November 6, 2012

Faculty Governance News

Issue 7.3
November 6, 2012

From the Office of Faculty Governance
200-04 Carr Building, UNC-CH Campus Box 9170
Phone (919) 962-2146
Fax (919) 962-5479
Contact: Anne Whisnant

The Office of Faculty Governance publishes Faculty Governance News monthly. Send information to be considered for inclusion to Anne Whisnant on Monday before an issue is scheduled to appear. For immediate news, “Like” our page on Facebook or “Follow Us” on Twitter (@UNCFacGov).

Faculty Council to meet Friday, Nov. 9 from 3:00-5:00 pm

The Faculty Council will meet on Friday, November 9th at 3:00 pm in the Hitchcock Room at the Sonja Haynes Stone Center. Council members are welcome to come early at 2:30 pm for beverages and light snacks.  All faculty members are welcome at the meeting.

The agenda and all related materials (updated as we receive them) are online here.  The chancellor, provost, and chair of the faculty will all address the Council and respond to questions. Items on the agenda include an update on the UNC Advisory Committee on Strategic Directions from Prof. Rachel Willis, brief comments from Dr. Lynn Blanchard, the Director of the Carolina Center for Public Service, and a special report on faculty research data stewardship from Prof. Gary Marchionini. The Faculty Athletics Committee chair Prof Joy Renner, Athletics Director Mr. Bubba Cunningham, and Faculty Athletics Representative Prof. Lissa Broome will answer questions from council members regarding the committee’s annual report. We’ll be live-tweeting the meeting with the hashtag #FacCouncil from our account @UNCFacGov.

Faculty Advisory Council to UNC system strategic planning process appointed

UNC’s Faculty Council and the faculty senates at several other UNC system schools this fall passed resolutions calling for more faculty input into the recently appointed UNC Advisory Committee on Strategic Directions. In response to these calls, President Tom Ross has worked with the systemwide Faculty Assembly Chair, Professor Catherine Rigsby (ECU) to create a Faculty Advisory Council to provide a mechanism for academic input into the planning process.  Prof. Rachel Willis from our campus has been named to the Faculty Advisory Council.  See a recent post on our website for a complete roster and more information on the Faculty Advisory Council’s role.

Faculty forum on UNC system strategic plan set for Monday, November 12, 3:00-5:00 pm

The Faculty Council and Office of Faculty Governance are sponsoring a faculty forum on Monday, November 12 from 3:00-5:00 pm in the Anne Queen Faculty Commons in the Campus Y building.  All faculty are invited to hear an update on the UNC Advisory Committee on Strategic Directions from Prof. Rachel Willis and offer input to the Faculty Advisory Council. Refreshments will be provided. Registration requested in advance at http://tinyurl.com/coww5em. We look forward to seeing you there!

UNC system strategic plan faculty survey now open

If you can’t come to the November 12 faculty forum on the UNC system strategic plan, the Faculty Advisory Council to the plan invites you to respond to a brief electronic survey about the plan.  Please take time to provide some specific ideas the committee can use as it crafts faculty input for the planning process.  The survey is online here.

Chancellor search committee to hold forum for faculty on November 8, 3:30 pm

The chancellor search committee is sponsoring a forum for faculty on Thursday, November 8th from 3:30pm-5pm in Murray Hall (Lecture Hall G202). The forum will provide an opportunity for faculty to share ideas with members of the search committee about the qualities the University’s next chancellor should have.  Other forums will also be held for students, staff, and the public.  Details on all of them are here.

Faculty Chair and Chancellor seek departmental liaisons to Honor System

Last year, the Honor System Task Force discussed ways to strengthen the current Honor System, increase transparency, and encourage more faculty participation in the process. As a result of those conversations, Faculty Chair Jan Boxill and Chancellor Holden Thorp invite your participation in the new department liaison program being developed to help better inform faculty and students with questions about the Honor System. Chancellor Thorp and Prof. Boxill are asking deans and chairs in each professional school and department in the College of Arts and Sciences to identify at least one faculty member to serve as the official school/department liaison to the Honor System. Faculty members are asked to consider service as a department liaison by self-nominating to their department chairs or deans.

School/department liaisons will serve as informal consultants to faculty and students in their departments who have questions about the Honor System or need advice about bringing cases to the Honor Court. Training will be provided for all liaisons. The time commitment will vary depending on the needs of the school or department. Chairs who have identified liaisons for their school/department are asked to send names and email addresses to honor@unc.edu by December 1st.

Blackboard to shut down December 31, 2012

ITS reminds faculty that Blackboard will be shut down on December 31, 2012. After this date, Blackboard content will be inaccessible. Instructors who wish to preserve their uploaded course files should extract materials prior to the shutdown date. Find detailed instructions here.  Blackboard is being replaced by Sakai, an open source collaboration and learning environment. For more information, please contact Kim Eke at 919-445-9472 or email kim_eke@unc.edu.

