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January 27, 2017

Meeting of the Faculty Council

Friday, January 27, 2017 from 3:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Kerr Hall, 2001 (Eshelman School of Pharmacy)

NEW live-stream link to join meeting via telephone or computer: https://zoom.us/j/738517663 (Instructions for setting up and troubleshooting connection issues in Zoom)

FINAL AGENDA

3:00 p.m. Chair of the Faculty remarks

  • Professor Bruce Cairns

3:10 p.m. Chancellor’s and Provost’s remarks

3:35 p.m. Resolution 2017-1. On Removing the Restrictions on Graduation with Multiple Areas of Study for Students Enrolling in a Ninth Semester or Beyond and Resolution 2017-2. On Enhanced Priority Registration

  • Presented by Professor Kristin Reiter, chair of the Educational Policy Committee
  • PowerPoint (as a .pdf)

3:50 p.m. Research Code of Conduct Update

4:05 p.m. Diversity Syllabus: The Diversity Imperative from a Dean’s Perspective

  • Dean Kevin Guskiewicz and Professor Rumay Alexander, chair of the Community and Diversity Committee
  • PowerPoint (as a .pdf)

4:25 p.m. Faculty Assembly Delegation annual report

  • Professor Charlotte Boettiger, chair of the UNC-Chapel Hill Faculty Assembly Delegation

4:30 p.m. Chancellor’s Advisory Committee annual report and Chair of the Faculty selection process update

  • Professor Richard Myers, chair of the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee

4:40 p.m. Annual reports accepted by title

4:45 p.m. Open discussion

4:55 p.m. Closed session: Special report from the Honorary Degrees and Special Awards Committee

5:00 p.m. Adjournment

Video of proceedings

Journal of proceedings of the Faculty Council

The Faculty Council of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill convened on January 27, 2017, at 3:01 p.m. in Kerr Hall, room 2001 at the Eshelman School of Pharmacy.

The following 57 members attended: Ansong, Arnold, Babb, Baumgartner, Berkowitz, Berman, Boettiger Cooney, Brewster, Cairns, Cox, Daughters, Dobelstein, Duqum, Estigarribia, Estrada, Folt, Furry, Gilland, Hannig, Hastings, Hill, Hunter, Ives, Jones, Kang, Khan, Kim, Kireev, Larson, Lee, A. Levine, C. Levine, Lundberg, Mayer-Davis, McBride, Melehy, Meyer, Mizzy, Moracco, Nelson, Parise, Perelmuter, Persky, Pruvost, Pukkila, Ramaswamy, Salyer, Steponaitis, Sturm, Tepper, Thompson Dorsey, Thorpe, Tuggle, Wallace, Willett and Yaqub.

Others in attendance: Dean, Filene

The following 27 members were absent with excuse: Aikat, Ammerman, Anksorus, Chapman, Coyne-Beasley, Cuddeback, Drake, Edwards, Felix, Fisher, Fry, Giovanello, Joyner, Koonce, Kris, Lithgow, Malloy, Mauro, Metz, Neta, Osterweil, Platts-Mills, Savasta-Kennedy, Scarlett, Song, Upshaw, Weight, Welty, Williams and Zvara.

The following members were absent without excuse: Gilchrist, Hall, Halladay, Hobbs, Hornstein, Mayer, Neta, Oehler, Renner and You.

Call to order

The secretary of the faculty called the meeting to order at 3:01 p.m.

Chair of the Faculty remarks

Chair of the Faculty Bruce Cairns welcomed the faculty to the first meeting of the new year. He thanked the School of Pharmacy and Office of Faculty Governance staff for preparing the meeting. He noted Katie Turner’s absence due to sickness.

Professor Cairns said that there are a number of critically important issues facing the nation that affect each of us as citizens and faculty members, but rather than focus on these broader issues he wants to discuss what the faculty can do to ensure the University is properly positioned to support our primary mission to be a great public research university.

He recalled Chancellor Folt’s presentation on the Strategic Framework for the University that was presented at the December 16, 2016, Faculty Council meeting. He said that the framework has been a campus-wide endeavor with input from faculty, staff and students, and it provides a solid foundation of who we are and where we would like to go in the future.

Professor Cairns reported that the Nominating Committee would meet next week to develop the slate for the faculty elections that will be held in April. He will provide updates in February and March.

