April 26, 2002 - Faculty Governance

Meeting of the General Faculty and the Faculty Council

Friday, April 26th, 2002 at 2:30 p.m.

Please note the 2:30 starting time of this meeting

The Pleasants Family Assembly Room in Wilson Library

Chancellor James Moeser and Professor Sue Estroff, Chair of the Faculty, will preside

Agenda

2:30 Call to Order. The Secretary of the Faculty

ACT 2:30 Memorial for Deceased Faculty

DISC 2:35 Chancellor’s Remarks and Question Time

Chancellor James Moeser invites questions or comments on any topic

INFO 2:50 Presentation of the 2002 Thomas Jefferson Award

INFO 3:05 Greetings from Chancellor Marye Anne Fox, North Carolina State University

INFO 3:20 Presentation of the 2002 Advising Awards

Senior Associate Dean Karen Gil

3:35 Break

DISC 3:45 Remarks by the Chair of the Faculty

Professor Sue Estroff invites questions or comments on any topic

DISC 4:05 Remarks by the Provost

Including the Annual Report of the University Priorities and Budget Advisory Committee

Provost Robert Shelton.

INFO 4:15 Preliminary Progress Report on the Academic Plan.

Senior Associate Dean Darryl Gless.

INFO 4:20 Report from the COSC: Revision of the Instrument of Student Judicial Governance.

Professor Steve Weiss, chair of the Committee on Student Conduct COSC

ACT 4:30 Resolution 2002-5 on Revision of the Instrument of Student Judicial Governance.

Note: This resolution is supported by a memorandum and abstract with reference to another resolution. See The new draft of the Instrument of Student Judicial Governance

DISC 4:40 Open Discussion of Topics Raised by Faculty Members

INFO 4:55 2002 Faculty Election Results

ACT 5:00 Adjourn

Joseph S. Ferrell
Secretary of the Faculty

KEY:
ACT = Action
DISC = Discussion
INFO = Information

Minutes

Attendance

Present (65): Admiora, Adler, Allison, Barbour, Bollen, Bouldin, Boxill, Bromberg, Carelli, Chenault, Clegg, Colindres, Cotton, Crawford-Brown, Daye, Drake, Elter, Elvers, Files, Fishell, Foley, George, Granger, Janda, Kagarise, Kalleberg, Kessler, Ketch, Kopp, Kupper, Langbauer, LeFebvre, Lubker, Malizia, McCormick, McGraw, Meece, Moran, Nelson, Nonini, Orthner, Otey, Panter, Pfaff, Poole, Raab-Traub, Raasch, Rao, Reinert, Retsch-Bogart, Robinson, Rowan, Schauer, Sigurdsson, J. Smith, W. Smith, Straughan, Strauss, Sueta, Tauchen, Tresolini, Wallace, Walsh, Watson, Yopp.
Excused absences (19): Bowen, Bynum, Cairns, D’Cruz, Fowler, Gilland, Henry, Kjervik, Metzguer, Meyer, A. Molina, P.Molina, Owen, Pisano, Shea, Slatt, Tulloch, Waters, Williams.
Unexcused absences (2): Sams, Vaughn.

The meeting was called to order by Secretary of the Faculty Joseph Ferrell at 2:35 p.m. Chancellor James Moeser presided.

In Memoriam

Chancellor Moeser read the names of the faculty who had died during the past year, in memoriam:

Norton Lewis Beach, Professor and Dean Emeritus of Education. Appointed 1966. Died July 4, 2001.
John Robert Bittner, Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication. Appointed July 1, 1980. Died April 9, 2002.
Peter Michael Blau, Robert Broughton Research Professor of Sociology Emeritus. Appointed 1988. Died March 12, 2002.
Julia Gorham Crane, Professor Emerita of Anthropology. Appointed 1967. Died June 19, 2001.
Floyd Wolfe Denny, Jr., Alumni Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics Emeritus. Appointed 1960. Died October 17, 2001.
William Campbell Dickinson. Professor of Biology Emeritus. Appointed August 1969. Died November 22, 1999.
Geoffrey Haughton, Professor Emeritus of Microbiology and Immunology. Appointed January 1, 1966. Died October 22, 2000.
Roy L. Hopfer, Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology. Appointed August 1, 1987. Died April 29, 2001.
Edward J. Kuenzler, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Biology in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering. Appointed 1965. Died December 10, 2001.
William Sprott Pollitzer, Professor Emeritus of Anatomy and Adjunct Professor Emeritus of Anthropology. Appointed 1957. Died March 12, 2002.
Roy H. Propst, Research Associate Professor Emeritus of Biomedical Engineering. Appointed July 1, 1981. Died October 1, 2001.
Thomas Anthony Rezzuto, Jr., Professor Emeritus of Dramatic Art. Appointed 1956. Died January 31, 2001.
John Henry Schopler, Professor of Psychology. Appointed October 1, 1957. Died April 30, 2001.
James Hampton Shumaker, Adjunct Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication. Appointed July 1, 1973. Died December 19, 2000.
Earl Siegel, Professor Emeritus of Maternal and Child Health. Appointed July 1, 1964. Died June 11, 2001.
Alvis G. Turner, Jr., Professor Emeritus of Environmental Sciences. Appointed 1969. Died July 10, 2001.
Robert Howard Wagner, Professor Emeritus of Pathology. Appointed 1950. Died December 3, 2001.

