April 21, 2023
Meeting of the Faculty Council
Friday, April 21, 2023
3:00 p.m.
1001 Kerr Hall (Eshelman School of Pharmacy)
The meeting will be recorded and streamed live at this link.
Agenda
3:00 p.m. Chair’s welcome and remarks
Chair of the Faculty Mimi Chapman
3:10 p.m. Remembrance of faculty colleagues [PDF]
3:15 p.m. Election results and remarks by newly elected Chair of the Faculty
Prof. Beth Moracco (Public Health)
3:20 p.m. Chancellor’s remarks
Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz
3:30 p.m. Provost’s remarks
Provost Christopher Clemens
3:40 p.m. Q & A with Chancellor and Provost
3:45 p.m. Salary Equity Committee report
Associate Vice Chancellor Linc Butler (Human Resources)
3:50 p.m. Campus Accessibility issues and resources [PDF]
Eleanor Bolton (student and chair, Tar Heels at the Table)
Christine Mendoza (student and member, Tar Heels at the Table)
Prof. Jennifer Diliberto (Education; Tar Heels at the Table faculty advisor)
Director Simon Bloor (Accessibility Resources and Service; Student Affairs)
4:30 p.m. Ceremonial resolution
Prof. Sue Estroff (Medicine)
4:35 p.m. Committee Reports (by title)
Administrative Board of the Library [PDF]
Advisory Committee [PDF]
Committee on Community and Diversity [PDF]
Faculty Executive Committee [PDF]
Faculty Information Technology Advisory Committee [PDF]
Committee on Scholarships, Awards, and Student Aid [PDF]
Faculty Welfare Committee [PDF]
4:45 p.m. CLOSED SESSION: Special Reports from the Committee on Honorary Degrees and Special Awards
Confidential reports for Faculty Council members only (Sakai log in required)
5:00 p.m. Adjournment
Video of Proceedings
Watch the full video [Streaming]
Journal of Proceedings of the Faculty Council
The Faculty Council of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill convened on April 21, 2023, at 3:00 p.m. in Kerr Hall, Room 1001 at the Eshelman School of Pharmacy. A Zoom webinar option was provided for Council members who were unable to attend in person. Other faculty and members of the public were able to observe the meeting on a livestream.
The following 69 Faculty Council members attended: Aikat, Alderman, Alexander, Ansong, Balasubramanian, Berkoff, Boyd, Burch, Cai, Campbell, Chapman (Chair of the Faculty), Clement, Colford, Cook, De Fays, Dehart-Davis, Divaris, Drummond, Entwisle, Estroff, Frederick, Freeman, Gold, Hackney, Haggis, Hannig, Hodges, Jackson, Johnson, La Serna, Lain, Lensing, Lopez, McEntee, Mclaughlin, Mehrotra, Menard, Mendez, Metcalfe, Meyer, Mohanty, Moore (Secretary of the Faculty), Moracco, Muller, Neal, Nichols, Oliveira, Penton, Pettifor, Plenge, Reissner, Renner, Reyes, Roberts, Rose, Schlobohm, Sena-Soberano, J. Smith, K. Smith, Thornburg, Thorp, Triumph, Vines, Wahl, Watson, Yaghoobi, Young, Zeeman and Zomorodi.
The following 9 members received excused absences: Becker, Brownley, Dillman Carpentier, Krause, Ma, McNeilly, Turi, Vernon-Feagans and Wolfe.
The following 12 members were absent without excuse: Binz, Charles, Donahue, Gates-Foster, Goralski, Halpern, Lin, Mayer-Davis, Sathy, Weiler, Wiltshire and Winget.
Others in attendance: Clemens (Provost) and Margaux Sherwen (Undergraduate Observer).
Call to order
Chair of the Faculty Mimi Chapman called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m.
Chair of the Faculty remarks
Chair Chapman welcomed everyone to the last Faculty Council meeting of the academic year and gave brief introductory remarks [PDF].
Remembrance of Faculty Colleagues
Faculty Council members observed a moment of silence during the In Memoriam presentation [PDF], which honors UNC-Chapel Hill faculty who have passed away during the past year.
Election results and remarks by the newly elected Chair of the Faculty
Professor Beth Moracco (Health Behavior) was recently elected as the new Chair of the Faculty. She thanked everyone who voted in the election, her running mate Professor Tom Kelley (Law), Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz and Provost Chris Clemens. She also thanked Chair Chapman for her support and wonderful legacy.
