January 13, 2012
MEETING OF THE FACULTY COUNCIL
Friday, January 13, 2012
3:00 p.m.
Hitchcock Multipurpose Room
Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History
Chancellor Holden Thorp and Professor Jan Boxill, Chair of the Faculty, presiding
AGENDA
3:00 Chancellor’s Remarks and Question Period
- Chancellor Holden Thorp
3:15 Provost’s Remarks and Question Period
- Provost Bruce Carney
3:25 Chair of the Faculty’s Remarks
- Prof. Jan Boxill
3:30 UNC’s Globalization Efforts: An Update
- Ron Strauss, Executive Vice Provost and Chief International Officer
3:55 Turnitin.com Demonstration and Discussion
- Todd Zakrajsek, Executive Director, and Eric Muller, Director, Center for Faculty Excellence
4:25 Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure Committee Report
- PowerPoint Presentation
- Prof. Linda Dykstra, APT Committee member (for Prof. David Guilkey, Chair)
- Respondents: Prof. Michael Gerhardt and Prof. Eric Hodges
4:35 Open Discussion
4:45 Adjourn
Minutes
JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE FACULTY COUNCIL
January 13, 2012
The Faculty Council of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill convened January 13, 2012, at 3:00 p.m. in the Hitchcock Multipurpose Room of the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History. The following 62 members attended: Bachenheimer, Bagnell, Balaban, Boulton, Boxill, Champagne, Chapman, Copenhaver, Eaker-Rich, Engel, Gilland, Giovanello, Grabowski, Hodges, Howes, Irons, Ives, Janken, Jones, Koomen, Lastra, Leonard, Linden, Lothspeich, Mcmillan, Miller, Morse, Nelson, Reiter, Schoenbach, Spagnoli, Swogger, Thorp , Earp, Friga, Gallippi, Gerhardt, Grinias, Moracco, O’Shaughnessey, Parise, Persky, Powers, Toews, Rusyn, Brice, Bulik, Chenault, Greene, Gulledge, Guskiewicz, Hayslett, Hill, Renner , Rodgers, Shea, Chen , Gilliland, Mayer , Palmer, Paul, Szypszak, and Shanahan,
Call to Order
Chancellor Holden Thorp called the Council to order at 3:00 p.m.
Chancellor’s Remarks and Question Period
Chancellor Thorp congratulated Prof. Myron Cohen (Medicine), who was recently credited with the “Breakthrough of the Year” by Science magazine for his research showing that HIV patients taking antiviral medication exhibit reduced transmission of the virus by 95%.
The chancellor noted that for the eleventh year in a row Carolina has ranked as the top value in higher education by Kiplinger’s magazine. The article also congratulates Carolina for maintaining quality and accessibility. On the tuition front, Chancellor Thorp reported that he has had extensive discussions both yesterday and today with the Board of Governors about tuition increases. While the Board has agreed to a somewhat higher increase, President Ross wants to cap all tuition increases across the System at 10%. Our proposed increase is 11.4%.
The chancellor called attention to new Alert Carolina posters that are now located in all classrooms. The posters address problems in communication that were uncovered by the recent tornado alert.
Chancellor Thorp responded to a number of questions from members of the Council.
Q. Prof. Victor Schoenbach (Public Health): in discussions leading to recommendations for tuition increases, has consideration been given to the impact on the tuition benefit that research projects have to cover, resulting in decreased employment opportunities for graduate students.
A. Yes. One of the reasons Carolina has been such a strong research university is that we have been able to admit more graduate students than private institutions where research grants have to pick up high tuition costs.
Q. Prof. Steven Bachenheimer: tuition remission for graduate students has been a major factor in attracting out-of-state graduate students, yet it seems we have to fight for this privilege in every budget cycle. Has there been discussion of mechanisms that would seek to eliminate this constant struggle, or else structurally change the relationship between graduate students and the institution so as to make in-state tuition automatic?
A. Whatever we do, it will have to be something that does not require legislation. We now have a line item in the budget for graduate student tuition remission, and we don’t want to jeopardize that. Whatever can be done will have to be done internally.
