April 16, 2021 - Faculty Governance

Meeting of the Faculty Council

Friday, April 16, 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Teleconference

The meeting was streamed live and recorded. The recording is available at this link. Those watching the livestream were able to submit questions and comments via Poll Everywhere.

Agenda

3:00 p.m. Introductory remarks from the Chair of the Faculty
Professor Mimi Chapman (Social Work)

Remembrance of Faculty Colleagues [PDF]
Faculty Election Update
Resolution 2021-4. On Supporting a Safe and Inclusive Campus [PDF]

3:15 p.m. Provost’s Remarks
Provost Robert Blouin

3:35 p.m. Faculty Executive Committee resolution on chancellor searches [PDF]
Chair of the Faculty Mimi Chapman

3:50 p.m. TEAM ADVANCE report
Professor Kia Caldwell (African, African American and Diaspora Studies), Co-PI
Professor Erin Malloy (Psychiatry), Lead PI and Director of Center for Faculty Excellence

4:10 p.m. Joint annual reports: Committees on Community and Diversity and Scholarships, Awards and Student Aid
Professor Rumay Alexander (Nursing), Community and Diversity Committee chair
Professor Donald Hornstein (Law), Scholarships, Awards and Student Aid Committee chair
Ms. Rachelle Feldman (Interim Vice Provost, Enrollment; Associate Provost of Scholarships and Student Aid)

4:30 p.m. Status of Women Committee updates [Annual Report [PDF] submitted by title, March 2021]
Professor Misha Becker (Linguistics), committee co-chair
Professor Elizabeth Dickinson (Business), committee co-chair

4:40 p.m. Annual committee reports by title, submitted by respective committee chairs

Administrative Board of the Library [PDF]. Professor Kurt Gilliland (Cell Biology and Physiology)
Buildings and Grounds Committee [PDF]. Professor David Hartzell (Business)
Community and Diversity Committee [PDF]. Professor Rumay Alexander (Nursing)
Educational Policy Committee [PDF]. Professor Melinda Beck (Nutrition)
Faculty Executive Committee [PDF]. Professor Mimi Chapman (Social Work)

4:45 p.m. Election of Faculty Secretary
Professor Suzanne Gulledge (Education), Advisory Committee chair

Advisory Committee nominee: Professor Jill Moore (Government)

4:55 p.m. Ceremonial Resolutions
Chair of the Faculty Mimi Chapman

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 16, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. via Zoom. Other faculty and members of the public were able to observe the meeting on a livestream.

The following 73 members attended: D. Aikat, J. Aikat, Alexander, Berkoff, Berkowitz, Boon, Brownley, Burch, Burke, Byerley, Cai, Chapman (Chair of the Faculty), Chavis, Clement, Cox, Divaris, Donahue, Entwisle, Estroff, Falvo, Floyd-Wilson, Freeman, Gates-Foster, Gentzsch, Gilland, Halladay, Holland, J. Williams, Joyner, Krause, Lain, Larson, Lee, Lensing, Levine, Lithgow, Lopez, Menard, M. Williams, Mayer, McGrath, Metcalfe, Meyer, Moon, Moore, Moracco, Muller, Neal, Nichols, Olson, Padilla, Plenge, Ramaswamy, Renner, Roberts, Rose, Rudder, Scarlett, Scarry, Steponaitis (Secretary of the Faculty), Thornburg, Thorpe, Triumph, Vaidyanathan, Van Deinse, Vision, von Bernuth, Walter, Watson, Wiltshire, Womack, Young and Zomorodi.

The following 7 members received excused absences: Anksorus, Guskiewicz (Chancellor), Halpern, Krome-Lukens, Mayer-Davis, Mock and Rahangdale.

The following 12 members were absent without excuse: Brewster, Clegg, Coble, Dewitya, Fromke, Gilchrist, Jeffay, Pettifor, Platts-Mills, Powell, Santos and Thorp.

Others in attendance: Provost Blouin and David Burriss (Undergraduate Student 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 final Faculty Council meeting of the academic year and gave brief introductory remarks [PDF].

Remembrance of Faculty Colleagues

Professor Chapman asked for a moment of silence after the “In Memoriam” presentation [PDF], which honors UNC-Chapel Hill faculty who have passed away during the past year.

Faculty Election Update

The election concluded on April 13 and the winners are posted on the Office of Faculty Governance website [HTML]. Professor Chapman thanked everyone who agreed to stand for election.

Resolution 2021-4. On Supporting a Safe and Inclusive Campus

Professor Chapman introduced Resolution 2021-4. On Supporting a Safe and Inclusive Campus [PDF] to Faculty Council.

Secretary of the Faculty Vin Steponaitis stated the question, Resolution 2021-4, and opened the floor for discussion.

Resolution 2021-4 passed by unanimous consent.

