February 13, 2004
Meeting of the General Faculty and the Faculty Council
Friday, February 13th 2004 at 3:00 p.m.
The Pleasants Family Assembly Room in Wilson Library
Chancellor James Moeser and Professor Judith Wegner, Chair of the Faculty, will preside.
Agenda
3:00 General Faculty and Faculty Council Convene.
- Introductory Remarks and Questions from the Floor: Chancellor Moeser.
- Remarks: Provost Robert Shelton.
- Remarks from the Chair of the Faculty: Professor Wegner.
3:25 Proposals for the Quality Enhancement Plan Component of the SACS Reaccreditation Study.
- Executive Associate Provost Bernadette Gray-Little.
3:55 Faculty Forum: Understanding Our Students—Admissions, Scholarships, and More.
- Panel and Discussion
- Professor Charles Daye: Annual Report of the Scholarships, Awards, & Student Aid Committee.
- Shirley Ort, Director of Scholarships and Financial Aid.
- Senior Associate Dean Karen Gil: Annual Report of the Advisory Committee on Undergraduate Admissions.
- Jerry Lucido, Director of Undergraduate Admissions.
- Dr. Lynn Williford, Director of Institutional Research.
4:55 Closed Session. Special Report of the Committee on Honorary Degrees.
5:00 Adjourn.
Joseph S. Ferrell
Secretary of the Faculty
Minutes
The Faculty Council of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill convened at 3:00 p.m.in the Pleasants Family Assembly Room in the Wilson Library. The following 57 members of the Council attended: Admiora, Ammerman, Arnold, Bachenheimer, Bane, Bouldin, Bowen, Burford, Cairns, Daye, Elter, Elvers, Foley, Givre, Gollop, Granger, Heenan, Holmgren, Howell, Kjervik, Klebanow, Kramer, Langbauer, Leonard, Lohr, McGraw, Miller, Morris-Natschke, Nicholas, Nonini, Orthner, Owen, Pardun, Parikh, Pisano, Poole, Porto, Reisner, Renner, Rock, Rogers, Rowan, Salmon, Schkauer, Shea, Simpson, Jay Smith, Straughan, Strauss, Tauchen, Tobin, Toews, Watson, Weinberg, Winkler, Wolford, and Yankaskas.
In his remarks, Chancellor Moeser:
- Reported that the Board of Governors had postponed a vote on campus-based tuition proposals that were to have been considered at its meeting earlier today.
- Read a portion of a letter from Brad Wilson, Chair of the Board of Governors, making a strong case for additional funding for the UNC System, whether that funding comes from tuition increases or additional funding through the state budget (see Appendix A).
- Reported on a trip he had made with a delegation of faculty and staff to a conference on diversity at the University of Texas at Austin. Attending from Carolina were Chancellor Moeser; Prof. William Darity; Director of Minority Affairs Archie Ervin; Prof. Arturo Escobar; Prof. Sue Estroff; Exec. Assoc. Provost Bernadette Gray-Little; Assoc. Dean of the Graduate School Sandra Hoeflich; and Director of Undergraduate Admissions Jerome Lucido. Prof.Charles Dayehad intended to attend but was indisposed at the last minute.
- Announced that Exec. Assoc. Provost Bernadette Gray-Little has been appointed Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, effective April 1.
In response to a question from Prof.Steven Bachenheimer(Microbiology), Chancellor Moeser said that the contract now being negotiated between the ACC and television networks for broadcast of conference football games will include a specific provision that there will be no Thursday night football games in Chapel Hill.
In response to a question from Prof. Ed Halloran (Nursing), Chancellor Moeser said that the administration is attempting to reallocate funds from available sources, such as vacant positions, to free up additional funding for salary increases, but, he emphasized, this strategy cannot bridge the gap. Additional funding from tuition increases and state appropriations is essential.
In his remarks, Provost Shelton:
- Reported that efforts are underway to assemble focus groups from across campus to aid in development of a survey instrument that will be distributed to the entire faculty for the purpose of gathering information on the problem of faculty retention.
- Said that he intends to initiate an internal search to fill the position of executive associate provost vacated by Prof. Gray-Little’s appointment as Dean of the College, and asked for nominations from the faculty.
Prof. Judith Wegner, Chair of the Faculty, said that she is assembling focus groups of department chairs to discuss the faculty retention survey. She complimented Chancellor Moeser for his recent decision not to accept a salary increase offered by President Broad to all System chancellors, and thanked everyone who participated in the Chancellor’s Task Force on the Work Place. Chancellor Moeser remarked that perhaps the best thing to come out of the Task Force’s work was a sense of the part of the staff that faculty do care about problems faced by the staff.
Exec. Assoc. Provost Bernadette Gray-Little led a discussion of topics that had been suggested for the Quality Enhancement component of the up-coming SACS reaccreditation study.
Prof.Charles Daye, Chair of the Committee on Scholarships, Awards, and Student Aid, presented the committee’s annual report, assisted by Shirley Ort, Assoc. Provost and Director of Scholarships and Student Aid.