Campus-Wide Events and Award Deadlines

Edward Kidder Graham Faculty Service Award nominations due December 1, 2012

The faculty’s Committee on Honorary Degrees and Special Awards invites your nominations for the Edward Kidder Graham Faculty Service Award to be presented at the October 12, 2013, University Day ceremony. This award recognizes outstanding service by a member of the Voting Faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The award calls to remembrance President Graham’s ambition to “to make the campus co‐extensive with the boundaries of the State,” in the context of the University’s modern mission to extend knowledge‐based service world‐wide.

Full information about this award, including criteria, eligibility, and the process for submitting a nomination is available at the Edward Kidder Graham page of the Faculty Governance website.If you have any questions, please contact Anne Whisnant in the Office of Faculty Governance at 919-962-1671 or anne_whisnant@unc.edu. The deadline for nominations this year is December 1, 2012.

O. Max Gardner Award systemwide faculty award nominations due December 1, 2012

The faculty’s Committee on Honorary Degrees and Special Awards invites your nominations for the UNC system-wide O. Max Gardner Award to be presented at the April 12, 2013 meeting of the Board of Governors. This award recognizes “that member of the faculty of the Consolidated University of North Carolina, who, during the current scholastic year, has made the greatest contribution to the welfare of the human race.”  Governor Gardner’s will, which created the award, defined “faculty” to be “all persons, including instructors, engaged in teaching in any unit, institution or branch of service of the Consolidated University of North Carolina.”

Full information about this award, including detailed criteria, eligibility, and the process for submitting a nomination is available at the O. Max Gardner Award page of the Faculty Governance website. The deadline for nominations this year is December 1, 2012.

AWFP event on “Who Needs Feminism?” November 7

The UNC Association for Women Faculty and Professionals invites you to hear Dr. Rachel Seidman speak about her project “Who Needs Feminism?” — a class project that has gained worldwide support, with more than 100,000 visits to its Tumblr blog and 17,000 Facebook page likes. The event will take place on November 7, 2012 from 3:30-4:30pm in Toy Lounge (Dey Hall). Please register at http://tinyurl.com/9y4ycph.

Diversity Education Seminar November 13 in Student Union auditorium

Faculty and Staff are encouraged to attend “Diversity in Higher Education: Inclusive Excellence in the Academy” on November 13, 2012.  The event, sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, will feature a plenary keynote address given by Dr. Patricia Gurin, Nancy Cantor Distinguished Professor Emerita of Psychology and Women’s Studies at the University of Michigan. Following Dr. Gurin’s lecture, panelists Dr. Jeffrey Milem, Dr. Thomas Nelson Laird, Dr. Abigail Panter, and Prof. Charles Daye will discuss the role of diversity in higher education. Starting at 2:00 p.m., two concurrent sessions will be held in Student Union Rooms 3408 and 3411: “Supporting Student Engagement from Multiple Angles” and “Leveraging Diversity in the Classroom.” Participants will have the opportunity to engage in one of these sessions with Dr. Jeff Milem of the University of Arizona or Dr. Thomas Nelson Laird of Indiana University. Register at http://go.unc.edu/So4i8.

Other Workshops and Events

• November 10th Faculty Tailgate: RSVP here 
• November 14: SafeZone Training
• November 15: Navigating the Tenure Process 
• December 6: Bringing Research to Scale: Celebrating 10 Years of Graduate Research Consultant Courses
• December 7: Engaged Scholarship in Promotion and Tenure Guidelines at UNC-CH

Faculty Governance in the News

Recent articles featuring Office of Faculty Governance staff, Faculty Council, and faculty committee work.

• “Bringing academic, athletic cultures together,” University Gazette, 10/16/2012.
• “Drop Period Could Be Shortened,” Daily Tar Heel, November 6, 2012.
• “Faculty Adopt New Guidelines for Course Syllabi,” University Gazette, 10/16/2012.

What We’re Reading

Articles, books, or other resources of interest to faculty.

Athletics

• “Drescher: The Who, What and Why on Our UNC Football Reporting,” Raleigh News & Observer, 10/19/2012.
• “Graduation Rates of Football and Men’s Basketball Players Reach New Highs,” Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/26/2012.

Governance

• “Building a Better Faculty Senate,” Inside Higher Ed, 10/29/2012.

Liberal Arts Education

• “Habits of Mind:  Lessons for the Long Term,” Chronicle of Higher Education, October 8, 2012.

• “Monday Numbers,” NC Policy Watch, October 29, 2012.
• “UNC Committee Continues to Debate Higher Ed’s Role in State,”  The Progressive Pulse, October 25, 2012.