Q. Prof. Paul Friga: is this an opportune time to revisit the cap on out-of-state undergraduate admissions.
A. Discussions are ongoing about that issue and there as signs that things may be loosening up a bit. This year we exceeded the cap by 24 students. Normally, that would have invoked a budget penalty, but the Board of Governors waived the penalty this year, which may be a sign of changing attitudes.
Q. Prof. Lloyd Kramer: if there is a 10% increase in tuition but no offsetting increase in tuition remission, the effect will be to reduce the number of graduate student admissions. Are there plans to avoid that?
A. Over the past several years the Provost has held departments harmless on that front and intends to continue to do so. It is worth nothing that the legislature did not cut our tuition remission line item; everything else they cut by 18%.
Provost’s Remarks and Question Period
Provost Bruce Carney announced three new appointments: Prof. Eric Muller (Law) is the new Faculty Director of the Center for Faculty Excellence; Ms. Christi Hurt is the Interim Director of the Carolina Women’s Center; and Dr. Taffye Benson Clayton is the new Vice Provost for Diversity and Multicultural Affairs.
Chair of the Faculty’s Remarks
Chair of the Faculty Jan Boxill said that she had met recently with Dr. Gigi Taylor of the UNC Writing Center to discuss the needs of graduate students for whom English is a second language. A presentation on this topic is anticipated for the February Council meeting. Prof. Boxill said that it has been decided to offer access to plagiarism software provided TurItIn.com on a one-semester trial basis for a very reasonable fee. She also reported that a very diverse steering committee has been formed to guide the H2O Carolina theme and the selection of future themes. The committee is co-chaired by Prof. Jaime Bartram and Sr. Associate Dean Terry Rhodes.
UNC’s Globalization Efforts: An Update
Executive Vice Provost Ron Strauss gave a presentation on Carolina’s globalization efforts. See Appendix A for his extended remarks.
Dr. Strauss responded to a number of questions.
Q. Prof. Gregory Copenhaver: some departments experience a large number of foreign applicants at the graduate level. Some institutions have developed a cadre of interviewers on site in countries with large numbers of applicants. Is this feasible for Carolina.
A. Vetting graduate students abroad is definitely important and we do have networks in some parts of the world where there is a critical mass of alumni. This is the case in places like Hong Kong, Peking, and Singapore.
Q. Prof. Vin Steponaitis: Looking to the future, what are the biggest challenges to getting where we want to be?
A. We are moving rapidly toward the four strategic goals I mentioned, but we do have a good way to go in some areas.
Q. Prof. Rebecca New: in the School of Education we have a large number of graduate students who have not matriculated but live abroad. We had a problem with one student who thought she did not have to submit her research project to IRB review as long as she did not publish in English. We are working in SOE to address that problem. Faculty need help in informing international students of research standards in place at Carolina.
A. This is an important issue. Students must learn the norms of this community. Student Government has a handbook for international students. That is one step in that direction.
Q. Prof. Lloyd Kramer: two specific policy problems need to be addressed. First, any foreign applicant for a graduate program is
permanently classified as out-of-state for tuition purposes with no possibility of gaining in-state status. This means the cost to the department is extremely high, resulting in a cap on foreign admissions in every department. Second, Carolina graduate students who get a grant to study abroad have to pay tuition and fees while they are away. Both of these policies pose serious problems.
A. We are aware of these problems and are working on them.
Q. Prof. Steven Bachenheimer: have we given thought to partnering with North Carolina State University to take advantage of their global contacts through their engineering faculty?
A. We have several partnerships with other UNC System schools through General Administration, and also several partnerships with Duke.
Q. Prof. Diane Leonard: what is your working definition of “global.” Does it differ from “international,” and what role do you see for study of foreign languages.
A. There is no meaningful distinction between “global” and “international,” and study of foreign languages is central to global work.
Demonstration and Discussion of Turnitin.com
Prof. Eric Muller said he is excited about his new position with the Center for Faculty Excellence and will be taking to the position his experience as Associate Dean for Faculty Development in the School of Law. Prof. Muller said that the Center will study and oversee the trial of Turitin.com with the guidance of a committee that represents a diversity of views about the technology.
Dr. Todd Zakrajsek, Executive Director of the Center for Faculty Excellence, demonstrated the functionality of Turnitin.com. He responded to a number of questions and comments.
Q. Prof. Tom Linden: is there a copyright problem when a student submits a paper that resides on the Turitin.com website.
