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Faculty Governance News

vol. 4.5

November 4, 2009

From the UNC Office of Faculty Governance
200-204 Carr Building
UNC-CH Campus Box 9170
Contact:  Anne M. Whisnant (anne_whisnant@unc.edu)

Faculty Council and General Faculty meet Friday, November 6; new student course evaluation system will be demonstrated, minor Faculty Code amendment considered

The Faculty Council and General Faculty will meet this Friday, November 6, 2009, at 3:00 p.m. in the Hitchcock Multipurpose Room at the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History.  Dr. Lynn Williford, Assistant Provost for Institutional Research and Assessment, and Dr. Larry Mayes, Director of Assessment, Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, will demonstrate the new online course evaluation system being piloted this fall to replace the old “bubble sheet” system.  Additionally, a resolution making a minor revision to the Faculty Code will be considered on its second reading.  Because of the Code revision, this meeting is also a meeting of the General Faculty.  The full agenda is online here.  All faculty are invited to attend.

The minutes from the October 9 Faculty Council meeting are online here.

Nominations invited for 2011 Honorary Degrees; deadline is January 20, 2010

The faculty Committee on Honorary Degrees and Special Awards invites nominations for people to be considered for award of an honorary degree at commencement in the spring of 2011.  The deadline to submit a nomination is January 20, 2010.

Honorary degrees recognize people who have rendered outstanding service to humanity in the world arena, in our nation, in the American South, or in our state of North Carolina; people who have made outstanding contributions to knowledge in the world of scholarship; people whose talent and creativity in the world of the arts has enriched our lives; and people whose devotion to and support of our University merits our highest recognition.

Full information on how to make a nomination, along with a link to a list of past recipients, is here.

FAQ of the Week: Who presides over Faculty Council?

The answer may surprise you.  Article 2, Section 5 of the Faculty Code says that “Pursuant to § 502(D)(2) of The Code of the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina, the chancellor has the right to preside over the deliberations of the Faculty Council. The chair of the faculty presides upon the request of the chancellor.”

In practice, the chancellor generally calls each Faculty Council meeting to order, makes some introductory remarks, and then defers to the Chair of the Faculty to preside over the rest of the meeting.

Faculty coffee hour(s) at Campus Y’s Anne Queen Faculty Commons, daily 9:00-11:00 am — please come!

The Office of Faculty Governance is pleased to provide free coffee for faculty members and their guests daily from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. at the Campus Y’s Anne Queen Faculty Commons room.  The coffee hour has been growing in popularity of late — drop by and see who’s there!

Staff reductions in ITS Teaching and Learning appear to spell end for TL Infobits newsletter

Recently announced staff reductions in ITS’s Teaching and Learning Division will lead to the end in November of the long-running TL Infobits newsletter, which has covered higher education technology issues since 1993.  TL Infobits editor and ITS Academic Outreach Consultant Carolyn Kotlas announced in the newsletter’s October issue that her position has been eliminated.  The newsletter, a one-person operation conceived and written by Kotlas, circulates monthly to over 4600 subscribers at UNC and across the country.  Its demise was covered in a November 2 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

“Managing your reputation on the Internet” workshop, this Friday, November 6

Learn how the Internet has changed your ability to know and manage your professional reputation and what you can do about it on Friday, Nov. 6 by attending Professional Reputation Management at 9:30 a.m. in Toy Lounge, Dey Hall.  Jim Porto, director of the Executive Master’s Program and executive director of the Community Preparedness and Disaster Management Program in the Gillings School of Global Public Health will lead the discussion.  Sponsored by ITS Teaching and Learning and The Center for Faculty Excellence, the event is free but registration is required at https://www.abcsignup.com/reg/event_page.aspx?ek=0052-0006-5d03a55f7d104024b21a4721ea0edca7

ConnectCarolina town hall on Monday, Nov. 9, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m., Gerrard Hall

A town hall meeting will be held from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. on November 9th in Gerrard Hall to update members of the campus community on the implementation of “ConnectCarolina,” the new integrated administrative system designed to provide a consistent information environment across the University.  This system, formerly known as “ERP,” began being rolled out this fall for student information.  The town hall agenda includes the following components: 

  • Introduction: Dr. Bruce Carney
  • ConnectCarolina: An Integrated Solution — Larry Conrad
  • Student Systems — Bobbi Owen
  • Finance — Dick Mann
  • Human Resources — Brenda Malone
  • Reporting and Data Warehouse — Jerri Bland
  • Document Management — Jerri Bland
  • Change Management — Jerri Bland
  • Questions

Save the Date:  Association for Women Faculty and Professionals will hold holiday social gathering, December 10 at Carolina Inn

The UNC Association for Women Faculty and Professionals will hold its annual holiday social December 10th from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m in the North Parlor at the Carolina Inn.  Membership information will be available at the event.  This is a great opportunity to meet and network informally with professional women from all over campus.  Current members, past members, and anyone interested in exploring membership are invited to attend!

Faculty Governance Reading Room

Articles, books, or other resources of interest to faculty.  This week’s selections examine trends in university IT funding in the present economic climate and explore some of the most pressing issues in higher education technology that are being discussed at this week’s Educause conference in Denver:

About Faculty Governance News

The Faculty Governance News is published every two weeks throughout the academic year by the Office of Faculty Governance.  Archived issues and the publication schedule for 2009-10 are available online here.  Information to be considered for inclusion should be sent to Anne Whisnant (anne_whisnant@unc.edu) by Monday before an issue is scheduled to appear.

For more information on any of these items, please contact Anne Whisnant in the Office of Faculty Governance.