Professor Cairns reminded the faculty that the University is in the midst of its ten-year reaffirmation process with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Professor Cairns has been working with the chancellor, Dr. Ron Strauss, executive vice provost, and Lynn Williford, assistant provost for institutional research and assessment, to prepare for a visit from SACS representatives in March. He noted that SACS is concerned with the faculty’s role in the reaffirmation process and institutional transparency and accountability.

Professor Cairns revealed a poster that he received as a gift from Professor Oliver Smithies after the latter received the Nobel Prize in 2007. It was hanging in the hospital, but Professor Cairns removed it and brought it to the Council meeting. The poster is inscribed “Keep it going, Bruce. All the best, Oliver Smithies.” Professor Smithies passed away earlier this year, and Professor Cairns said that he epitomized everything that faculty stand for at Carolina. He added that Professor Smithies is the definition of “being elite without being elitist.”

Chancellor’s remarks and question period

Chancellor Carol Folt thanked Professor Cairns for his remarks and reflections on Professor Smithies’ contributions. She thanked the faculty and surgeons at UNC Hospitals for performing a successful surgery on her wrist.

The chancellor also reflected on an early meeting she had with Professor Smithies and his wife. She met with them over lunch and was moved by how humble he was and how much joy he experienced from his work at Carolina. She was surprised to find out that Professor Smithies came to Carolina as a trailing spouse. Professor Smithies told her that he was drawn to his work because “the academy was a place where people with ideas still had homes and can make the most out of those great ideas.” When he passed away Chancellor Folt found his wife in her lab, and she told the chancellor that their lab was their home. Professor Smithies had been at the beach with some friends when he passed away.

Chancellor Folt announced that the Ackland Museum of Art recently received a large gift of acquisitions from alumnus Sheldon Peck and his wife. Their family began collecting Flemish paintings 40 years ago, which included seven Rembrandt works. One of those works is the last signed drawing of Rembrandt’s that has moved out of a private collection. The entire collection is valued at $17 million and the family’s gift is valued at $25 million. The chancellor said that it is a gift that could never be re-created. Mr. Peck has become a major authority on identifying and determining the prominence of Flemish works.

The chancellor congratulated an undergraduate student who was recently named a Churchill Scholar. Benjamin Kompa is a double major in math and computer science with a biology minor. He will do a master study in science and math at Churchill College in Cambridge. UNC-Chapel Hill has 17 Churchill Scholars.

At a recent Board of Trustees meeting, the chancellor invited Professor Mike Crimmins to bring three of the Chancellor’s Science Scholars. The Chancellor’s Science Scholars program started under former chancellor Holden Thorp. The program launched during Chancellor Folt’s first year at the University and it is now in its fourth year with the first graduating class. She and the provost have funded the program, and she reported that it has been successful in improving graduation for students in STEM fields. Chancellor Folt also presented the University’s Strategic Framework to the Board of Trustees. She said it was “endorsed with great enthusiasm.”

SACS and Carolina Metrics update

Executive Vice Provost Ron Strauss provided a brief update on the SACS reaffirmation process. He said that this week SACS representatives visited three locations in Germany and Amsterdam to evaluate our transatlantic master’s programs. They will visit campus and locations across the state where the University is affiliated. The reaffirmation team will be on campus March 27 through March 30. They may invite faculty to join and meet with them. Dr. Strauss said that he is grateful in advance for the faculty’s willingness to participate in the meetings and that the response from our faculty has been remarkably positive.

Dr. Strauss said that a major feature of reaccreditation is the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). Professor Kelly Hogan (Biology) became the director of the QEP. She will work with the QEP Steering Committee. Professors Adam Persky (Pharmacy) and Greg Copenhaver (Biology) serve on the steering committee. The goal of the QEP is to create scientists through innovative instruction and the integration of philosophy and arts.

Provost Jim Dean gave an update on academic performance metrics that are available on the Carolina Metrics website. He noted that the metrics are broken out into categories related to students, faculty, the campus environment and the public impact of the University. He demonstrated where to find metrics about underrepresented groups in the undergraduate student population and how we compare with peer institutions.

