January 14, 2011

Meeting of the Faculty Council

Friday, January 14, 2011
3:00 p.m.
Hitchcock Multipurpose Room
Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History

Chancellor Holden Thorp and
Professor McKay Coble, Chair of the Faculty, presiding

Agenda

3:00 Chancellor’s Remarks and Question Period

• Chancellor Holden Thorp

3:10 Provost’s Remarks and Question Period

• Provost Bruce Carney

3:20 Annual Report

• Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure Committee (Prof. Margaret Leigh, Chair)

3:30 Information Technology Changes and Faculty Concerns: The CIO Responds

• Mr. Larry Conrad, Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and CIO
• Mr. Stan Waddell, Information Security Executive Director and Information Security Officer
• Read the CIO’s answers to Faculty Council’s questions generated at the December 2010 Faculty Council meeting
• View Mr. Conrad and Mr. Waddell’s PowerPoint presentation here

4:30 Closed Session: Honorary Degree Nomination

4:40 Adjourn

Minutes

The Faculty Council of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill convened January 14, 2011, at 3:00 p.m. in the Hitchcock Multipurpose Room of the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History.

The following 60 members attended: Anderson, Bachenheimer, Bagnell, Balaban, Bechtel, Betts, Blalock, Brown, Carlson, Coble, Cohen, Copenhaver, Crowder, DeSaix, Eaker-Rich, Earp, Ferrell, Gerhardt, Gilliland, Greene, Guskiewicz, Hayslett, Heenan, Irons, Janken, Koomen, Kramer, Krome-Lukens, Lee, Leonard, Linden, Lothspeich, Lund, Mayer, McMillan, Milano, Moracco, Morris-Natschke, Morse, New, O’Shaughnessey, Paul, Persky, Renner, Schoenbach, Schoenfisch, Shanahan, Shea, Stearns, Steponaitis, Stotts, Swogger, Szypszak, H. Thorp, Tobin, Troster, Van Tilburg, Wallace, Webster-Cyriaque, and Yankaskas. The following 19 members were granted excused absences:  Brice, Chen, Cornell, Friga, Gallippi, Gehrig, Gulledge, Hess, Lopez, Maffly-Kipp, Miller, Palmer, Papanikolas, Rodgers, Stewart, J. Thorp, Thrailkill, Tisdale, and Brown. The following 14 members were absent without excuse: Catellier, Chapman, Dilworth-Anderson, Egan, Gerber, Gilland, Mieczkowski, Milone, Powers, Richardson, Starkey, Sunnarborg, Toews, and Verkerk.

Call to Order

Chair of the Faculty McKay Coble called the Council to order at 3:00 p.m.

Chancellor’s Remarks and Question Period

Chancellor Holden Thorp began with high praise for Buildings & Grounds staff members who spent much of their Christmas holidays clearing roads and walkways of snow and ice. The University was not in session, but people still needed to get to the emergency room, ambulatory care, bus lanes, and parking decks. He thanked the faculty for their patience when it became prudent to cancel and delay classes on the first day of the spring semester due to inclement weather.

The chancellor noted that Prof. Joseph Ferrell is this year’s recipient of the General Alumni Association’s Faculty Service Award. He had kind words for Prof. Ferrell’s service to the University.

Chancellor Thorp said that the beginning of the semester is a good time to highlight opportunities for faculty to demonstrate our commitment to diversity and inclusiveness. One way is to support the Safe Zone program, which aims to make Carolina a safer and more supportive place for people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions. He said that training opportunities can be found on the LGBTQ Center website, http://lgbtq.unc.edu/.

The chancellor pointed out that for the tenth time Carolina ranks first among public universities in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Rankings. He said he values this ranking because it emphasizes academic quality as well as affordability.

Chancellor Thorp said that he is often asked about the status of the NCAA investigation of the football program, but that there is nothing new to report. We have not yet received a timetable from the NCAA as to the progress of the investigation. He said that he would soon send an update to the entire faculty by email.