Provost’s remarks

Provost Blouin thanked Professor Chapman for her remarks and gave updates on campus initiatives and activities. Chancellor Guskiewicz is unable to attend today’s meeting and sends his regards.

The “Carolina Together Testing Program” has tested 160,000 COVID-19 samples. The campus’s positivity rate is 0.31% and has remained very low throughout the entire semester. The provost acknowledged students for their compliance, cooperation and commitment to upholding the University’s community standards. Students have also been extraordinarily diligent in fulfilling the expectations of being tested: twice weekly for those who reside on campus and once a week for those who reside off-campus. Frontline and essential workers at UNC have done an outstanding job protecting the campus from COVID-19. He expressed gratitude to health workers for providing high-end care to the citizens of North Carolina.

More than 3,200 students have been vaccinated at the Carolina Student Vaccination Center. They were predominately given the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. When concerns about the side effects of that particular vaccine were raised, the Center paused all vaccinations. Deep vein thrombosis occurred in six of the seven million people who received that vaccine. The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control are taking prudent measures to study this particular side effect carefully before encouraging individuals to continue to use it as a part of their vaccination program. The provost thanked the North Carolina Legislature and the UNC System for providing a substitute for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine; the vaccination center is now administering the Moderna vaccine, which it will continue to do as long as supplies are available. He expressed gratitude to Campus Health for their measures to accommodate students and third-shift staff who were having trouble getting vaccine appointments.

The 2021 Commencement speakers are Drs. Kizzmekia Corbett and Anthony Fauci. Dr. Corbett is a UNC-CH alumna, and we’re extremely proud of all of her accomplishments and the success that she has had throughout her career.

Coach Roy Williams has stepped down after 18 successful years of coaching the men’s basketball team. Provost Blouin congratulated him on his successful tenure as an exemplary coach. He then welcomed Coach Hubert Davis as the new coach of the men’s basketball team. University sports programs had a successful semester both in the classroom and the athletic arena; three of our sports programs are ranked number one nationally.

Yesterday, Chancellor Guskiewicz and Provost Blouin recognized the recipients of the 2021 UNC-CH Public Service Awards. These individuals demonstrate exemplary efforts in public service through engaged scholarship in ways that are consistent with the values of the University. He recognized that many faculty members had setbacks in their scholarship because they cannot travel, or complete tasks required to keep their programs on track. Despite many limitations, research and scholarship at the University continue to grow. He thanked the faculty for the extraordinary work they have done in transitioning to remote learning on such short notice on more than one occasion. Provost Blouin asked that faculty continue to demonstrate empathy and compassion as students will continue to be challenged in many different ways as this academic year closes.

The administration is making appropriate plans for limited summer camps; program directors are invited to submit applications for camps. They will primarily support proposals that involve day camps, as there will be very few overnight camps and any that are offered will only for individuals 18 and over. They are also planning for the fall under the assumption that (1) there will be a highly vaccinated population, (2) the campus will be unaffected by variants, and (3) the majority of faculty are comfortable coming back to campus. They want to ensure all these factors are in place before they advance any critical decisions.

Professor Deb Aikat (Journalism and Media) asked for an update on faculty and staff raises and graduate program funding.

Provost Blouin said he met with department chairs in the College of Arts and Sciences due to concerns regarding communications they received from The Graduate School. He wanted to correct some misunderstandings through these conversations with department chairs. The administration has addressed the issues, and the majority of the concerns about budget cuts related to the graduate program have been fixed. They have not received any confirmation from the State about raises, but they are optimistic.

Professor Larry Chavis (Business), director of the American Indian Center, asked Provost Blouin and Chancellor Guskiewicz tough questions during the last few Faculty Council meetings. He is happy to report that they’ve made real progress on these issues, particularly on the budget. As a result of GIVE UNC, the Center received 339 gifts and raised over $100,000. The Center appreciates the community’s broad support for their efforts. He asked faculty to familiarize themselves with the concept of racial battle fatigue, how they can avoid inflicting it on others and how they can provide comfort to others.

Provost Blouin said supporters of the American Indian Center donated around $125,000 in just one day. He congratulated Professor Chavis on this achievement.

Professor Jennifer Gates-Foster (Classics) asked if the Faculty Council be updated about specific steps being taken across units to comply with budgetary restrictions put in place due to the structural deficit.

Provost Blouin said many of these changes have already been instituted. The University may be able to address the structural deficit by the end of this calendar year or, at the latest, the end of the upcoming fiscal year.

Faculty Executive Committee resolution on chancellor searches

Chair of the Faculty Mimi Chapman introduced Resolution 2021-5. On the Hiring of Chancellors [PDF].

Secretary of the Faculty Vin Steponaitis stated the question, Resolution 2021-5, and opened the floor for discussion.

Resolution 2021-5 passed unanimously.

TEAM ADVANCE report

Professor Kia Caldwell (African, African American and Diaspora Studies), Co-PI, and Professor Erin Malloy (Psychiatry), Lead PI and Director of Center for Faculty Excellence gave a presentation on the early findings and impacts of the Faculty Mentoring Climate Survey [PDF].

