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March 28, 2008

Meeting of the General Faculty and the Faculty Council

Friday, March 28, 2008
3:00 p.m.
Hitchcock Multipurpose Room
Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History

Chancellor James Moeser and Faculty Chair Joseph Templeton presiding

Agenda

3:00 Welcome, Opening Remarks, and General Questions

  • Chancellor James Moeser

3:20 Provost’s Remarks and Introduction of New CIO, Larry Conrad

  • Provost Bernadette Gray-Little

3:30 Buildings and Grounds Committee Annual Report

  • Prof. David Owens, Chair

3:35 Copyright Committee Annual Report

  • Prof. Leah Dunn, Chair

3:45 Scholarships, Awards, and Student Aid Committee Annual Report

4:05 Resolution 2008-2. On Amending the Faculty Code of University Government to Provide a Term Limit for the Office of Chair of the Faculty. (Second reading)

  • Prof. Michael Lienesch, Chair, Committee on University Government

4:10 Introduction to the Summer School

  • Prof. Jan Yopp, Dean of the Summer School

4:30 UNC and the Scholars at Risk Program

  • Prof. Judith Blau

4:40 Opportunities for Diversity Training for Faculty

  • Donna Bickford, Director, Carolina Women’s Center
  • Cookie Newsom, Director, Diversity Education and Research, Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs

5:00 Adjournment

Minutes

The General Faculty and Faculty Council of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill convened at 3:00 p.m. in the Hitchcock Multipurpose Room of the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History.

The following 50 members of the Council attended: Aaron, Ashby, Bagnell, Balthrop, Bangdiwala, Barreau, Bickford, Bloom, Brice, Conway, Copenhaver, DeSaix, Dupuis, Earp, Ernst, Glazner, Gulledge, Halloran, Hendrick, Hightow, Hobbs, Hodges, Kamarei, Kelly, Kendall, Kramer, Lauen, Leonard, Lesneski, Mauro, McGrath, Meade, Melamut, Moss, Murray, Oatley, Orth, Pruvost, Renner, Rodgers, Sweeney, Threadgill, Toews, Visser, Votta, Weinberg, Whisnant, Wilson, Wissick and Yankaskas.

The following 30 members were granted excused absences: Ammerman, Andrews, Bachenheimer, Belger, Blackburn, Blocher, Broome, Campbell, Chin, Couper, Ewend, Gerber, Gilligan, Heenan, Katznelson, Koroluk, Papanikolas, Paquette, Parsons, Peirce, Perrin, Rhodes, Saunders, Sheldon, Silversmith, Stein, Wegner, Weil, Wilder and Williams.

The following 8 members were absent without excuse: Boukhelifa, Coleman, Marshall, McCombs, Rosamond, Temple, Thorp, and Vernon-Feagans.

Chancellor’s Remarks and Question Period

Chancellor James Moeser began by congratulating four Carolina students who have recently won distinguished national or international scholarships: Michael Tarrant—Luce Scholarship; Danielle Allen—Truman Scholar; Lisa Bond—Churchill Scholar; and Stephanie Jones—Churchill Scholar. The chancellor acknowledged the splendid work of Prof. George Lensing who has been highly effective in mentoring students who wish to compete for these fiercely competitive awards under the auspices of the Office of Distinguished Scholarships.

Chancellor Moeser mentioned a new proposal from the Association of American Universities that urges the next president to strengthen the nation’s scientific and technological workforce and infrastructure and to better integrate science into the national policy agenda. He said that the proposal stems from a recent report by a group headed by Harvard President Drew Faust about the harmful effects of flat NIH funding on the next generation of biomedical scientists and researchers. The chancellor said that funding stagnation at NIH has increased grant competition so much that the average age of a first-time grant recipient is 43. He said that so far we have continued to see growth in Carolina’s research funding, but we are monitoring the situation carefully. Six of the 10 largest NIH institutions saw decreases in their funding last year.

Prof. Diane Leonard voiced her concern that the University needs to do more to protect our students. She spoke movingly of her distress over the murder of Eve Carson, who was her student, and pointed out that many students need to be out late at night. She mentioned the Daily Tar Heel staff, student radio announcers, and students involved in theater events as examples.

Chancellor Moeser replied that the administration shares this concern and is thinking of ways to respond. He pointed out that Point-to-Point service is available 24 hours a day.

Provost’s Remarks

Provost Bernadette Gray-Little reported on a number of searches:

  • G. Williamson McDiarmid, Boeing Professor of Teacher Education at the University of Washington, Seattle, has agreed to be recommended to the Board of Trustees as the new dean of the School of Education. It is anticipated that the appointment will become effective January 1, 2009. McDiarmid received an A.B. in American Studies from Carolina (1969) and an Ed.D. from Harvard (1984).
  • The search for dean of the Graduate School has concluded and an announcement is anticipated soon.
  • The search for dean of the Kenan-Flagler Business School has begun with a strong list of candidates. Interviews are scheduled for the end of April and early May.
  • Prof. Patrick Conway has accepted appointment as the first director of the Center for Faculty Excellence, effective July 1.

Provost Gray-Little introduced Vice Chancellor for Information Services Larry Conrad, who greeted the Council. Vice Chancellor Conrad said that he will be focused on making the central IT organization more customer-related, that he is interested in outreach and engagement on campus, and that he is working closely with departmental IT managers.