Professor Moracco said that it is a tremendous honor to serve in the role as chair and she is grateful for the vote of confidence from the faculty. She will do her best to serve well in this role and ensure faculty have a voice. This is her third term on Faculty Council, and she believes in authentic faculty governance, which is essential to preserve academic freedom and integrity. Faculty have an important voice in the future of the University, particularly as we navigate issues of curriculum, accreditation, promotion, inclusivity, free speech and other issues in higher education.
Professor Moracco’s priorities as chair are to protect, continue and enhance our efforts toward building an inclusive and equitable environment for Carolina’s faculty, students and staff; to safeguard the integrity of the faculty’s role in decision making; and to advocate for full, timely and transparent information sharing for all matters that concern the faculty. She wants to hear from faculty, and she is thinking of ways to gather more timely and in-depth input from faculty.
Chancellor’s remarks
Chancellor Guskiewicz thanked Chair Chapman for her dedicated leadership and partnership in moving the University forward by ensuring that faculty, staff and student voices were heard regardless of the issue. He congratulated Professor Moracco on her new role and looks forward to working alongside her.
Chancellor Guskiewicz updated the Faculty Council on campus events and initiatives.
On April 18, 2023, he attended the Association of American Universities (AAU) President’s meeting, where he presented on the University’s transfer programs. The Carolina Student Transfer Excellence Program, or C-STEP, is a pathway for community college students to transfer to and graduate from Carolina. UNC-Chapel Hill provides resources to 14 community colleges to prepare students to transfer to Carolina at the start of their junior year. If students graduate with an associate degree and a 3.2 GPA, they are guaranteed admission to Carolina. The biggest group of transfer students in the history of Carolina will be admitted to the University in the fall. Many of the transfer students are coming from the C-STEP community colleges. The AAU meeting also focused on intellectual property, cyber security and diversity and inclusion.
Chancellor Guskiewicz also met with North Carolina members of Congress, where he was able to speak about the University’s excellence with a receptive audience. He stressed the importance of continued support of funding for the National Institute of Health, the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities because it supports the great work that happens on campus.
Many faculty are concerned about the bill introduced in the North Carolina General Assembly that proposes to eliminate tenure for faculty within the UNC System (H 715). Chancellor Guskiewicz said it is critical to continue to educate members of the General Assembly about why tenure is so important, especially at a leading global public research university. Eliminating tenure would be disastrous to the University and efforts to retain and recruit world-class faculty. Leaders across the System continue to work alongside the General Assembly on this issue.
The administration continues to work on critical issues surrounding accessibility. Carolina is 230 years old, there is a lot to fix, but the administration is committed to providing accessibility to everyone. Chancellor Guskiewicz acknowledged Christi Hurt, his chief of staff, for coordinating accessibility efforts alongside members of the leadership team, facilities and campus operations, student affairs and other campus units. Faculty can help students that require accommodation by working closely with the Office of Student Affairs and Accessibility Resources and Service.
He encouraged faculty to attend the 2023 Doctoral Hooding Ceremony on May 13 at 9 a.m. and the 2023 Commencement on May 14 at 9 a.m. The Commencement speaker is Bryan Stevenson, renowned public interest lawyer and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative.
Provost’s remarks
Provost Chris Clemens thanked Chair Chapman for her service to the University; she has been an advocate for Faculty Council and has represented the faculty with courage and grace. He looks forward to working with Professor Moracco and hearing her strategies to protect, defend and enhance the University’s mission.
Provost Clemens said a strong relationship and coordinated approach between faculty and administrative leadership is required to address challenges. Leadership must be judicious and savvy about the political context and how to engage with stakeholders to make an audacious case for the University. This task starts with empowering faculty and leaders to govern, lead and grow. As the elimination of tenure is discussed, the University needs to respond by educating, advocating and making the case that a long-term investment in faculty is also an investment in the State’s health, economic prosperity and basic freedoms.
There should be an investment in all 4,174 faculty on campus. More than half of the faculty are fixed-term. When tenured and tenure-track faculty are troubled by the actions of the General Assembly, they must consider the disparities in their own ranks and the precarity that many faculty experience in their daily life.
