February 19, 2016

Meeting of the General Faculty and Faculty Council

Chancellor Carol Folt and Chair of the Faculty Bruce Cairns presiding

Friday, February 19, 2016
3:00 p.m.
Kerr Hall Room 2001 — this is the UPSTAIRS ROOM (Eshelman School of Pharmacy)  Map here

Twitter:  Follow @UNCFacGov or use hashtag #FacCouncil

Watch remotely at this link (participation link)

Agenda

3:00 Opening Remarks

• Chair of the Faculty Bruce Cairns
• Read text of Prof. Cairns’s remarks here

3:10 Chancellor’s and Provost’s Remarks and Question Period

• Chancellor Carol Folt
• Provost Jim Dean

3:30 Vote: Resolution 2016-4. On Supporting and Sustaining LGBTQ Academic Initiatives.

• Prof. Rich Cante and Prof. Ruth Salvaggio on behalf of faculty affiliated with Program in Sexuality Studies

3:40 Diversity Syllabus: Affordability, Diversity, Student Retention, and Success

• Introductory Remarks: Prof. Rumay Alexander, Chair, Committee on Community and Diversity
• How Does the Work of the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid Further Diversity at Carolina?: Prof. Don Hornstein, Chair, Committee on Scholarships and Student Aid
• Men of Color Engagement Mr. Chris Faison, Coordinator, UNC Men of Color Engagement, Center for Student Success and Academic Counseling

4:10  Second Reading, Proposed Amendments to the Faculty Code of University Government

• Secretary of the Faculty Joe Ferrell on behalf of the Committee on University Government

• Vote (Second Reading): Resolution 2016-1. On Amending the Faculty Code of University Government to Provide for Vacancy Appointments for Faculty Officers.
• Vote (Second Reading): Resolution 2016-2. On Amending the Faculty Code of University Government to Enlarge the Faculty Athletics Committee and to Clarify its Charge.
• Vote (Second Reading): Resolution 2016-3. On Amending the Faculty Code of University Government to Enlarge the Faculty Grievance Committee.

4:15  Vote: Resolution 2016-5. On Endorsing the Report of the Ethics and Integrity Working Group.

Amended Resolution 2016-5 as passed is here.

• Presented by the Agenda Committee (Prof. Cairns)

4:20 Vote: Resolution 2016-6. On Undergraduate Academic Eligibility.

• Presented by the Educational Policy Committee (Prof. Jennifer Coble, Chair)
• Background Materials:
  • Eligibility Overview for Faculty Council
  • Transfer Student Graduation Data (PowerPoint)
  • 2014 Academic Eligibility Policy

4:35 Annual Report: Advisory Committee on Undergraduate Admissions

• Prof. Abigail Panter, Chair
• Mr. Steve Farmer, Vice Provost for Enrollment and Undergraduate Admissions

4:50 Annual Committee Report Received By Title

• Faculty Information Technology Advisory Committee (Prof. Jim Porto, Chair)

5:00 Adjourn

https://facultygov.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/261/2016/02/2016Feb19Meeting1.pdf

Video of Proceedings

View a recording of the proceedings here.

Journal of Proceedings of the Faculty Council

 

The Faculty Council of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill convened on February 19, 2016 at 3:02 p.m. in Kerr Hall, room 2001.

The following 68 members attended: Aikat, Babb, Beck, Beltran Lopez, Boettiger Cooney, Hart, Cairns (Chair of the Faculty), Caren, Chapman, Chavis, Cox, Cuddeback, Day, Provost Dean,  Divaris, Dobelstein (Retired Faculty), Dolan, Drake, Edwards, Estigarribia, Ferrell (Secretary of the Faculty), Filene (Undergraduate Representative), Fisher, Chancellor Folt, Foster, Furry, Gilligan, Giovanello, Gulledge, Hall, Halladay, Hannig, Hobbs, Irons, Ives, Jones, Kim, Koonce, Kris, Larson, A. Levine, C. Levine, Livingston (Graduate representative) Loehr, McBride, Melehy, Metz, Miller, Moracco, Nelson, Osterweil, Perelmuter, Persky, Porto, Pruvost, Ramaswamy, Rial, Salyer, Savasta-Kennedy, Thompson, Thorpe, Upshaw, Wallace, Webster-Cyriaque, Weight, Welty, Willett and Williams.