A. Cornell University investigated this issue and found that it was not a problem.
Q. Prof. Linden: is student consent required for use of this technology.
A. Students must be allowed to opt out.
Q. Prof. Gregory Copenhaver: could a student “game” the system by submitting a plagiarized paper repeatedly.
A. The system reports how many times the student has submitted the same paper. That should be a tip off!
Q. Provost Carney: what departments will participate in the study.
A. The advisory committee will make the selection.
Q. Prof. Victor Schoenbach: is there an automatic way to submit all papers from a large class.
A. The student submits the paper, not the faculty member.
Q. Prof. Paul Friga: what will the software cost if the trial is successful.
A. We don’t know exactly at this point, but it will be in the vicinity of $50,000 per year for the entire campus, including graduate and professional students.
Q. Prof. Jean DeSaix: the system might well change students’ presumptions from “I probably won’t get caught” to “I probably will get caught.”
A. Yes, and it will also assist in teaching students how to cite sources properly.
Q. Provost Carney: will there be student feedback.
A. Yes. We want both students and faculty in the pilot study who go into it thinking that it’s not a good idea.
Q. Is the system useful for mathematics.
A. Yes.
Q. Can we request a list of journals and other sources included in Turnitin.com’s database.
A. Yes.
Annual Report of the Committee on Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure
Prof. Linda Dykstra, a member of the Committee on Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure, presented the committee’s annual report. She responded to a number of questions and comments.
Q. Prof. Michael Gerhardt: what advice would you share with deans and department chairs that would help the committee evaluate their personnel recommendations.
A. Carefully read and follow the formal guidelines that your unit has adopted for tenure-track personnel actions. Report the vote. If there are negative votes, report the tenure status of the dissenter(s) and the stated reasons for the dissent, if expressed. If letters of recommendation are coming from institutions that are not considered peers, explain.
Q. Prof. Jane Thrailkill: there are currently no members of the committee from the Humanities Division of the College. That is a problem.
Q. How often does the committee review departmental criteria for promotion and tenure, and what procedures are followed when a dossier is found to be unacceptable.
A. Occasionally a dossier is returned for reconsideration, but it is rare that the committee rejects a departmental recommendation. This is likely due to the fact that departments do not forward border-line cases. This year the Provost instructed each appointing unit to review its criteria for promotion and tenure. That process is nearly complete.
Adjournment
Its business having concluded, the Council adjourned at 4:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted
Joseph S.Ferrell
Secretary of the Faculty
Appendix A
UNC Global
Update to Faculty Council – Jan 13, 2012
Ron Strauss, Executive Vice Provost and Chief International Officer
It is wonderful to have an opportunity to meet with you about UNC’s growing Global programs. Before I share our vision for how UNC is continuing to evolve into a deeply global university, I want to acknowledge that our Global progress results from terrific collaborations with our faculty and campus leadership – Faculty support makes this possible.
Rationale
Let’s begin by asking the fundamental question – why should Carolina or any research university globalize? It is because members of the University community require an understanding of how world events are created and resolved and how economic, geo-political, and cultural factors drive international relationships.
Carolina is already a global institution, with worldwide interests, world-class programs, and significant participation by international students and faculty in initiatives across the globe. Yet, an expansion and strengthening of this globalization is essential if we intend to remain a major university in the future.
All that Carolina does internationally must also be grounded in its identity as a state university proud to be serving its citizens. The University has an obligation to connect “global to local” and fully integrate international aspects into campus-based endeavors and studies. In globalizing UNC, we will help prepare North Carolina and our students for participation in the global economy and the world stage.
UNC Global is the embodiment of an aspiration to transform the Carolina education into an increasingly global experience, across all of our schools and units. Our motto is – Minds on a Mission – and for us, that mission is both pan-university and compelling. You might ask – does this vision of global really work? Well some of our metrics are very persuasive.
Global Metrics
Overall, Carolina is now rated 43th worldwide and 27th among US universities by the reputable London Times 2011 World University rankings. On this same poll, Carolina was rated #23 among the world’s universities in Arts and Humanities (15th in the US) ; 20th in Health Affairs (12th in the US); 23rd in Social Sciences (16th in US); and 35th in Life Sciences (17th in US). These ranking mix our global identity and reputation with our scholarly productivity.