Prof.Karen Gil, Senior Associate Dean of the College and Chair of the Advisory Committee on Undergraduate Admissions, presented the committee’s annual report, assisted by Dr. Jerome Lucido, Vice Provost and Director of Undergraduate Admissions.
On motion of Prof.Richard Andrews, Chair of the Committee on Honorary Degrees and Special Awards, the Council went into closed session to consider nominees for honorary degrees.
Prof. Andrews nominated one additional person to be awarded an honorary degree at Commencement 2004. The nominee was approved. See Appendix B, which will be closed to public inspection until honorary degree recipients for 2004 are publicly announced.
Prof. Andrews nominated five persons to be awarded honorary degrees at Commencement 2005. Each nominee was approved. See Appendix C, which will be closed to public inspection until honorary degree recipients for 2005 are publicly announced.
Its business having concluded, the Council adjourned at 5:00 pm.
Joseph S. Ferrell
Secretary of the Faculty
Appendix A
Extracts from Remarks by Brad Wilson, Chair of the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina, on January 16, 2004.
I’m convinced….that the quality of a UNC education is now at risk. I’m equally convinced that low tuition without high quality is no bargain. So this tuition debate is really about whether this Board is going to permit the continued erosion of the quality of public higher education in this State…..
New national statistics released since our last meeting show that in 2003-04 UNC System tuition and fee charges for in-state students actually became more affordable relative to peer institutions across the nation. For example, for comprehensive universities only six states reported lower costs than North Carolina. We also fared better among flagship institutions. These conclusions are consistent with the recent study by the State Education Assistance Authority, which concluded that despite rising tuition, this University remains affordable for North Carolina residents. The creation and expansion of the UNC need-based aid [program is largely responsible for this development. In approving previous campus-based tuition increases, this Board has insisted that adequate need-based aid be set aside to offset the impact of higher tuition on needy North Carolina students.
The quality of a university is built on its faculty and the inability of the governor and the legislature to provide funding for salary increases has put UNC at a growing competitive disadvantage. As we heard yesterday from Dr. Gretchen Bataille, an independent 1998 study found that our campuses would need about $28 million in additional State support to raise faculty salaries to the competitive benchmark set by the Board of Governors. Since then, we’ve lost further ground. The tuition sought by our campuses this year to support faculty salaries would not even bring us to the average of our peer institutions. To make matters worse, it would take another $24 million to provide our faculty with benefits comparable to those at peer institutions. Clearly, we will be hard-pressed to maintain the quality of education that North Carolinians expect and deserve without additional revenues.
We agree with Governor Easley and others that salaries and other basic support for UNC should come from the state’s General Fund. While we are hopeful that the state may be in a better fiscal position in 2004, there is little hope that the State can meet all our needs in another tight budget year. This will be an important issue of discussion with the governor and our friends in the General Assembly. This is certain: if North Carolina is to build and strengthen its economy, it cannot afford to lessen its historic commitment to affordable access to The University, and it cannot afford to let the quality of a UNC education erode further. Low tuition without high quality is no bargain.
Appendix B
Nomination Presented by the Committee on Honorary Degrees and Special Awards for an Honorary Degree to be Presented to the Commencement Speaker at Commencement 2004
Julius LeVonne Chambers
Born in Mt. Gilead, NC in 1936, veteran civil rights lawyer, activist, and educator Julius Chambers was influenced by the racial intolerance he saw growing up in a small, rural community east of Charlotte. He graduated summa cum laude from NC Central University with a B.A. in history and was president of the student body. He then earned an M.A. in history at the University of Michigan and began law school at Carolina in 1959, where he became the first African-American to be chosen as editor-in-chief of the Law Review. He graduated first in his class in 1962 and went on to earn his LL.M. degree from Columbia in 1964. Chambers became the first intern with the new NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund in 1963. In 1963 he opened his own one-person law practice in Charlotte, which eventually became the first integrated law firm in North Carolina. Together with his partners, James E. Ferguson II and Adam Stein, this firm is credited with influencing more landmark state and federal legislation in school desegregation, employment, and voting rights than any other in the United States. In 1984 Chambers left his firm to become director-counsel of the LDF, where he continued the fight for civil rights legislation and affirmative action programs. Remaining devoted to education, Chambers returned to his alma mater, N.C. Central, as chancellor for eight years. Today, Chambers heads Carolina’s Center for Civil Rights. The Center fosters empirical and analytical research, sponsors student inquiry and activities, and convenes faculty visiting scholars, policy advocates, and practicing attorneys to confront legal and social issues of greatest concern to racial and ethnic minorities, to the poor, and to other potential beneficiaries of civil rights advances.
In recognition of a lifetime career devoted to the advancement of civil rights for African-Americans and other minorities, the faculty recommends Julius LeVonne Chambers for the degree of Doctor of Laws, to be awarded at Commencement 2004 when Professor Chambers will deliver the Commencement Address.
The faculty also ask that the Board of Trustees, in this exceptional case, waive the normal prohibition against granting honorary degrees to Carolina faculty, staff or trustees until two years after separation from the University.
Appendix C
Closed to public inspection until honorary degree recipients for 2005 are publicly announced, pursuant to G.S. 143-318.11(a)(2).