Provost Dean showed a slide that compared the percentage of our students who are American Indian and Alaskan native, African American and Hispanic with peer universities. He showed a slide with metrics related to undergraduates engaged in high-impact learning activities and study abroad. Another slide showed figures on undergraduate satisfaction. In a survey, 90 percent of undergraduates said they would enroll at Carolina if they had to make the decision over again. He reported that the four-year and six-year graduation rates continue to increase and are much higher than the national averages. Research expenditures are up, and the University is competing well nationally in this area. Vice Chancellor Terry Magnuson is currently exploring how the University can do more in business-sponsored areas, particularly with clinical trials.

The provost thanked Assistant Provost for Institutional Research and Assessment Lynn Williford for putting the Carolina Metrics project together. He encouraged faculty to login to the website at Carolinametrics.web.unc.edu.

Chancellor and provost question period

Professor Cary Levine (Art) asked the chancellor to comment on the appointment of Clayton Somers as vice chancellor for public affairs. He said that Mr. Somers has no experience with research or higher education, and he asked the chancellor to share how the decision was made to create the position and how his $280,000 salary will be funded.

Chancellor Folt said that the University receives over $400 million from the state and each year that amount continues to be reduced. She said that the University must do a better job communicating the value of the University to the state. She decided to create the position because she did not have the time to devote to it herself. She wanted to take a “leveraged approach” to working with the legislature. The chancellor said that the position evolved out of a previously vacated position that was rewritten to include additional duties. She said that it will allow the University to have a better chance to work directly with the legislature and work in all 100 counties. She needed someone in the position who knows individual legislators and what is happening at Carolina. She told the search committee that she also needed someone who could work with the Board of Trustees and Board of Governors. She said that the University is hosting a legislative event this week in which legislators come to campus to learn about the impact of research. She hopes to bring Mr. Somers to the Faculty Council to talk about his role. She said that she has no doubts that Mr. Somers was the most qualified candidate and the best choice for the University at this time.

Professor Jan Hannig (Statistics and Operations Research) said that he appreciated Provost Dean’s presentation of the Carolina Metrics project. He suggested that in addition to publishing data on faculty salaries, the University include data on graduate student salaries.

The chancellor replied that the University tracks the minimum salaries for graduate students, but many departments supplement the minimum stipend. She said it would be difficult to capture actual graduate student salaries. The provost and chancellor raised the minimum graduate stipend twice in the past several years.

Professor Paul Jones (Media and Journalism) said that under previous presidents, the University was not supposed to lobby the legislature. He asked if the rules have changed.

Chancellor Folt replied that the rules have not changed, and Mr. Somers will not be involved in lobbying. He will coordinate with other universities in the UNC system to put forward initiatives and communicate with legislators when they have questions about those programs.

Professor Lee Berkowitz (Medicine) said that he was glad to see comparative data from sister institutions on graduation rates on the Carolina Metrics website. He said he found it disturbing that one in five Carolina students do not graduate within four years. He said that it seems like there is a lot of competition to get into Carolina, and he wants to see a higher graduation rate.

Provost Dean said that by national standards our four-year graduation rate is extraordinarily high. He said that some students transfer to other universities, or some students change majors and it takes longer than four years to graduate. Some students have to leave for personal or family reasons. He said that the Thrive at Carolina initiative has been working to retain and support students. He added that we are at the top of our peers for five- and six-year graduation rates.

Resolution 2017-1. On Removing the Restrictions on Graduation with Multiple Areas of Study for Students Enrolling in a Ninth Semester or Beyond

Professor Kristin Reiter (Public Health) presented Resolution 2017-1 on behalf of the Educational Policy Committee. She explained that the resolution lifts restrictions that were put in place in 2005 on multiple areas of study for students who enroll in a ninth or tenth semester. The committee consulted Academic Advising and found that the majority of students petitioning for a ninth or tenth semester are transfer students or students who have experienced a hardship. The committee felt that the current policy penalized students by not displaying their second major or minor on their transcripts. The Educational Policy Committee will monitor trends for the next three academic years and will report to the Council on whether to reconsider this policy.

There was no discussion or debate. The resolution passed unanimously.