The 2011 Shanghai Jiao Tong ratings entitled “Academic Rankings of World Universities” – are based on global science citations and research recognition. This poll had Carolina as 42nd among all global universities this year and 30th among US universities.
By these well-respected measures we are already quite global and on the way up. Such rankings are excellent … but truly they are not enough. Other metrics are worthy of attention.
Last spring, UNC received seven highly competitive Title VI Global grant awards from the U.S. Department of Education. We are tied for fifth in the nation in the number of Title VI Area Studies Centers. These Title VI Centers are quite a recognition for our globally-oriented faculty, especially in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Last year, UNC was number one among top research universities in the production of Faculty Fulbright Awardees with 7 awards. UNC is #4 among public universities in Student Fulbright Awards with 21 new awards!
UNC is tied for third in Peace Corps enrollment (“large schools” category) with 94 graduates now serving in the Peace Corps. A total of 1,092 Carolina alumni have served in the Peace Corps.
UNC ranks 9th nationally in placement of interns and alumni with careers in the U.S. State Department.
UNC has one of the highest participation rates among U.S. public universities of undergraduate students studying abroad before they graduate – nearly 40% study abroad in more than 70 nations.
Interest in Carolina’s global endeavors is also way up. How do we know? One measure is the traffic on our UNC Global website. This year compared to last year (July 1 – December 31, 2009 to July 1 – December 31, 2010):
- Visits to the web site increased by 46% (from 41,396 to 60,635)
- Unique visitors increased by 61% (from 27,731 to 44,571)
- International visits increased significantly. These were the top 5 countries with the highest % increase:
- Singapore – 169% increase (from 158 to 425)
- China – 164% increase (from 367 to 970)
- Germany – 135% increase (from 148 to 348)
- France – 126% increase (from 121 to 274)
- South Korea – 101% increase (from 153 to 307)
Strategies for Global Growth
Rankings and metrics are fine – but you might ask: How is Carolina going about becoming a more global university? Essentially we have 4 strategies.
First, we must have a global faculty.
We have sought to increase our numbers of internationally-oriented faculty in strategic world regions of Asia and Africa, while maintaining our expertise in Europe and Latin America.
Looking at the College of Arts and Sciences, since 2007-8 the College has hired 101 tenure track/tenured faculty with global expertise – that is 47% of the new hires! During the same period the College hired 56 fixed term lecturers to teach foreign language and culture.
In the last year, even with ongoing economic challenges, we have hired new international scholars. Across the University, the numbers of global faculty are up.
Second, we must have a truly world-class global research capacity.
Towards this end, the Global Research Institute was officially launched in March 2010. The institute’s (5) inaugural scholars started their terms at UNC in fall 2010, and this fall we added a new group of 5 fellows. All fellows are in-residence for at least 6 months; they participate in a biweekly seminar, and engage in the intellectual life of the institute. Carolina is now home to an emerging global think tank that is growing into to a major contributor to the dialogue on significant global issues. The Global Research Institute has dedicated itself to embody the campus-wide theme of Water in Our World in its work over the next 2 years.
Third, we must have strong and enduring global partnerships :
Carolina now has a multitude of international partnerships with global institutions. The vast majority of these are faculty-driven, “bottom-up” partnerships that have evolved over years or decades. They are institutionalized by “Memoranda of Understandings” between faculty or departments – typically based on mutual research or teaching interests.
Several strategic partnerships involve multi-layered relationships spanning a number of disciplines, schools, and departments, and receiving sustained institutional investment. Such partnerships include faculty and student exchanges, research collaborations, and mutually beneficial sharing of resources.
These strategic partnerships include:
- King’s College London
- National University of Singapore
- Tsinghua and Peking Universities in China
- University of San Francisco de Quito/Galápagos Initiative
- Ministry of Health/Malawi Global Health and Infectious Diseases Program
The growth of some of these partnerships has been amazing to watch. Recently we saw UNC’s English and Comparative Literature Department come together with our Department of Social Medicine to initiate a Medical Humanities dialogue with KCL. The King’s College London partnership is truly a relationship that includes multiple UNC schools, on-going seminars and exchanges, and student/faculty involvement. We are also initiating a monthly Winston House lecture series in which UNC faculty speak with London colleagues, students and alumni.
