December 2, 2022
Meeting of the General Faculty and Faculty Council
Friday, December 2, 2022
3:00 p.m.
1001 Kerr Hall (Eshelman School of Pharmacy)
Members of the General Faculty who are unable to attend in person may register to attend remotely at this link.
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. Chancellor’s remarks
Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz
3:25 p.m. Provost’s remarks
Provost Christopher Clemens
Update on Learning Management System migration. Learn more at Sakai to Canvas-30 Nov 2022
3:40 p.m. Budget update (Presentation slides [PDF])
Vice Chancellor Nathan Knuffman (Finance and Operations)
View the UNC-Chapel Hill Operating Budget Book for 2022-23 at this link.
4:00 p.m. Reports of the Faculty Athletics Representative [PDF] and Faculty Athletics Committee [PDF]
Prof. Lissa Broome (Law), Faculty Athletics Representative
Prof. Erianne Weight (Exercise and Sport Science), committee chair
Dr. Jeni Shannon, Director of the Carolina Athletics Mental Health and Performance Psychology Program
Student-athlete representatives, On video
4:20 p.m. University approved absence policy
Prof. Lorraine Cramer (Medicine), Educational Policy Committee chair
4:40 p.m. Committee report by title
Annual report of the Faculty Grievance Committee [PDF]
Prof. Kimberly Boggess (Medicine), committee co-chair
4:45 p.m. CLOSED SESSION: Special Report from the Committee on Honorary Degrees and Special Awards
Confidential Report [PDF] — for Faculty Council members only; Sakai log in required
Prof. Amelia Drake (Medicine), committee chair
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 December 2, 2022 at 3:00 p.m. in Kerr Hall, Room 1001 and via Zoom. Other faculty and members of the public were able to observe the meeting on a livestream.
The following 75 Faculty Council members attended: Alderman, Alexander, Balasubramanian, Becker, Berkoff, Binz, Boyd, Brownley, Burch, Campbell, Chapman (Chair of the Faculty), Charles, Clement, Colford, De Fays, Dehart-Davis, Dillman Carpentier, Divaris, Donahue, Drummond, Estroff, Frederick, Gates-Foster, Gold, Goralski, Guskiewicz (Chancellor) Hackney, Haggis, Halpern, Hannig, Hodges, Jackson, Johnson, Krause, La Serna, Lain, Lensing, Lopez, Ma, McLaughlin, McNeilly, Mehrotra, Mendez, Metcalfe, Meyer, Mohanty, Moore (Secretary of the Faculty), Moracco, Muller, Nichols, Penton, Pettifor, Plenge, Reissner, Renner, Reyes, Roberts, Rose, Sathy, Schlobohm, Sena-Soberano, K. Smith, Triumph, Turi, Vines, Wahl, Watson, Weiler, Wiltshire, Winget, Wolfe, Yaghoobi, Young, Zeeman and Zomorodi.
The following 12 members received excused absences: Aikat, Ansong, Cook, Entwisle, Mayer-Davis, McEntee, Menard, Neal, Oliveira, J. Smith, Thornburg and Vernon-Feagans.
The following 4 members were absent without excuse: Cai, Freeman, Lin and Thorp.
Others in attendance: Clemens (Provost), Samantha Golden (Graduate Observer) and Margaux Sherwin (Undergraduate Observer).
Call to Order
The Chair of the Faculty called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m.
Chair of the Faculty remarks
Chair of the Faculty Mimi Chapman welcomed everyone to the December meeting of the Faculty Council and gave remarks [PDF].
Chancellor’s remarks
Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz updated the Faculty Council on several campus events and initiatives.
The University’s Campaign for Carolina surpassed $5 billion with more than one month remaining in the fundraising campaign. More than 215,000 donors made gifts to support students, initiatives, and the research and scholarship of faculty throughout the University. About 25,000 donors had no connection to Carolina; they are industry partners that believe in the mission of the University.
Vice Chancellor for Development David Routh stepped down from his position after ten years of service. Chancellor Guskiewicz acknowledged Vice Chancellor Routh for his service to the University. Michael Andreasen, senior vice president for University Advancement at the University of Oregon, was selected as Carolina’s next vice chancellor for Development; he will begin on January 23.
The Office of Development is working to bridge the current fundraising campaign with the next campaign. The new Grand Challenges Initiative launched this fall, and involved faculty proposals highlighting grand challenges that would interest donors. Faculty sent in a total of 33 proposals. Three themes emerged from these proposals: 1) workforce development, 2) 21st-century education, and 3) health and wellness. The administration selected five proposals and will meet with their creators to develop the projects and prepare them for the University’s donor base. He thanked everyone who participated.
On November 21, the campus and Chapel Hill community dedicated a memorial to honor the memory of James Lewis Cates Jr., a 22-year-old Black man from Chapel Hill who was killed on this campus in an act of racial violence on November 21, 1970. He thanked everyone who attended the dedication.