A moment of silent remembrance was observed.

Chancellor’s Remarks

The Chancellor continued, saying that the Provost would give particulars on the budget, but he wanted to say that everyone was feeling a great deal of distress and anxiety for the uncertainty of what is not known and what was feared about what was going on. Many of the decisions made will be of long-lasting import.

Chancellor Moeser said that last evening 50 members were inducted into the newly created Lux Libertas Society. These are individuals who have contributed to the University $1 million or more for the support of academic programs for the University. As part of the proceedings, Dean Risa Palm described the direct qualitative fiscal impact of contributions to the College of Arts and Sciences.

Chancellor Moeser said that Senator Marc Basnight, President Pro Tempore of the Senate, had been asked if the success that the University was having raising private funding is helping or hurting the University with the Legislature. Senator Basnight said it was tremendously helpful as a sign that the University enjoys great private support.

An article in today’s New York Times focuses on the University’s decision to abolish early decision admissions. Chancellor Moeser said that binding early decision is not in the best interest of students or their parents because it does not provide for thoughtful decisions about the college choice. About 20% of the students admitted in that process were slightly inferior academically to those students admitted through the regular process. More importantly, there was a significant difference in the diversity of those admitted: 82% of the students admitted by binding early decision were white, versus 72% of students admitted through the regular process. Students admitted in binding early decision came from more privileged backgrounds, which was working against the University’s efforts to diversify. The Times article quoted Jerry Sullivan, Executive Director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, as saying “Inevitably, today’s decision by North Carolina, a highly selective, major university, will propel the debate. When the University of North Carolina does something, the rest of higher education pays attention.”

The Chancellor reported that he recently attended the annual meeting of the Association of American Universities and mentioned three items of special interest. The AAU opposes human reproductive cloning and supports legislation to ban the practice. There was also a lengthy discussion about athletic performance. The Atlantic Coast Conference has taken a leadership role in this discussion. He commended Athletics Director Dick Baddour and Prof. Jack Evans, ACC Faculty Representative, for their influence in this regard. He discussed the positions the University had already taken, and that other universities were now adopting. There was also a redefinition of continuing eligibility requirements aligned more rigorously toward progress toward a degree. There will be a significant penalty for teams that fail to maintain required academic standards, to include the loss of eligibility to play in post-season tournaments, and bowl games, and/or the loss of scholarships. The University supports and urges adoption of these positions. Another topic of discussion was the amount of time it takes to achieve a doctoral degree. Chancellor Moeser said he would bring that matter back to the faculty for discussion at another meeting.

Chancellor Moeser urged the faculty to be present at the commencement, a time of dignity and joy. He reminded the faculty that the academic year does not end until commencement day.

Presentation of the 2002 Thomas Jefferson Award

Chancellor Moeser announced the presentation of the 2002 Thomas Jefferson Award. This award was created in 1961 by the Robert Earl McConnell Foundation to honor a faculty member who has best exemplified the ideals of Thomas Jefferson. The honor this year goes to two faculty members: Professors Chuck Stone (Journalism and Mass Communications) and Ruel Tyson (Religious Studies). Prof. Stone’s honor was cited by Prof. Boka Hadzija (Pharmacy). Prof. Lloyd Kramer (History) read the citation for Prof. Tyson.

Greetings from Chancellor Marye Anne Fox, North Carolina State University

Faculty Chair Sue Estroff and Chancellor Moeser welcomed Chancellor Fox to the Council.