The following 32 members received excused absences: Able, Ammerman, Baumgartner, Berman, Birckhead, Cook, Cravey, Driscoll, Fry, Gerhardt, Gilchrist, Gucsavas-Calikoglu, Hill, Joyner, Kang, Mauro, Mitran, Moreton, Neta, Palmer, Parise, Platts-Mills, Polk, Pukkila, Segars, Stavas, Steponaitis, Sturm, Tepper, Thompson Dorsey, Viera and You.

The following members participated via teleconference: Brian Sturm

Call to order

Secretary of the Faculty Joseph Ferrell called the Council to order at 3:02 p.m.

Chair of the Faculty remarks and question period

Chair of the Faculty Bruce Cairns (Surgery) provided an overview of some of the upcoming changes in leadership across the UNC system and at Carolina. He noted that the upcoming Faculty Elections would take place in late April. President-Elect Margaret Spellings will take office on March 1.

Professor Cairns said that he was pleased with President-Elect Spellings’ remarks at a recent Board of Governors’ (BOG) retreat. He said that she is in favor of many of the values that Carolina faculty believe in, such as accountability, accessibility and diversity. She supports shared governance, and she does not want to micromanage the affairs of individual universities. Professor Cairns said that he believes the faculty should give President-Elect Spellings a chance to demonstrate her leadership. He said the whole community will have to work together to be sure the rights and identities of all are respected and supported.

Professor Cairns recognized Professor Rosa Perelmuter (Romance Studies) for securing a $1 million Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant to support the Moore Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (MURAP). MURAP works to diversify academia by ensuring that high achieving, talented underrepresented minorities are given opportunities to succeed in higher education careers. The Faculty Council stood in applause.

Professor Cairns recognized Ms. Eliza Filene, Student Government representative to the Faculty Council. Ms. Filene said that Student Government representatives have received complaints from students who report that some faculty are not allowing makeup tests for absences due to family deaths or religious holidays. She asked the faculty to work with students to provide alternate arrangements for exams and assignments when students face extenuating circumstances.

The full text of Professor Cairns’ comments is available at

https://facultygov.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/261/2016/02/20160219CairnsRemarksFacultyCouncilFinal.pdf

Provost’s remarks and question period

Provost Jim Dean reported on the status of a number of searches. He said there have been actions underway to fill the Vice Chancellor for Research position, the School of Education deanship and the School of Social Work deanship. He and a number of vice chancellors in different areas are working on  their responses to the SACS report. They must respond to seven areas of concern. Once the response is submitted, a SACS representative will visit the campus, and the SACS Board will meet to make a decision about whether to lift academic probation. He said that he believes the work on the response has been strong so far.

The provost briefly mentioned the work of the Chancellor’s Cabinet on diversity and inclusion efforts. He said that group has been working on a two-pronged focus: increasing the presence of minority students and faculty and improving representation to make all underrepresented minorities feel a sense of validation, legitimacy and belonging. He emphasized that these efforts will be ongoing.

Chancellor’s remarks and question period

Chancellor Carol Folt said that she has been speaking to a number of groups about the ConnectUNC Bond, which would provide $70 million for improvements to our current medical education building. She stressed the importance of the bond’s passage in the March referendum because of the need to train more doctors to practice in North Carolina. She noted that 30 percent of doctors in the state are at or near retirement age. The last bond occurred in 2000, and it was the largest higher education borrowing in the history of the United States.