Chancellor Moeser announced that Exec. Assoc. Provost Steve Allred has been named provost of the University of Richmond, effective July 1. He praised Allred as a major instrument of administrative success at Carolina.

Enrollment Growth

Chancellor Moeser introduced the topic of enrollment growth by pointing that that the UNC Tomorrow initiative has identified the need for the UNC System to accommodate 80,000 additional North Carolina students by 2017. He said that Carolina will be expected to shoulder our share of that growth, but in a thoughtful, informed way. The chancellor said that the primary practical considerations related to growth are (1) funding for new faculty lines, support staff, graduate students, and facilities, and (2) maintaining highly selective admissions standards so that the quality of the entering class and the student experience at Carolina are not diminished.

Provost Gray-Little said that the University has retained two consulting firms to help with planning for enrollment growth. Paulien & Associates will address needs for physical space, and the Art & Science Group will address how enrollment growth could affect resources and quality. The provost said that the current Master Plan, developed 10 years ago, was based on an enrollment of 27,500 whereas we have already passed the 28,000 mark. Preliminary studies have shown that Carolina is doing well at utilizing current space efficiently.

Annual Report of the Committee on Buildings and Grounds

Prof. David Owens, chair of the Committee on Buildings and Grounds, presented the committee’s annual report by title.

Prof. Gregory Copenhaver (Biology) said that as a result of the recent ban on smoking within 100 feet of campus buildings, people have begun to drag office furniture into wooded areas behind the hospital to furnish makeshift smoking areas. He likened the appearance to a hobo camp and asked whether benches might be provided in such areas. Another member of the Council who lives near the hospital complex reported that smokers have been gathering in her yard after dark. Prof. Owens said he would bring these concerns to the committee’s attention.

Prof. John Sweeney (Journalism & Mass Communication) asked whether advocacy for green space is part of the committee’s charge. Prof. Owens reported that there is a green space plan and a task force on heritage trees and landscape. Chancellor Moeser said that the Master Plan calls for 10 additional acres of green space on campus. This has been accomplished largely by putting new buildings on asphalt parking lots and accommodating vehicles in parking decks.

Annual Report of the Copyright Committee

The annual report of the Copyright Committee was received by title.

Annual Report of the Committee on Scholarships and Student Aid

[Click here to go to the Committee’s page to view the parts of the report]

Prof. Charles Daye, chair of the Committee on Scholarships and Student Aid, presented the committee’s annual report and summarized salient statistics. He pointed out that federal support for student aid has been declining with support from institutional and private sources filling the gap.

View Prof. Daye’s PowerPoint presentation here.

Resolution 2008-2. On Amending the Faculty Code of University Government to Provide a Term Limit for the Office of Chair of the Faculty.

Prof. Michael Lienesch, chair of the Committee on University Government, presented Resolution 2008-2 for passage on second reading. The resolution was adopted without dissent and is ordered enrolled.

Introduction to the Summer School

Dean of the Summer School Jan Yopp briefed the Council on the mission and structure of the Summer School. The School operates in two five-week sessions each year. Most of the students are our own, but there are typically from 700 to 1,000 visiting students from other institutions. The School is financed entirely by receipts; it receives no state appropriations and, therefore, operates much like a small business. About 95% of its $5 million annual budget goes toward its core mission of teaching; only 5% is needed for administration. Dean Yopp said that there is a good balance among the various faculty ranks in the School faculty, which numbered 550 last year. The course offerings look much like regular semester offerings, except that most are undergraduate courses with few 400 level and higher courses. The student body is diverse with all 100 North Carolina counties represented, many international students, and a number of non-traditional students. Most of the students are enrolled in Arts & Sciences courses. The ratio of in-state to out-of-state students is seven to one. The average GPA is 2.9, which demonstrates that Summer School is not primarily remedial. In 2007, the School enrolled 14,000 students over both sessions.

Dean Yopp said that the number of study abroad courses being offered through the Summer School is expected to decline. The School will continue to offer those existing courses whose faculty want to continue them, but all new programs will be routed through the Study Abroad Office.

In response to questions, Dean Yopp said the Housing Office handles housing in residence halls that remain open in the summer; some programs offer courses for graduate students but not many; and summer school students are eligible for financial aid if they take at least 6 hours per session.

Opportunities for Diversity Training for Faculty

Dr. Cookie Newsom, director of diversity education and research in the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, and Prof. Donna Bickford, director of the Carolina Women’s Center, reviewed opportunities for diversity training for faculty.

Scholars at Risk Program

Prof. Judith Blau (Sociology) spoke of the Scholars at Risk Program. This is a network of close to 1,000 college and university faculty across the country who work with scholars who are persecuted in their native lands because of their beliefs and scholarly pursuits. They tend to be people who trained in Western universities and, as a result, hold Western ideas. The network is coordinated by its home office at New York University. Locally, Prof. Beth Kurtz-Costes (Psychology) and Sarah Shields (History) are members of the network. The home office assists scholars with visas and placement. When an American institution agrees to host a scholar at risk, the typical arrangement is for the scholar to take up residence for one semester to teach and conduct research. Prof. Blau said that the program is trying to build an endowment to enable it to render assistance on short notice.

Adjournment

Its business having been completed, the Council adjourned at 5:00 p.m.

Joseph S. Ferrell
Secretary of the Faculty

 

Pdf of meeting materials

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