Chancellor Fox said that she and Chancellor Moeser had forged a friendship that shaped the lives of each university’s faculty, students, and staff, based on scholarship. She said that the two universities go forward together and stand together for scholarship. The challenge now is to assure offering top quality of education, which is being threatened by dilution and focus for mediocrity within the University System. Collaboration includes joint centers and such initiatives as forging ties between N.C. State’s School of Engineering and scientists at Carolina. Chancellor Fox said that our two institutions need to:

Annunciate our principles clearly
Talk about market-based compensation
Talk about benefits as well as salaries
Talk about internal inequity for under-represented groups
Recognize and reward achievement in our SPA and EPA ranks; for that we need flexibility
Have authority to control our own tuition
Foster flexibility in decisions affecting all phases of the institution
Work together for all of these principles

Chancellor Fox urged the faculties at both universities to work together as she and Chancellor Moeser are doing.

Prof. Philip Bromberg (Medicine) asked if the future was with the present University System or should Carolina and State be working toward splitting away from it. Chancellor Fox responded that there are two major national issues at stake: (1) are public research universities going to survive given the resource base available to private institutions, and (2) if the answer to that is yes, will they survive in Systems. There are a large number of System models around the country. The California System, for example, does not include such a wide range of institutions as ours, which is more like the Texas System. It’s not impossible for our System to work as it should, but we do have to recognize that the costs associated with first-class scholarship are different from costs associated with undergraduate education with terminal bachelor’s degrees. Second, it is absolutely essential that we able to control our own destiny with respect to raising and spending money from sources other than State appropriations.

Presentation of the 2002 Advising Awards

Senior Associate Dean Karen Gil (Arts & Sciences) presented the 2002 Advising Awards.

Mickel-Shaw Awards were presented to

Julie Brunson, full-time adviser for Health Care Professions Team.
Alice Dawson, full-time adviser the Basic and Applied Sciences Team.
Elizabeth Jordan, Assistant Director for Academic Advising, and full-time adviser for the Business, Education, and Journalism Team.
Rhonda Peterson, full-time adviser for the Psychology, Communications Studies, and International Studies Team.

Class of 1996 Awards were presented to

Prof. Todd Austell (Chemistry), member of the Basic and Applied Sciences Team.
Prof. Rosa Perelmuter (Romance Languages), working with International Studies majors, among others.

Chair of the Faculty’s Remarks

Prof. Estroff recognized four members retiring from the Executive Committee: Professors Bob Adler, Tom Clegg, Arne Kalleberg, and Nancy Raab-Traub, for their dedicated and hard work. She also recognized Student Government Representative Josh Bosin, who is in his last meeting. Mr. Bosin thanked the faculty on behalf of the student body. She thanked Student Body President Justin Young, who was also at his last meeting.

Prof. Estroff read a notification that the faculty council at Clemson had passed a resolution opposing any scheduled football game on a week-day or week-night when school is in session and petitioned the ACC to that effect.

She received a call that the University of Maryland faculty council were considering the same proposal.

Prof. Estroff continued her remarks reflecting that it had been a year of first-order change:

A campus proposal for a branch of the University in Qatar
The World Trade Center attack
Parking
Return to a civilized Academic Calendar
Proposed CIT/CTL merger, caught many off-guard
Board of Governors proposed tuition plan, which many of the faculty opposed
Raise in faculty salaries being blamed on the tuition increase
Construction on campus
State Budget cuts

Prof. Estroff asked the faculty to speak up, speak out, stay engaged, and be active in the weeks ahead.

Provost’s Remarks

Provost Robert Shelton said the value of the University Priorities and Budget Committee (UPBAC) has been such that he intends to use the Committee in planning the budget for next year. The Committee had identified some very important factors for budget reductions which he used to avoid across-the-board budget cuts. He also consulted the Deans Council and the Vice Chancellors, and said it is important for the faculty to work with their department chairs and deans in the budget process. He said the process started in early March, but the material received from the Legislature was in a “hurry up and wait” mode, and the numbers are not coming back from the State. This generates uncertainty. The latest information is that the State revenue collections have continued to worsen—in March $105 million below projection. The Office of the President has five priorities this year:

Minimize the total size of the cut
Maintain the highest level of flexibility possible
Get enrollment growth funded for this year and put into the continuation budget in the future
Retention of F & A (overhead) receipts
To ensure that bond-funded projects remain on track

The Provost reminded the Council of the work that Vice Chancellor Waldrop and others have done in putting together “fact sheets” to help legislators understand what F&A dollars are and what we do with this money. We are mounting a similar effort on the topic of faculty work-load. Last year, we experienced an extra $2 million budget cut as a result of misleading data on faculty work-load. We have just received new data that have been collected in a much more nationally acceptable format, i.e., the Delaware Study approach. This method counts work such as one-on-one seminar teaching and undergraduate honors thesis contact hours.