Provost Clemens encouraged faculty to apply for the Provost Distinguished Faculty Leaders Program. Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs Giselle Corbie and her team developed a leave program for term faculty to enhance their professional development. The program will be announced in the fall.
He reminded faculty to migrate their course materials from Sakai to Canvas this summer. On Sakai, there are links and instructions on how to make the transition.
Q & A with Chancellor and Provost
Professor Jan Hannig (Statistics and Operations Research) expressed concern about N.C. House Bill 96, which introduces a mandatory course with a syllabus written by the legislature. N.C. Senate Bill 680 could change the UNC System accreditation process by following the Florida model and requiring the University to change its accreditor every 10 years. He asked the chancellor and provost how the administration would respond to these disruptive bills.
Chancellor Guskiewicz said there are problems with the Florida model of accreditation. They are having issues transitioning to another credible accreditor, which could cause issues with their funding. Only accredited institutions are eligible for federal funding. The administration will continue to educate the General Assembly about the effects of changing the accreditation process.
Provost Clemens said the administration has a healthy relationship with the University’s accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), and it would be difficult to rebuild this relationship with a new accreditor. Provost Clemens believes these bills are not constructive and he has relayed this message to some legislators. He also spoke with members of the N.C. Senate about N.C. House Bill 96. They thought it was not relevant to Carolina because they assumed all students would have A.P. credit for the course, which is not true. The course requirement would be an administrative problem and not add anything to the curriculum. It is not appropriate to impose a curriculum, because the faculty determine the curriculum at the University. The administration continues to reiterate the purpose of higher education and why faculty are trusted to create the curriculum.
Professor Rich McLaughlin (Mathematics) asked if diversity-enhancing programs at the University are at risk.
Chancellor Guskiewicz said the administration is closely examining the compelled speech policy enacted by the Board of Governors (BOG) on February 23 and how it applies to hiring and recruitment. They are committed to diversifying our faculty, staff and student body. There are legacy programs and initiatives that are being examined under the new policy, but there are no changes at this point.
Provost Clemens clarified that the BOG enacted the compelled speech policy and the legislature requested information on University’s diversity and inclusion programs.
Professor Harry Watson (History) said on February 17, Faculty Council passed Resolution 2023-2 [PDF], On Disapproving the Creation of a New School at UNC-Chapel Hill, yet the press reports that Provost Clemens requested $5 million from to fund the School of Civic Life and Leadership (SCILL). he said the state legislature appropriated $4 million to spend on the school, which is a direct interference in curriculum decisions and faculty independence. He asked why the request was made after the Council disapproved of the creation of the school and what will be the consequences of this political interference in faculty decision-making.
Chancellor Guskiewicz clarified that no money has yet been appropriated for a school, but there is a line item in the N.C. House’s budget for the funds. The N.C. Senate has not submitted its budget yet and budget negotiations must occur before we know if funds will be appropriated. The administration has a goal of building out and expanding curriculum around the Program for Public Discourse. Faculty and leadership in the College of Arts and Sciences will determine this curriculum. A group of faculty will be tasked with determining how to handle the Communication Beyond Carolina requirement in the General Education Curriculum and how to bridge it with the Program for Public Discourse.
Provost Clemens said we have not made any formal requests to the legislature. Last fall, there was a discussion about what the Program for Public Discourse could do in a curricular sense. He met with a small group of faculty and they developed a proposal and budget request for SCILL. The chancellor and provost agreed that the proposal was not ready to be submitted because they needed input from a larger group of faculty. There are faculty who have aspirations to do this and those aspirations will be discussed with a larger group of faculty. In the meantime, Provost Clemens captured those aspirations in a document and named it SCILL. He also shared the proposal with a few members of the Board of Trustees (BOT) who put forward the resolution against his request. The trustees did not initiate the proposal, it was initiated by the provost on behalf of faculty. It was not submitted to the legislature as a budget request so if it has decided to include SCILL in the budget, it is not because the university made the request. In this political context, legislatures in states like ours are interested in efforts like SCILL. Provost Clemens believes there is a choice to build a program that faculty initiated, or risk having it created without faculty input. The chancellor and provost will charge a committee to study this issue.
Professor Watson said he would like to state for the record that Faculty Council voted against the school, and Provost Clemens’ declaration that faculty made the request for the school is not accurate.