Resolution 2017-2. On Enhanced Priority Registration

Professor Kristin Reiter (Public Health) presented Resolution 2017-2 on behalf of the Educational Policy Committee. She explained that the current priority registration process grants eligible students a 30-minute window to register before the rest of their class. The resolution proposes allowing a subset of students from the priority registration group to register on the first window of the first day. Students who qualify for enhanced priority registration are those who are approved by Accessibility Resource Services (ARS). The resolution caps the percentage of students who would be eligible to receive enhanced priority registration.

Professor Deborah Thorpe (Medicine) asked what would happen if more than five to six percent of students currently receiving priority registration need enhanced priority registration.

Professor Reiter said that the restriction was put in place in the past because the Educational Policy Committee felt that there should be limitations on the numbers of students receiving priority registration to prevent its abuse.

Ms. Tiffany Bailey, director of accessibility resources and services, said that five to six percent exceeds the amount of students who would currently qualify for enhanced priority registration.

Professor Thorpe asked if enhanced priority registration only offers students thirty minutes to register.

Professor Reiter confirmed that the registration period is a 30-minute window.

Professor Thorpe asked if that is enough time for students who are using adaptive technologies to register.

Ms. Bailey replied that students can login early and have classes selected so when the registration period opens, they can click a button to confirm their class selections.

Professor Jan Hannig said that he would like to amend the resolution to change five to six percent to either five or six percent of students.

Professor Reiter said that the Educational Policy Committee is comfortable with six percent.

Professor Hannig moved to amend the resolution to change “five to six percent” to “six percent.”

The motion was seconded and passed. Resolution 2017-2 was then unanimously passed as amended.

Research Code of Conduct update

Professor Kim Strom-Gottfried, director of ethics education and policy management, and Robin Cyr, associate vice chancellor for research, presented an update on a draft of the UNC-Chapel Hill Research Code of Conduct. Professor Strom-Gottfried explained that the Research Code of Conduct is being revised in order to comply with federal NIH guidelines. Our peer institutions have adopted similar codes for sponsored research. The policy document outlines conduct standard and procedures for rolling out the policy. Professor Strom-Gottfried asked the faculty to notify their colleagues about the upcoming changes.

Diversity syllabus: The diversity imperative from a dean’s perspective

Professor Rumay Alexander, chair of the Community and Diversity Committee, introduced Professor Kevin Guskiewicz, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Dean Guskiewicz presented an overview of the strategies that are being used in the College of Arts and Sciences to promote diversity and inclusiveness. He said that one strategy is redesigning the undergraduate curriculum to take diversity and inclusion into account. He established a student advisory committee and some of the members talked with him about the importance of role models for women and minorities in STEM fields. The students also emphasized the importance of learning from a diversity of perspectives.

Dean Guskiewicz said that recruiting diverse faculty can be a challenge because of pipeline issues. He said one study found that for every 100 faculty in academia only five are black, four are Hispanic and fewer than one are Native American. He said that Carolina has made progress in recruiting diverse faculty in tenure-track positions since 2006, and he is committed to continuing these trends.

Dean Guskiewicz said that the College has been involved in promoting discussions on the topic of diversity and inclusion. After the Detroit 67 performance at Playmaker’s, the College sponsored a Carolina Conversation about past and present-day race relations. He described a TED Talk that Professor Joe DeSimone gave five years ago in which he described diversity as a fundamental part of innovation.

Dean Guskiewicz said that the College has authorized six new interdisciplinary courses to be taught during the fall 2017 semester. He said that a supercourse on intersectionality is currently being offered and has received positive feedback.

Dean Guskiewicz recognized Professor Kia Caldwell (African, African American and Diaspora Studies) for her work as the director of faculty diversity initiatives in the College. She works with diversity liaisons in departments to bring a diverse perspective to faculty hiring and the postdoctoral program.

Dean Guskiewicz reminded the faculty that Carolina is a member of the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity. All faculty are members. He strongly recommended that faculty explore the center’s website and resources. Recently, the College sponsored a training on unconscious bias for department chairs. At first he said that he was skeptical of the topic, but he has been convinced of the effectiveness of the training because of the feedback he has received from department chairs and faculty who have benefitted from the training. He said that it has helped faculty conduct more thoughtful reviews of applicants during search processes. He said that through the Targeted Hiring Program, the College was able to recruit four underrepresented minority faculty after extending nine offers in total in the past year.