Prof. Estroff asked the Provost to address reductions in faculty. Provost Shelton said he does not anticipate eliminating faculty positions that are filled, but some unfilled faculty positions will be eliminated, and those cuts will be permanent. Chancellor Moeser said that lapsed salary funds from vacant positions is the principle source of funding for adjunct faculty. Eliminating positions will adversely affect the University, especially public service activities.

Prof. Vincent Kopp (Anesthesiology) asked the Provost to elaborate on the possibility of the State’s contribution to the Retirement Fund being diverted for current operating expenses. Provost Shelton said that it is his understanding that reduction in contributions is to be temporary, and that the reductions will not affect current or future benefits because the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System is adequately funded. Prof. Ferrell said that withdrawing funds already transferred to the Retirement System is prohibited by the State constitution.

Prof. Richard Pfaff (History) asked if the principles recently established by the University Priorities and Budget Advisory Committee were going to be used permanently or temporarily. Provost Shelton said they are intended for the current budget crisis only.

Preliminary Progress Report on the Academic Plan

Senior Associate Dean Darryl Gless said that Plan is just underway. The committee that is developing the plan is a microcosm of the University. The committee has met four times since March 5, and will work through the summer and fall. Its charge is to produce a short document to provide a plan of priorities and opportunities to guide resource allocation for the next five years.

Report from the COSC: Revision of the Instrument of Student Judicial Governance

Prof. Stephen Weiss (Computer Science), Chair of the Committee on Student Conduct (COSC), said the work of the Committee is to oversee the operation of the Honor Code and to propose changes to the Instrument of Student Judicial Governance. Proposed changes must be approved first by the Student Congress and then by the Faculty Council before they are promulgated by the Chancellor. If any changes are made at any stage of the process, the document goes back to COSC and the approval process is repeated. Prof. Weiss said that the amendments being presented today (1) reorganize the Instrument to make it easier to read and understand, and (2) change the procedure for modifying one section of the Instrument. The Committee recommends these changes and the Student Congress has approved them.

Prof. Adler asked the Faculty Council to approve the changes in solidarity with the Student Government. Prof. Weiss said this was an affirmation that the faculty remains very committed to the Student Honor Code.

Resolution 2002-5 on Revision of the Instrument of Student Judicial Governance

The Resolution was adopted unanimously.

Open Discussion of Topics Raised by Faculty Members

Prof. Jan Boxill (Philosophy) reported that the Carolina Summer Reading Committee has selected “Approaching the Qur’an” for summer reading. The discussion will be on August 19. The Chancellor said this was a wonderful opportunity to engage first-year students and faculty, and the choice was very timely. He encouraged the faculty to participate.

2002 Faculty Election Results

Prof. Ferrell distributed his report of the results of the 2002 faculty elections. It is posted on the Faculty Governance web site.

Prof. Ferrell reported the results of the balloting for ECFC. Elected for three-year terms are: Prof. Alice Ammerman (Nutrition), Prof. Steve Bachenheimer (Microbiology and Immunology), Prof. Lloyd Kramer (History), and Prof. Margaret Leigh (Pediatrics). First alternate is Prof. Stephen Weiss (Computer Science); second alternate is Prof. Ross Simpson (Medicine).

Prof. Ferrell noted that the Faculty Code prohibits serving simultaneously on the Advisory Committee and on the ECFC. For that reason, should Prof. Leigh accept election to ECFC, she will vacate the position of first alternate for the Advisory Committee, to which she was elected in the recent faculty elections. In that case, Prof. Debra Shapiro (Kenan-Flagler Business School) will move up to first alternate for Advisory Committee and Prof. Don Shaw (Journalism & Mass Communication) will move into the second alternate slot. [Prof. Leigh has accepted election to ECFC.]

Prof. Ferrell announced that Prof. Kramer will be on leave in 2002-03 and will be replaced on ECFC during that time by Prof. Weiss. Prof. Kramer has also indicated his intent to resign from the Athletics Committee, to which he was just elected, should he be elected to ECFC. That having occurred, Prof. Harry Amana (Journalism & Mass Communication), who was first alternate in the recent election, will take a seat on the Athletics Committee for a five-year term.

Adjournment

The business of the day having concluded, the Council was adjourned at 4:35 p.m.

Joseph S. Ferrell
Secretary of the Faculty

Pdf of meeting materials