The Chancellor noted several recent activities and announcements:

• JPMorgan Chase contributed $1 million to the UNC-Chapel Hill Center for Community Capital to aid their work on increasing financial health in under-resourced communities.
• UNC Athletics held its annual Tar Heel Trailblazers ceremony to honor former student-athletes who paved the way for success in all aspects of the student-athlete experience.
• UNC-Chapel Hill students Larry Han and Matthew Leming have been awarded prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarships, which provide full support for graduate study at the University of Cambridge in England.
• Foreign policy expert Anne-Marie Slaughter will deliver the Commencement address on May 8, 2016.
• Chancellor Folt attended a meeting at Duke with Vice President Joe Biden to talk about his “Moonshot to Find a Cure” initiative to boost cancer research efforts.
• The chancellor attended the Annenberg Conference on basic research over the past weekend to hear from scientists who are emphasizing the importance of basic research for creating other scientific discoveries.

Chancellor Folt participated in a day of remembrance for Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha and Razan Abu-Salha who were murdered in February 2015. Barakat was a student in the School of Dentistry and his wife Yusor Abu-Salha was accepted for admission to the school. Razan Abu-Salha was a student at NC State. Students at UNC participated in “Deah Day,” a day filled with charitable activities in honor of the slain students. The chancellor said that Deah Day may become an annual event.

The chancellor said that Todd Nicolet, associate dean for operations at the School of Government, will serve as interim Chief Integrity Officer (CIO) while a search is underway to find a permanent CIO. She said that the creation of this new position came as a result of the joint recommendation of the Ethics and Integrity Working Group and the Policies and Procedures Working Group.  The working groups identified a need for a place to consolidate, house and maintain ethics and integrity resources. With over 50 training programs that are mandatory for complying with state and federal policies, the chancellor said that the new position and office would make trainings and resources easier to find and access.

Professor Deb Aikat (Media and Journalism) asked if the ConnectUNC bond would include funds for technology upgrades across campus.

Chancellor Folt replied that the bond does not provide for that.

Professor Aikat commented that our technological infrastructure is lagging, and there isn’t enough storage space on email or servers for most on-campus users.

Chancellor Folt said that there is a group working to obtain more storage. She is planning to include a line for technology upgrades in future budget planning.

Resolution 2016-4. On Supporting and Sustaining LGBTQ Academic Initiatives

Professor Ruth Salvaggio (English and Comparative Literature) was joined by a group of faculty sponsors who are affiliated with the Sexuality Studies Program. They presented Resolution 2016-4, which calls on UNC System President-Elect Margaret Spellings to support  continued state funding of LGBTQ academic initiatives on campus.

Professor Jan Hannig (Statistics and Operations Research) asked the chancellor if passing the resolution would put her in an awkward position with the UNC System President.

Chancellor Folt said that she believes strongly in the governance structure of the university, and she doesn’t want the faculty to vote based on how a resolution might impact her.

Professor Rohit Ramaswamy (School of Public Health) asked Professor Salvaggio to clarify the portion of the resolution that asks for fiscal support.

Professor Salvaggio said that the resolution refers to the use of public funds to support LGBTQ academic initiatives.

The resolution was adopted unanimously. The faculty applauded.

Diversity Syllabus: Affordability, Diversity, Student Retention, and Success

Watch video of this segment of the meeting at  https://vimeo.com/156734268

Professor Rumay Alexander (Nursing) introduced Professor Don Hornstein (Law), chair of the Scholarships, Awards and Student Aid Committee. She asked the faculty to consider that feeling, thought, action or sense of wellbeing are how we experience things and all of those are a theme in Professor Hornstein’s and Mr. Chris Faison’s presentations.

Professor Hornstein emphasized the importance of financial aid, particularly need-based aid, to fulfilling Carolina’s commitment to being “the university of the people.” He explained that the Office of Scholarships, Awards and Student Aid furthers diversity at Carolina by maintaining a need-blind admissions process. Admissions decisions are not based upon a family’s ability to pay, but rather on how a student can best help us achieve our mission, reflecting the practice of top-tier universities nationally. These practices, coupled with a robust program of both merit and need-based aid, further diversity and improve the quality of education for all students.