As for the budget situation, the chancellor reported the following developments since the December Council meeting:

• The governor and Office of State Budget & Management have directed state agencies to reduce spending by an additional 2.5% and to hold state-funded jobs vacant.
• The UNC System has voluntarily adopted the same targets and restrictions, and Carolina has announced a hiring freeze on state-funded positions.
• We are in the process of making cuts in programs, operations, and staffing equal to a campus-wide 5% permanent state budget reduction, effective July 1.
• We have completed plans for 5% and 10% state funding reductions, and have been asked to plan for cuts up to 15%.
• The provost is sending specific budget instructions to each academic unit.
• The January state revenue indicates that economic recovery has begun in North Carolina, but will be slow.
• Private giving to Carolina is increasing substantially and was up 22% from last year as of the most recent meeting of the Board of Trustees.
• The Endowment Fund is beginning to recover from the financial crisis; with prudent financial management and good development efforts, we have reduced the number of endowments that are “under water” (i.e., worth less than the original gift) from hundreds to fewer than 30.

There were no questions or comments.

Provost’s Remarks and Question Period

Provost Bruce Carney reported that Executive Associate Provost Ron Strauss will take on new responsibilities as Associate Provost for International Affairs, i.e., Chief International Officer, and that the search committee for associate provost for diversity and multicultural affairs has been formed and charged. He hopes to complete this search by summer.

Chancellor Thorp added that Vice Chancellor Dick Mann plans to retire and is stepping down as vice chancellor for business and finance. A search committee is being formed. Prof. McKay Coble will represent the faculty on that committee. He hopes to complete the new hire by July 1.

The provost reported that a new funding opportunity for student-initiated projects at Carolina and Duke has been established by the Kenan-Biddle Partnership, funded by the William R. Kenan Charitable, Jr. Trust and The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation. The partnership will offer $5,000 grants to accepted project proposals that enhance the intellectual life on both campuses both by strengthening established or encouraging new collaborations between Carolina and Duke. Each project proposal must have a student or students who serve as the initiator and their supporting faculty advisor or advisors. Proposals should be designed to stimulate collaborative arts, sciences and humanities projects between the two universities.

Prof. Lloyd Kramer (History) asked whether there has been a change in the regulations governing how graduate student establish in-state residence. He said that the number of students who successfully negotiate the process seems to have dropped significantly. The provost replied that the rules and regulations have not changed, but the registrar’s interpretation has. University Registrar Chris Derickson said that the initial determination of residence status is made by the admissions office. The registrar becomes involved only if the student appeals. Provost Carney added that having multiple persons involved in the process has highlighted the need for uniformity of interpretation and practice, and that efforts are under way to achieve that result under the leadership of Dean Steve Matson. Prof. Kramer suggested that members of the faculty who are involved in recruiting graduate students should be involved in discussions centering on the residence determination process.

Annual Report of the Committee on Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure

Prof. Margaret Leigh (Pediatrics), chair of the Committee on Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure, reviewed the committee’s charge and procedures. There were no questions.

Information Technology Changes and Faculty Concerns: The CIO Responds

Pursuant to request by the Council for an opportunity to discuss information technology changes and faculty concerns, the Agenda Committee invited Mr. Larry Conrad, Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and CIO, and Mr. Stan Waddell, Information Security Executive Director and Information Security Officer, to brief the Council.

Vice Chancellor Conrad’s PowerPoint presentation is posted on the Faculty Governance website.

Council members asked a number of questions. These questions and Vice Chancellor Conrad’s written responses are also posted on the Faculty Governance website.

2012 Honorary Degrees

Pursuant to a motion by Secretary of the Faculty Joseph Ferrell, the Council went into closed session to consider nominees for honorary degrees to be presented at Commencement 2012.

Acting on behalf of the Committee on Honorary Degrees and Special Awards, Prof. Ferrell presented five nominees for honorary degrees. Each nominee was approved.

The Council returned to open session.

Adjournment

Its business having been completed, the Council adjourned at 4:40 pm

Respectfully submitted

Joseph S. Ferrell
Secretary of the Faculty

 

Pdf of meeting materials