Chancellor Guskiewicz also thanked Vice Chancellor of Finance and Operations Nathan Knuffman and his team for their hard work balancing the budget. The administration increased the minimum graduate student stipend and supported several other initiatives because the budget was balanced. They will continue to be transparent about how they develop the budget each year.
The Faculty Salary Equity Committee will meet on December 16. Chancellor Guskiewicz and Provost Clemens added two fixed-term faculty members to this committee. Salary inequity on campus will not be fixed overnight. However, the balanced budget will allow the administration to begin to make corrections as they learn where inequities exist.
The leadership searches for the dean of the School of Government, the dean of the Kenan-Flagler Business School and the vice provost for Libraries are underway. A national search will be held for the next vice chancellor for research. Chancellor Guskiewicz acknowledged Interim Vice Chancellor for Research Penny Gordon-Larsen for her incredible work over the past ten months.
Director of Emergency Management and Planning Darrell Jeter and his team created an emergency preparedness plan. They are creating training videos to accompany the emergency preparedness document. During the spring semester, faculty will receive information on active shooter training and how to secure classrooms.
Provost’s remarks
Provost Christopher Clemens updated the Faculty Council on the new learning management system (Canvas), graduate student stipends and new leadership positions.
The University will transition from the current learning management system, Sakai, to Canvas. Chief Information Officer Michael Barker and Director of Instructional Technologies Suzanne Caldwell presented a migration plan and timetable to the Faculty Information Technology Advisory Committee, which that committee then endorsed. The plan provides a generous migration period. Sakai will be available for hosting through the spring of 2024 and old sites available in read-only format for porting to Canvas will be available through 2026. There is no guarantee that Sakai will not become unserviceable before 2026 because the user base for Sakai is tapering as Canvas grows. Many sites are available to port into Canvas for the spring. Provost Clemens shared a document with information on the transition from Sakai to Canvas [PDF].
Beginning January 1, 2023, the minimum stipend will increase to $16,000 for master’s students and $20,000 for doctoral students. It is the largest single-year increase in the history of The Graduate School, representing a 25% increase in the minimum stipend. The provost thanked graduate students for their work in the teaching, service, and scholarship that enriches the life of the academic community. A “Frequently Asked Questions” document about the stipend increase can be found at this link [HTML].
Professor Giselle Corbie (Social Medicine) has been named the new vice provost for Faculty Affairs. In this role, she will represent the Provost’s Office on the Committee on Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure. She will also examine practices in faculty advancement to ensure they are fair, equitable and unbiased.
Winter Commencement will be held on Sunday, December 11 at 2:00 p.m. in the Dean Smith Center. Professor Daniel Wallace (English and Comparative Literature), an award-winning author, will be the keynote speaker.
Professor Sridhar Balasubramanian (Business) asked how the administration decided on workforce development, 21st-century education, and health and wellness as the priorities that would guide the next fundraising campaign.
Chancellor Guskiewicz said these priorities align with the strategic plan Carolina Next: Innovations for Public Good. Faculty submitted 33 proposals for the Grand Challenges Initiative, 25 of these proposals intersected with at least one of the three priorities. The administration chose five proposals to develop into initiatives over the next ten months.
Professor Mark McNeilly (Business) recommended UNC Police consider the layout of each building on campus as they conduct active shooter training.
Chancellor Guskiewicz said UNC Police have considered the layouts of each campus building. A QR code will be at the podium of every classroom; this code will direct faculty to instructions on how to lock the classroom.
Professor Bruce Cairns (Surgery) asked what motivates people to donate to Carolina.
Chancellor Guskiewicz said people donate because they believe in Carolina. Vice Chancellor Routh and his team created a great road map for the fundraising campaign. Faculty and students spoke about the impact that gifts had on their experience at Carolina.
Professor Cairns asked how the University’s relationship with other System universities and the State would progress as the campus community focuses on the three priorities.
Chancellor Guskiewicz said the University has great collaborations with other System schools, but acknowledged that there is room for improvement.
Provost Clemens met members of the community college system because they are focused on the workforce. The State wants the University to serve the people by educating students and preparing them for the current workforce and by educating a workforce that will draw new industries to the State. Hence, data science is an important and critical initiative. Companies are asking University leadership about the number of data science graduates in the State as a precondition to locating to North Carolina. If the University leadership cannot answer these questions with strength, companies will not move to North Carolina.
Professor Misha Becker (Linguistics) asked if funds from the Campaign for Carolina would be used to address deferred maintenance on campus.
Chancellor Guskiewicz said the administration will submit a priority request to the System Office on December 16 and that addressing deferred maintenance is one of the top priorities. This campus has almost $900 million in deferred maintenance and the number is growing. Donors are more interested in constructing new buildings than repairing old ones. A small number of capital projects were in the current fundraising campaign, but more will be included in the next campaign.