Professor Hornstein cited the academic credentials of the 2014 first-year class, the most recent class for which he has data. Seventy-eight percent of first-year students ranked within the top 10 percent of their high school class. Eighteen percent are first-generation college students and 20 percent are from underrepresented minority groups. He demonstrated that without access to need-based financial aid, that class would fall to 9 percent first-generation college students and 9 percent from underrepresented minority groups. Not only would the Carolina student body become less ethnically and socioeconomically diverse, but our academic metrics would fall dramatically. Without need-based aid, Carolina would only be able to attract 61 percent of students who were in the top 10 percent of their graduating class.

Among 2015 undergraduate students, underrepresented minority students are more likely to qualify for aid (68 percent) than other students (32 percent). Eighty-one percent of African-American students are aid eligible.

Among the incoming fall 2015 undergraduate class, 45 percent of students qualify for need-based aid. The median family income of aided students with need is $51,004. Students whose families have an annual income of 200 percent of the federal poverty level or below qualify for the Carolina Covenant. Approximately 13 percent of the 2015 first-year class qualified for Covenant status. The median family income for Covenant Scholars is $26,777, while the median income for first-generation students is $37,220. The median family income for all African-American undergraduates regardless of need is $37,928.

Professor Hornstein said that at many elite universities that try to enact programs similar to the Carolina Covenant, students without additional spending money feel shut off from many of the experiences and social activities that their affluent peers enjoy. To obviate that type of student experience, the Office of Scholarships, Awards and Student Aid furthers student engagement and excellence by providing financial resources for financially aided students to participate equally in study abroad programs and works with Carolina Performing Arts to provide tickets to world-class performances at reduced or no cost.

Professor Hornstein said aid matters at Carolina because without it, UNC would be much less diverse, and as a result the quality of the education we offer to all students would be compromised.

Professor Jennifer Webster-Cyriaque (School of Dentistry) asked how well our student body demographics reflect the state population in North Carolina.

Professor Hornstein said that he is not sure of specifics, but he was sure that they lagged behind the general demographics

Mr. Steve Farmer, university registrar, confirmed that minority students are under-represented in the undergraduate population.

Men of Color Engagement 

Mr. Chris Faison, director of Men of Color Engagement introduced a panel of students who are active in the program. He thanked Professor Hornstein and Ms. Shirley Ort for their work. He noted that Ms. Ort has been a mentor of his for the past 20 years, since he was an undergraduate work-study student in her office. When he attended Carolina as an undergraduate, Mr. Faison received a Pell Grant and financial aid that made it possible for him to attend despite being from out of state. He majored in history and African-American studies. Mr. Faison thanked the faculty in the African, African-American and Diaspora Studies department, particularly Professors Charlene Register, Reginald Hildebrand, Barbara Anderson and Perry Hall.

Mr. Faison directed the Faculty Council members to the handout he provided on the Men of Color Engagement program. The handout cited a number of goals of the Men of Color Engagement program: to encourage all departments on campus to engage at least two men of color in undergraduate research by 2020, to increase recruitment and retention of men of color, to improve graduation rates among men of color and to ensure that men of color are prepared for employment after graduation.

Mr. Faison introduced Mr. Parker Alexander Martin, a student who has been active in Men of Color Engagement. Mr. Martin said that he became involved after making a video about the experience of men of color at Carolina. He wanted to highlight issues that men of color commonly face such as assumptions that men of color on campus are recruited because of their race rather than intellectual ability or that men of color are recruited to play a sport.

Mr. Martin said that students of color have been disproportionately impacted by racial segregation on campus among staff members, events that have tarnished the reputation of the African, African-American and Diaspora Studies Department, and a lack of respect for monuments on campus that honor the contributions of African-Americans to the building of campus infrastructure. As a result, he created an organization called Carolina RISE to help increase social and academic success for students of color. Carolina RISE provides opportunities for volunteering and community service. The organization hosts an alumni of color speaker series to connect current students with alumni.

