April 1, 2011

Faculty Governance News

vol. 5.6
April 1, 2011

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

Boxill, Steponaitis are candidates for Chair of the Faculty; elections are April 13-22, 2011

Faculty members will vote in April to choose a new Chair of the Faculty to succeed current Chair McKay Coble, who will step down June 30. Two longtime faculty members, Jan Boxill (Philosophy) and Vin Steponaitis (Anthropology), have agreed to run for this visible faculty leadership post.

The University Gazette this week ran profiles of both candidates, along with a Q&A in which they each discussed their vision and preparation for the role of Faculty Chair. You can read the fully story at: http://gazette.unc.edu/file.2.html

The faculty elections will be held April 13-22, 2011 via electronic ballot emailed to all members of the Voting Faculty.

Office of Faculty Governance invites you to meet the candidates in the 2011 Faculty Elections, April 7, 3:00 pm at Campus Y

Faculty elections season is now in full swing, and with our ballot nearly complete, our office invites all faculty to join us for the 2011 Candidate Meet and Greet on Thursday, April 7^th, 2011 from 3:00-4:30 pm in the Anne Queen Room in the Campus Y building!

Drop in for some light refreshments, informal chatting with our candidates (including the candidates for Chair of the Faculty), and a chance to pick up a copy of your Voter Information Guide. If you have any questions, contact Kathryn Turner in the Office of Faculty Governance at Katie_turner@unc.edu. We look forward to seeing you!

Faculty members asked to complete brief Sakai survey in which you choose when to migrate!

You are invited to complete a brief five-question survey intended to help the university plan for the switch from Blackboard to Sakai. The survey will ask you to identify your preferred: (1) semester to begin teaching using Sakai and (2) method to learn to use Sakai. For more information and a link to the survey, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/prefs. If you are unable to log in, please submit a help request (choose “Sakai Support”) or call 962-HELP to be added.

The survey closes April 11, 2011.

Final draft of the 2011 Academic Plan online; calls faculty the “irreducible ingredient for transformative student experiences”

The Provost’s Office has released a final draft version of The Academic Plan 2011: Reach Carolina. The Plan outlines the challenges, opportunities, and recommendations for the university over the next ten years. Its Executive Summary notes that “the irreducible ingredient for transformative student experiences is our faculty. Carolina must make strategic investment in faculty a priority.” Read more at the link above.

AAUP President to speak at Duke, April 8^th

Cary Nelson, president of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) will give a free public lecture, “How to Save the University, “ on Friday, April 8, 2011 at 7pm in Richard White Lecture Hall at Duke University. The talk, which is part of the statewide annual meeting of the North Carolina State Conference of the AAUP, will address what we can do individually and collectively to save higher education. These steps involve reforming the campus, making common cause with all faculty, staff, and students — and increasing strategic public outreach. Open to the public; wine and hors d’oeuvres reception to follow. Sponsored by the North Carolina Conference of the AAUP (http://www.nc-aaup.org).

Call for Proposals: IAH Innovation Fund Deadline, April 8

The Institute for the Arts and Humanities (IAH), in partnership with the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development and with support from the Hyde Family Foundations, announces the IAH Innovation Fund, a $100,000 fund for research and creative activities in the arts and humanities.

The Innovation Fund exists to support faculty work that falls within the broad outlines of the roadmap for innovation at UNC. It supports projects that venture beyond traditional practices in arts and humanities research and teaching. The IAH encourages projects, collaborative or individual, from faculty across the University as long as the work is within the presented guidelines.

All UNC fixed term, tenure-track and tenured faculty are eligible to apply as individuals or in collaboration with other faculty, staff, students, community partners and/or professionals as long as the work has relevance to arts and humanities teaching and/or practice. While each project must be led by a UNC faculty member, the team may include members who are not affiliated with UNC. The IAH encourages faculty applying for proposals to collaborate across and beyond campus.

Full information is available at http://iah.unc.edu/innovation/cfp. Deadline: April 8, 2011, and winners will be notified by May 20, 2011.

Upcoming Trainings:

Virtual Technology Training (Elluminate, Chat, Phone, etc.)

Would you like help with websites, blackboard, Sakai, Word, Powerpoint, or some other software? Every Wednesday from 1-4 pm, OASIS offers Virtual Instructional Technology Training! Learn more: http://oasis.unc.edu/get-help/

Sakai Informational Meetings

Monday, April 4, 10am, Peabody Hall 08; Monday, April 18, 1:00 pm, Toy Lounge, Dey Hall

These session will give a brief overview of Sakai, present the migration timeline and support processes and invite questions, suggestions and ideas. To learn more about this and upcoming information sessions, please visit http://sakai.unc.edu/.

Faculty Governance reading room

Articles, books, reports, or other resources of interest to faculty. This week’s selections:

“Gains, Drawbacks, for Female Professors” (New York Times, 21 March 2011). Article discusses new “Report on the Status of Women Faculty in the Schools of Science and Engineering at MIT, 2011” just released.
“’Academic Freedom’ Offers Little Protection Against New Efforts to Obtain Professors’ E-Mails” (Chronicle of Higher Education, 29 March 2011). Article discusses issues emerging from recent efforts by conservative-leaning groups to obtain emails of Michigan and Wisconsin public-university faculty members, including the President of the American Historical Association, William Cronon.

About Faculty Governance News

The Faculty Governance News is published approximately every two weeks throughout the academic year, and approximately monthly during the summer, by the Office of Faculty Governance. Information to be considered for inclusion should be sent to Anne Whisnant (anne_whisnant@unc.edu) on Monday before an issue is scheduled to appear.