Dean Guskiewicz said that he established the Dean’s Faculty Diversity Advisory Group in October 2016, and it has created three initiatives. The first is a series of faculty workshops aimed at understanding differences. Approximately 225 faculty members have participated. He required all search committees to have at least one member who has attended one of the workshops. The second initiative was to examine cluster hiring practices around themes of diversity and inclusiveness. The issue of health disparities was one area where cluster hiring could be used to leverage expertise. A new supercourse on intersectionality was launched three weeks ago. It is titled “Intersectionality: Race, Gender, Sexuality and Social Justice” and has an enrollment of 250 students. The class filled within a few hours during the registration period.

Dean Guskiewicz acknowledged Professor Kelly Hogan (Biology) and Professor Michael Crimmins (Chemistry) for their work in securing funds for course redesigns to encourage active learning in STEM. As a result, the sciences have been able to set up a mentor apprentice program to make progress toward closing achievement gaps for underrepresented students. Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education Abigail Panter and several others are leading a $3 million initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Education to help more students complete their college education and improve graduation rates for underrepresented minority students.

Professor Cairns thanked Dean Guskiewicz for his presentation.

Professor Bruno Estigarribia (Romance Studies) thanked Dean Guskiewicz for highlighting Professor DeSimone’s thoughts on innovation and diversity. He said that there is no better illustration of the value of humanities to an education.

Professor Colin Wallace (Physics and Astronomy) asked if Dean Guskiewicz had statistics on the representation of different demographic groups among the fixed-term faculty ranks.

Dean Guskiewicz said that he can get the data and that there is a higher proportion of women represented in fixed-term ranks.

Professor Beth Moracco (Public Health) asked if graduate students have been considered in planning efforts, especially in terms of finding funding to support underrepresented minority graduate students.

Dean Guskiewicz said that they have found some funding resources, including the Institute for Minority Excellence’s doctoral dissertation completion awards. He said that the College is working to find more opportunities in this area.

Faculty Assembly Delegation annual report

Professor Charlotte Boettiger (Psychology), chair of the UNC-Chapel Hill Faculty Assembly Delegation, presented the delegation’s annual report. She said that the Faculty Assembly meets once a month during the academic year with delegates from 16 campuses to discuss matters of mutual importance. The current faculty assembly chair is Professor Gabriel Lugo, a mathematician from UNC Wilmington. He provides a brief introduction and updates the delegates on events since their prior meeting. President Margaret Spellings meets with the delegates. Professor Boettiger said that the faculty have been impressed with how open and frank she is and how much she appears to listen to the faculty. Other members of General Administration provide updates to the delegates on various issues.

Over the past year, the Faculty Assembly has been involved in shaping the system-wide Board of Governor’s Strategic Plan. Professor Boettiger said that many of the delegates’ suggestions were incorporated into the Strategic Plan. The Faculty Assembly also passed a resolution requesting faculty salary increases and a separate resolution raising concerns about recent legislative actions that could impact SACS accreditation.

Chancellor’s Advisory Committee annual report

Professor Richard Myers (Law) provided an update on the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee report. He said that the committee is in the process of vetting Chair of the Faculty candidates for the upcoming faculty elections. He said that the committee collected nominations from faculty across campus and adopted a set of criteria for evaluating candidates, including expansive leadership, university-wide commitment, committee to service and moral courage.

The committee began with a list of 45 faculty who met the minimum criteria and whittled the list down to six candidates. They are now in the process of contacting faculty on the list to see if they are willing to run in the elections.

Professor Myers reported that over the past year, the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee has been engaged in discussions about faculty inclusion and diversity, reaffirmation, athletics, the political climate, innovation, strategic planning and the selection of the Secretary of the Faculty.

Annual reports accepted by title

Annual reports from the Buildings and Grounds Committee; the Appointments, Promotions and Tenure Committee; and the Faculty Hearings Committee were accepted by title. There were no questions for the committee chairs.

Special report from the Honorary Degrees and Special Awards Committee

A motion to go into closed session for consideration of the 2017 Edward Kidder Graham Award recipient was adopted. The nominee was approved. The Faculty Council returned to open session.

Adjournment

Having completed its business, the Faculty Council adjourned at 5:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Katie Turner
Faculty Program Specialist

Vin Steponaitis
Secretary of the Faculty

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