Professor Alison Schlobohm (Business) thanked the chancellor for his work on the James Lewis Cates Jr. memorial. Chancellor Guskiewicz in turn thanked the students who led the effort.
Budget update
Vice Chancellor of Finance and Operations Nathan Knuffman gave a presentation on the University’s budget [PDF].
Professor Rich McLaughlin (Mathematics) asked if the cap on out-of-state admissions would increase and how it would affect the University’s budget.
Vice Chancellor Knuffman said out-of-state admissions at UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State, UNC-Wilmington and Appalachian State are currently capped at 18%. The Board of Governors (BOG) increased the cap for all other UNC System institutions. He does not know if the BOG will increase the University’s cap on out-of-state admissions.
Chancellor Guskiewicz said to increase enrollment at the University, the administration must reassure the BOG that they will grow enrollment responsibly and will not reduce the number of in-state students. Increased enrollment would bring significant differential tuition to the University that would help retain the best faculty and staff.
The UNC System moved to a performance-based model for funding universities. Professor Jan Hannig (Statistics and Operations Research) asked for more information on the performance measure chosen by the administration.
Vice Chancellor Knuffman said there are five performance measures that campuses could choose from under the System’s new funding model. The UNC-CH administration chose research productivity; the University is already performing well on this metric.
Professor Hannig asked if the administration would consider increasing the number of North Carolina resident doctoral students in STEM because they receive 2.5 times the usual credit hour allocation.
Vice Chancellor Knuffman said credit hour dollar amounts were the same for undergraduate and graduate students in the first version of the System funding model. The UNC-CH administration provided feedback on the important role of graduate education and the associated costs. As a result, the BOG increased the credit hour allocation by 2.5 for graduate students and by 1.5 for master’s students in STEM. This change does not affect existing funding.
Professor Eric Hodges (Nursing) asked if data is collected on the return on investment (ROI) for out-of-state students that come to UNC-CH. Many of these students stay in North Carolina after graduation. This data might be persuasive for increasing the cap on out-of-state admissions.
Vice Chancellor Knuffman said out-of-state students who stay in North Carolina after graduation create companies and provide taxes and additional tuition dollars that help fund the institution. This consideration is important for the overall return on investment to the State and its taxpayers.
Chancellor Guskiewicz said since there is a nursing shortage in North Carolina, the number of students admitted into the School of Nursing will increase with a goal of keeping more nurses in the State.
Chair of the Faculty Mimi Chapman clarified that there is a new UNC System funding model and a return on investment study is underway by the System Office.
Vice Chancellor Knuffman said the System funding model is just one mechanism by which the University can receive funding from the State. The priorities that guide the UNC-CH budget are more comprehensive. Enrollment and research are driving the marginal dollars that the State allocates to the University. Every year the System puts forward a list of funding requests, and each campus can provide feedback.
Student-Athlete Mental Health
Dr. Jeni Shannon, director of the Carolina Athletics Mental Health and Performance Psychology Program (AMP), gave a presentation [PDF] on student-athlete mental health. The presentation included a video of UNC Football players Storm Duck (Junior) and Elijah Green (Sophomore) sharing their experiences with mental health and how faculty can support student athletes.
Professor Miguel La Serna (History) asked if mental health training is available to coaches and trainers, particularly around gender and body image.
Director Shannon and Professor J.D. DeFreese (Exercise and Sport Science) developed a version of Mental Health First Aid specifically for coaches, which includes an eating disorder and body image section. She presents on various topics at coach’s meetings, including coach abuse and assessing for suicide. Some teams have their own AMP point person.
Professor Cairns asked if there are faculty liaisons for the teams.
Professor Erianne Weight (Exercise and Sport Science), chair of the Faculty Athletics Committee (FAC), said members of the FAC serve as faculty liaisons for each sports team. If there are academic-related issues that a faculty member can help with, the FAC liaison should be one of the first people contacted.
University approved absence policy
This agenda item was rescheduled for the January meeting of the Faculty Council.
Committee reports by title
The annual reports of the Faculty Grievance Committee [PDF], the Faculty Athletics Committee [PDF] and the Faculty Athletics Representative [PDF] were accepted by title.
Closed session: Special Report from the Committee on Honorary Degrees and Special Awards
Secretary of the Faculty Jill Moore entertained a motion to move into closed session to prevent the premature disclosure of honorary degree and special awards information. Professor Hodges made a motion to move into closed session. The motion was seconded by Professor Anthony Hackney (Exercise and Sport Science) and approved by Faculty Council.
While in closed session a nominee for a 2023 Honorary Degree and nominees for 2023 Distinguished Alumna and Alumnus Awards were approved by the Council.
Adjournment
Upon returning to open session, the Faculty Council adjourned at 5:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Kadejah Murray
University Program Associate
Jill Moore
Secretary of the Faculty