A livestream viewer made a comment on providing grace to black and brown students who are regularly traumatized by what’s happening in our country. They asked if the University is doing any work with community partners to impact legislation against hate crimes or redirect funding for education and anti-racist training for police.

Professor Chapman said some faculty are researching criminal justice, but she is unsure about any legislative efforts taking place.

Professor Caldwell said it is important for Faculty Council to keep in mind that faculty are also being traumatized by what’s happening, not only students. She wants University leadership to acknowledge that people can’t be productive when they are traumatized, and their communities are under assault by COVID-19 and the pandemic of violence in our country.

Provost Blouin said some of the actions being taken up by the Committee on Appointments, Promotions and Tenure (APT) try to address some of the concerns that Professor Caldwell raised. Deans have been encouraged to institute practices within their schools that take into consideration the significant effects of the pandemic, particularly as it relates to junior faculty and mid-career faculty.

Executive Vice Provost Ron Strauss said the APT has been communicating with deans and department chairs about helping faculty through this difficult time. The Board of Trustees allowed faculty one tenure clock extension, in addition to the two years of tenure clock extension that were previously in place. It has been quite remarkable to see how many faculty members have reached out for this assistance. Efforts are being made to provide a kind and careful response to faculty needs. The administration is always open to new ideas; if members of the Faculty Council believe there are other ways that the administration can help support the faculty, they would love to hear them.

Professor Jessica Boon (Religious Studies) commented on how the pandemic has had extraordinary effects on graduate students. More senior graduate students had their research plans disrupted, and the travel ban has ended projects. There is no discernible job market in the humanities and The Graduate School has eliminated fellowships for incoming students, which will impact some of them for their entire career. The pandemic has heavily affected the instructional and research time of the most fragile in our community.

Provost Blouin said the UNC System instituted a domestic and international travel ban. Exceptions to graduate student travel restriction can only be granted by the Provost’s Office. They have been quite liberal in support of graduate student travel as long as students are taking the best protective measures.

Professor Boon said there are countries that people cannot enter so there is no option for some graduate students to travel. There has been no discussion of extra years of funding for graduate students and she hopes the administration will begin considering this option.

Professor Sharon Holland (American Studies) thanked Faculty Council for approving the measure to recognize our transgender community, both on campus and across the State. As we return to campus, she suggested we include something into our weekly time on campus to produce care and to acknowledge the multifaceted ways in which we are experiencing this pandemic as a community.

Joint annual reports: Committees on Community and Diversity and Scholarships, Awards and Student Aid

Professor Rumay Alexander (Nursing), chair of the Community and Diversity Committee, and Professor Donald Hornstein (Law), chair of the Scholarships, Awards and Student Aid Committee, gave a presentation on their committee’s annual reports [PDF].

Status of Women Committee updates [Annual Report [PDF] submitted by title, March 2021]

In 2019, the committee conducted the study, “Reanalysis of Gender Pay Inequity at UNC-CH,” and found that UNC male faculty earn 20% more than women faculty. Professor Misha Becker (Linguistics) and Professor Elizabeth Dickinson (Business), committee co-chairs, gave a presentation [PDF] on the committee’s work to help address gender pay equity at UNC-Chapel Hill, which included new data on gender pay equity at the University and recommended steps to achieve salary equity. Chair of the Faculty Mimi Chapman said this matter will be discussed by Faculty Executive Committee at its next meeting.

Annual committee reports submitted by title

The annual reports of the Administrative Board of the Library [PDF], the Buildings and Grounds Committee [PDF], the Community and Diversity Committee [PDF], the Educational Policy Committee [PDF] and the Faculty Executive Committee [PDF] were accepted by title. There were no questions about the reports.

Election of Faculty Secretary

Professor Suzanne Gulledge (Education), chair of the Advisory Committee, presented Professor Jill Moore (Government) as the committee’s nominee for a five-year term as Secretary of the Faculty.

No additional nominations came from the floor. A vote was conducted resulting in Professor Moore being elected to the position of Secretary of the Faculty for a five-year term (July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2026).

Ceremonial Resolutions

Chair of the Faculty Mimi Chapman presented Resolution 2021-6. On Appreciation for the Service of Shayna Hill (’83, ’14) as Chair of the Employee Forum, 2017-2021 [PDF].

Resolution 2021-6 was put before the Council and passed by unanimous consent.

Professor Eric Muller presented Resolution 2021-7. On Appreciation for Vincas P. Steponaitis’s Service as Secretary of the Faculty, 2016-2021 [PDF].

Resolution 2021-7 was put before the Council and passed by unanimous consent.

Adjournment

Its business having concluded, the Faculty Council adjourned at 5:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Kadejah Murray
University Program Associate

Vin Steponaitis
Secretary of the Faculty