rather than sending information by mail. Overall, we are trying to personalize the process for prospective students to make them feel wanted. The three most common answers top students give for deciding to enroll somewhere else are (1) the other institution paid more attention to me, (2) they offered me better aid or more recognition, and (3) I understood their programs better. Faculty members are in a better position than anyone else to address the third reason. An immediate instance in which faculty could be helpful is to place personal calls to students who are now in the second deadline admissions process for next Fall. Another is faculty-to-faculty contacts between our faculty and high school faculty members teaching advanced placement courses.

Prof. Nancy Raab-Traub (Microbiology), speaking as the mother of a son who hopes to enroll at Carolina, asked about the gender balance of the freshman class. Mr. Lucido replied that admissions reflect the applicant pool, which is 60% female. The pool reflects national demographic trends. More women than men seek four-year higher education. Also, our applicant pool reflects the academic disciplines represented at this university. We do not offer agriculture or engineering programs which tend to appeal primarily to males.

Prof. Richard Pfaff (History) observed that the key to attracting the best North Carolina high school graduates is their teachers. He suggested that we make an effort to correlate data from the alumni office with data already on hand in the admissions office so that we could identify Carolina alumni who are teaching in North Carolina high schools. We might also be able to use information from the registrar’s office to match those teacher alumni with their former professors on our faculty who are still active.

Prof. Diane Kjervik (Nursing) said that employers and community organizations can help with recruitment efforts. The area health education centers often help schools in Health Affairs with student recruitment and have asked us to provide programming and online degree planning programs.

Referring to data in the committee’s report as to special admissions, Prof. Bobbi Owen (Dramatic Art) noted that there were no comparative data for prior years. She asked whether the number of special admissions is increasing, decreasing, or remaining about the same. Mr. Lucido answered that the number is about the same. He said that comparative data on special admissions would be provided in future committee reports.

The Council unanimously adopted Resolution 98-17 endorsing faculty involvement in student recruitment.

Faculty Committee on Athletics.

Prof. Anne Fishel (Nursing) presented the committee’s annual report and invited comment.

Prof. Steven Bachenheimer (Microbiology) raised the issue of compliance with federal legal requirements for gender equity in athletics. He noted that the committee’s report states that we cannot achieve gender parity of participation in athletics without eliminating a men’s sport. He asked whether there are deadlines for compliance and what consequences might be expected if we do not. Mr. Richard Baddour, Director of Athletics, explained that there are three tests for compliance with Title IX: (1) the proportionality of participation of women in athletics as compared to enrollment; (2) whether the institution has a history of providing opportunities for women, and (3) whether the institution is meeting the interests and abilities of the undergraduate population and the under-represented sex. About 60% of our students are women, but only 40% of students participating in athletics are women, so we do not meet the first test and probably never will unless we eliminate some men’s sports. We do, however, meet both the second and third tests. We have been advised by legal counsel that Title IX is satisfied if we meet one of the three tests. We are also in compliance with Title IX as concerns physical facilities and financial aid.

Committee on Instructional Personnel.

The report was received without comment.

Amendments to the Faculty Code of University Government

Prof. Janet Mason, chair of the Committee on University Government, presented several resolutions amending the Faculty Code of University Government. Prof. Joseph Ferrell, Secretary of the Faculty, explained that any member of the General Faculty present was entitled to debate and vote on the amendments, and that final approval of each amendment required a majority vote at two separate meetings of the General Faculty.

University Committee on Copyright.

Prof. Mason moved adoption of Resolution 98-18 to establish a University Committee on Copyright. This resolution responds to the Council’s request through Res. 98-11, adopted October 9, 1998, that the Committee on University Government consider and report on this matter. Resolution 98-18 was adopted on first reading without debate or dissent.

Faculty Information Technology Advisory Committee.

Prof. Mason moved adoption of Resolution 98-19 to establish the Faculty Information Technology Advisory Committee. This resolution responds to a request from the Executive Committee of the Faculty Council that the Committee on University Government consider and report on this matter. Mr. Robert Dalton (Academic Affairs Library) asked why the proposed amendment does not specify membership from units such as the campus libraries and the Office of Technology and Development. Prof. Andrews pointed out that there are a number of committees representing various constituencies in the university community in this area. This committee is intended to focus on the faculty’s interests, especially as concerns teaching and learning. Prof. Diane Kjervik (Nursing) noted that the Faculty Welfare Committee has begun a discussion of faculty welfare issues related to using digital technology. She was not sure whether such topics would now be transferred to the new committee. Prof. Andrews said that questions of overlap of committee jurisdiction arise from time to time and that he is usually able to resolve them to everyone’s satisfaction.

Resolution 98-19 was adopted on first reading unanimously.

Nominations, Elections, Vacancies.

Prof. Mason moved adoption of Resolution 98-20 concerning nominations, elections and filling vacancies. The resolution was adopted on first reading unanimously.

Faculty Council Electoral Divisions.

Prof. Mason moved adoption of Resolution 98-21 which would realign two of the divisions for electing members of the Faculty Council. First, the resolution would combine the Division of the Fine Arts and the Division of the Humanities into one. Second, it would create a new voting division for the School of Information and Library Sciences, removing that unit from the present combined division with the University Libraries. Prof. Bobbi Owen (Dramatic Art) said that she had discussed the combination of Fine Arts and Humanities with colleagues in her department and found that they do not support the change. Prof. John Covach (Music) reported similar misgivings in his department. Prof. Ferrell said that he had recommended this change as a result of his experience in attempting to recruit faculty members for service on the Council in competition with the many other calls on the services of a relatively small number of faculty. He has no objection to retaining the current electoral arrangements if faculty members are willing to serve. The sense of the discussion indicated little support for combining these divisions. Accordingly, Prof. Mason moved to amend the resolution to delete this change. Prof. Ferrell then explained the reasons for placing the School of Information and Library Science in its own electoral division. The School has requested this change because it has been ten years since a SILS faculty member has been elected to the Council. The effect would not enlarge the Council. The Division of the University Libraries would lose one member and the new division would gain one. Resolution 98-21, as amended, was adopted on first reading unanimously.

Election of Alternates.

Prof. Mason moved adoption of Resolution 98-22, which would repeal the rule of order of the Faculty Council that requires elections for alternates each year even though there are no vacancies in the affected rank and division. Prof. Ferrell explained that this is no longer needed under current practice. The resolution was adopted without dissent.

Adjournment.

The Council adjourned, having completed its business for the day.

Joseph S. Ferrell

Secretary of the Faculty

Pdf of meeting materials