Major new UNC degree-related initiatives are in the early phases: such as a doctor of pharmacy program between the UNC School of Pharmacy and the National University of Singapore, – and also an executive MBA degree between Kenan-Flagler Business School and the School of Industrial Engineering at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
Emerging global partnerships are already happening with the University of Bremen (Germany) and a multi-university collaborative around ecology, environment and climate convened by a university in Brunei (University of Brunei Darussalam – iCUBE).
Recent discussions with the Chinese Foreign Affairs University, a premier diplomatic corps training institution, will continue to move us closer to joint educational ventures. We are also reopening our Study Abroad program with the University of Havana in Cuba this spring.
We have initiated a Partnership Roundtable to nourish and grow these global partnerships. This will, in part, help strengthen the globalization of the campus – it will also help us identify new ways to strengthen existing partnerships. We’ll include the leaders of our key partnerships from all across the campus in this group.
What you will notice is that we are not engaged in the building or establishment of branch or off-shore campuses of UNC. We have articulated a stance that Carolina is at its best when we are in balanced, reciprocal partnerships …. beyond bricks and mortar, we value collaborations and relationships.
Fourth, we must build our on-campus capacity to support globalization.
We are getting better at reaching across disciplines and schools to grapple with the world’s big questions and issues. Towards this end, we have ramped up linkages across campus, especially with the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases which has taken on the role of convening the global efforts of all five health affairs schools.
We’ve also launched an LLM degree for foreign lawyers at the law school, which accepted its first incoming class starting this fall.
Our pan-university International Affairs Advisory Council- with membership from all Schools and many centers – is working to strengthen campus programs to orient students to global travel and help them with re-entry on return.
We have launched a new Global Travel Registry – for students and faculty members – so that we can always reach members of the Carolina family when necessary wherever they are in the world. This will markedly improve our ability to find Carolina students in emergencies.
Our students have initiated an Admissions Ambassadors Abroad program, designed to recruit more international students to UNC by having current students and alumni abroad make presentations to prominent, competitive high schools.
We are eager to identify alumni overseas who can help us reach out to competitive high schools abroad and perhaps sponsor scholarships for international students to study at Carolina. Our 18% cap on out-of-state first year undergraduate students includes international students. We seek ways to open the campus up to more transfer and exchange students from abroad. Student Government published Carolina’s first handbook for Global Students this fall. That being said, we have to become amazing hosts for students from abroad – welcoming them, including them and learning from their being in our midst.
Who is our International Student Body?
During the 2011-12 academic year, there are 1,747 full-time, international students on campus: 461 undergraduates, 983 graduate students, and 303 non-degree students, primarily on campus through Study Abroad or the Kenan-Flagler Business School. This year the University has 1,129 postdoctoral scholars; of these 52% or 582 are international postdocs.
Interestingly, some of our globalization arrives through in-state residents. Among in-state residents in 2010’s entering undergraduate class, 255 or 8% were born outside of the U.S. – with 72 countries of origin in the group.
We are also working to grow global career and internship opportunities through University Career Services and the Diplomat-in-Residence program on-campus. Bill Lucas, a UNC alum, has joined us as our Diplomat-in-Residence after an extended stint for the State Department in Kabul, Afghanistan – he is living in Craige Residence Hall and will be teaching in Peace, War and Defense.
This year we have begun an effort to:
- Start a new student organization to promote campus globalization
- Initiate a new global-domestic Living and Learning Community in a Carolina residence hall.
- Enhance our Visa, Immigration and Global Student services programs
- Launch a Masters degree in Global Studies (already have 479 junior/senior majors – 8th largest major in the College)
- Further internships abroad for students and provide improved career guidance for global careers.
As you can tell – lots is going on!
IN SUMMARY:
We have 4 strategies to globalize:
- Hiring and retaining a global faculty.
- Building a truly world-class global research capacity.
- Creating and furthering strong and enduring global partnerships.
- Advancing our on-campus capacity to support globalization.
I hope you are as excited as I am by Carolina’s progress and potential on the global stage. We are fortunate to have bright students, a dedicated faculty, and a supportive administration. Thank you for your commitment to our global priorities. I urge you to help us maintain our momentum towards globalizing Carolina.
Thank you!