Mr. Hazael Andrew, director for first-year experience, gave an overview of some of the activities Men of Color Engagement has sponsored. He said that programs in the residence halls were not specifically focused on minority students, so Men of Color Engagement was able to fill a gap in programming. He’s found that Men of Color Engagement has allowed students and alumni to partner on projects.

Mr. Kenny Rangel, an undergraduate Exercise and Sports Science major, went on an excursion to Washington, DC with a group from Men of Color Engagement. He is a first generation minority male student, and he said the experience made him more comfortable with talking about his background.

Mr. Marty Davidson, an undergraduate student, discussed his experiences with the Honor System at Carolina. He joined honor system about two years ago and is now a vice chair. He joined partly because he was concerned that 56 percent of academic cases that went before the court involved students of color. He is concerned that there may be a lack of empathy from some faculty members and a reluctance to accept minor mistakes that students make. He hopes that faculty will use these minor mistakes as teaching moments. He said that the Honor Court hopes to create a dialog with faculty about how they can help students learn how to avoid mistakes on papers and assignments.

https://facultygov.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/261/2016/02/2016Feb19Meeting.pdf

Second Reading of Proposed Amendments to the Faculty Code of University Government

Secretary of the Faculty Joe Ferrell on behalf of the Committee on University Government read the following resolutions. The General Faculty and the Faculty Council unanimously endorsed all of the following on their second reading.

Resolution 2016-1. On Amending the Faculty Code of University Government to Provide for Vacancy Appointments for Faculty Officers

The amendment was adopted and enrolled.

Resolution 2016-2. On Amending the Faculty Code of University Government to Enlarge the Faculty Athletics Committee and to Clarify its Charge

The amendment was adopted and enrolled.

Resolution 2016-3. On Amending the Faculty Code of University Government to Enlarge the Faculty Grievance Committee

Professor Nancy Fisher (Microbiology and Immunology), chair of the Committee on Fixed-Term Faculty, noted the increased service of fixed-term faculty on university-wide committees.

The amendment was adopted and enrolled.

Resolution 2016-5. On Endorsing the Report of the Ethics and Integrity Working Group

Professor Cairns presented Resolution 2016-5 on behalf of the Agenda Committee.

Professor Jan Hannig (Statistics and Operations Research) said that due to a delay in distributing the resolution and associated report, he is uncomfortable voting on resolution that would require the Faculty Council to endorse a report on short notice. He said that he is also hesitant to vote to endorse the report of the Ethics and Integrity Working Group because the group did not have a graduate student representative. He is also concerned about the creation of a Chief Integrity Officer position that is recommended in the report. He moved to postpone discussion and consideration of the resolution until next meeting.

Professor Cairns noted that faculty largely drafted the Ethics and Integrity Working Group’s report, and an opportunity to discuss the report was provided at the prior Faculty Council meeting. He said that postponing consideration of the resolution is unlikely to resolve the issues that Professor Hannig noted. Professor Cairns said that the Office of the Chief Integrity Officer would provide a place to house ethics and integrity requirements and ensure that we are in compliance with state and federal laws. He noted that creating the office is an important piece of our response to SACS accreditation probation.

Chancellor Folt replied that the working group did not involve external consultants. The group considered how other universities handled compliance and oversight. She asked the working group to help respond to the SACS report.

Dr. Todd Nicolet, interim chief integrity officer, said that the office was created to help provide resources to faculty.

Professor Cairns said that some of the recommendations in the report still need to be worked out, but the resolution would acknowledge that there is work underway to address SACS’s concerns.

Professor Jim Porto (School of Public Health) asked if there are negative consequences if the Council delays voting.

Professor Cairns said that the faculty should vote soon because the University is in the process of responding to SACS.

Professor Jan Hannig (Statistics and Operations Research) asked that the Council delay voting so everyone has a chance to read the document.

Professor Deb Aikat (School of Media and Journalism) said that waiting would not change the way he chooses to vote.

Secretary Ferrell presented the motion to delay voting until the subsequent Faculty Council meeting. The motion was defeated.

Professor Christopher Willett (Biology) asked if the resolution is implying that the Faculty Council endorses all of the language in the report.