Provost Clemens reiterated that some faculty are interested in the school, but they have not made a formal request. Programs on campus usually start with a small group of faculty who are interested in an idea, who then put together proposals to bring before a larger group. He supports the right of small groups of faculty to develop ideas and brings them forward. Where we got out of order was came when the BOT endorsed an idea that had not been described fully. We need to back up and let the faculty build the description.
Chair Chapman said it is troublesome that the faculty who are interested in the school are unknown.
Provost Clemens said in the fall, the committee will be formed, and it will be clear who is interested.
Professor Allison Schlobohm (Business) said the group of faculty that are interested in the school seem important in the sense that is faculty driven, but unimportant in the sense that they don’t represent all faculty. The provost and chancellor encourage faculty to use their voice. This can be challenging in an institution that sometimes feels opaque in the sense that your proximity to power determines whether your voice matters. This can be very damaging to the culture of the University. She believes transparency is important in these conversations, especially if building trust is the goal.
Chancellor Guskiewicz said faculty will be involved in this process. After the committee is charged, they will bring their findings to the Faculty Council.
Salary Equity Committee report
Associate Vice Chancellor Linc Butler (Human Resources) updated the Council on the work of the Faculty Salary Equity Advisory Committee. The committee was charged in October 2022 by the chancellor and provost. They reviewed previous salary equity analyses, including the work of the Committee on the Status of Women and the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, and current policies and procedures around faculty salaries at the University. During the February meeting, members of human resources reviewed the salary administration guidelines to ensure all members of the committee understood the policies they must operate under.
In future meetings, they will examine salary policies specific to the College and each professional school and develop recommendations on how to create consistency in how the policies are carried out.
Professor Hannig asked what type of data is available to the committee, beyond what is publicly available.
Associate Vice Chancellor Butler said the committee works with Assistant Provost for Institutional Research and Assessment Lynn Williford and her team; they have access to virtually all the personnel data available within our systems. They are looking at the data at a very high level as much as possible to protect individuals, but they are also examining by discipline.
The committee is also working on a website to display their findings.
Campus Accessibility issues and resources
Eleanor Bolton (student and chair, Tar Heels at the Table) and Christine Mendoza (student and member, Tar Heels at the Table) gave a presentation on campus accessibility issues and resources [PDF].
Professor Cheryl Jackson (Pediatrics-Emergency Med) asked whether Tar Heels at the Table works with and assists students with learning differences and provides resources for students with disabilities that are graduating and looking for jobs.
Director of Accessibility Resources and Service (ARS) Simon Bloor said ARS works with students with all diagnoses. They also exchange information with Career Services to help graduating students.
Ceremonial resolution
Secretary of the Faculty Jill Moore asked for consideration of a ceremonial resolution that was not previously presented to the Council. The consideration of a resolution not previously presented requires suspension of the rules of procedure. Secretary Moore proposed that the rules be suspended by unanimous consent. There being no objection, the rules were suspended by unanimous consent and the resolution was presented.
Professor Sue Estroff (Social Medicine) presented Resolution 2023-4. On Appreciation for the Service of Mimi Chapman, Chair of the Faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill [PDF]
Resolution 2023-4 passed by unanimous consent.
Committee Reports (by title)
The committee reports of the Administrative Board of the Library [PDF], Advisory Committee [PDF], Committee on Community and Diversity [PDF], Faculty Executive Committee [PDF], Faculty Information Technology Advisory Committee [PDF], Committee on Scholarships, Awards, and Student Aid [PDF] and Faculty Welfare Committee [PDF] were accepted by title.
CLOSED SESSION: Special Reports from the Committee on Honorary Degrees and Special Awards
Secretary Moore requested a motion to move into closed session to prevent the premature disclosure of honorary degree and special awards information. Professor Moracco made the motion, which was seconded by Professor Rumay Alexander (Nursing). The motion carried and the Faculty Council went into closed session. .
While in closed session the Council approved a nominee for a 2023 Distinguished Alumna/Alumnus Award, a nominee for the 2023 Edward Kidder Graham Faculty Service award, and nominees for honorary degrees to be awarded in May 2024 or later.
Adjournment
Upon returning to open session, the Faculty Council adjourned at 4:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Kadejah Murray
University Program Associate
Jill Moore
Secretary of the Faculty