Secretary Ferrell explained that if the Faculty Council votes in favor of the resolution it is endorsing the report, not necessarily the recommendations.

Professor Emeritus Andy Dobelstein (Retired Faculty) asked why the Faculty Council would endorse the report if it were still in the process of being completed.

Professor Cairns deferred to Secretary Ferrell.

Secretary Ferrell said he couldn’t answer Professor Dobelstein’s question.

Chancellor Folt said that the resolution is asking the faculty to endorse the work of their faculty colleagues.

Professor Mimi Chapman (School of Social Work) asked if the resolution could be referred to the Faculty Executive Committee to provide more time for consideration.

Professor Cairns said that he doesn’t think referring it to committee for more time is a good idea.

Secretary Ferrell said that it is possible to move the resolution to Faculty Executive Committee for further discussion consideration.

Professor Hassan Melehy (Romance Studies) observed that there seems to be confusion about what the resolution is endorsing. He asked if all the recommendations could go through without further examination if the resolution is passed or if the recommendations would come through the Faculty Council for consideration.

Professor Cairns said that the latter is the case.

Professor Melehy said that people should be offered the chance to read the report before voting.

Professor Chapman moved to refer the report to the Faculty Executive Committee.

Professor Porto (Public Health) said that not giving the Council an opportunity to read and comment could make the Faculty Council seem as if it is a “rubber stamp.” He said that he favored a minor delay in considering the resolution to provide the chance for people to read the report.

Professor Cairns said the motion on the floor under consideration is whether to refer the resolution to the Faculty Executive Committee for further discussion. He added that the faculty could read report and make as many comments as they would like, but its recommendations can’t be implemented without faculty involvement.

Professor Melehy asked to amend the language of the resolution.

Secretary Ferrell explained that the previous motion is still under consideration and must be voted on before a motion to amend the language can be considered.

Professor Bruno Estigarribia (Romance Studies) asked if the resolution were referred to the Faculty Executive Committee, would it come back to the Faculty Council for discussion.

Secretary Ferrell said that it would be up to the Faculty Executive Committee whether to bring the resolution back to the Faculty Council for consideration.

Professor Dobelstein seconded the motion to refer to the Faculty Executive Committee for further discussion.

The motion to refer the resolution to the Faculty Executive Committee was defeated.

A motion to strike the word “endorsement” and insert “recognition of” was made from the floor.

Professor Cairns said that he knows the Faculty Council is not a rubber stamp, but he wants the faculty to think about the goals of the resolution. The practical implications of the resolution are that the faculty endorses the working group’s report. Changes to the language diminish the goal of the resolution.

Secretary Ferrell asked those who favor the amendment to the language of the resolution to stand. Twenty-five faculty members stood to vote in favor of amending the language. Twenty-two faculty stood to oppose the amendment. The amendment was adopted.

Secretary Ferrell asked for a vote on the amended resolution. The resolution as amended was adopted.

Resolution 2016-6. On Undergraduate Academic Eligibility

Professor Jennifer Coble (Biology), chair of the Educational Policy Committee, presented Resolution 2016-6. She explained that the resolution would align the student academic eligibility policy with the current financial aid policy. The Educational Policy Committee supports a revision for transfer students to be allowed an additional semester of eligibility without the student to have to go through an appeal process. She explained that the current policy has the potential to burden transfer students who already face obstacle to completion.

Professor Sherry Salyer (Exercise and Sports Science) noted that transfer students from community colleges face a steep learning curve, and this resolution would help them. She encouraged the faculty to support the resolution.

The resolution was unanimously adopted.

Adjournment

Having completed its business, the Faculty Council adjourned at 4:59 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathryn Turner
Faculty Programs Specialist

Joseph S. Ferrell
Secretary of the Faculty

Storify Summary of Tweets Covering Council Meeting

We’ve published a “Storify” summary of the (mostly) live-tweets covering the February 19, 2016 Council meeting.  Check it out for a minute-by-minute overview of what transpired.