December 10, 2009
Faculty Governance News
vol. 4.7
December 10, 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 meets Friday; panel discussion will focus on globalization at UNC
The Faculty Council will meet this Friday, December 11 2009, at 3:00 p.m. in the Hitchcock Multipurpose Room at the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History. The annual reports of the Faculty Executive Committee and the Committee on Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure will be presented. The day’s main activity will be a practical, solutions-based discussion of global iniatives at UNC, with an emphasis on how faculty and students can get involved. The full agenda is online here. All faculty are invited to attend.
Dean Karen Gil clarifies policies on fixed-term faculty appointments and contract renewals in the College
College of Arts & Sciences Dean Karen Gil yesterday issued a new memo to department and curriculum chairs in the College revising and clarifying guidelines for appointment and renewal of fixed-term faculty members during this year of further budget constraints. While it limits new appointments for lecturers paid from the state instructional budget only to one year, the new memo permits longer new appointments for lecturers and other equivalent ranks paid from other sources, longer new appointments for senior lecturers paid from any source, and longer reappointmentcontracts for all lecturers (including senior and equivalents) paid from any source.
This new memo supersedes a memo issued on November 20 that had limited reappointment of all lecturers (except senior lecturers) to one year. This statement had caused considerable concern among the College’s fixed-term faculty, who feared that it was a step backward at a moment with a College committee on fixed-term faculty is now working to establish a policy detailing more attractive and predictable conditions of employment.
Faculty invited to participate in December commencement, December 20
The midyear commencement ceremonies will be held on Sunday, December 20, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. at the Dean E. Smith Center. The conferral of degrees is the culmination of years of investment by everyone associated with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Faculty are invited you to participate in the faculty procession with or without regalia. Faculty members will assemble at 1:30 p.m. in the Press Room of the Smith Center. Use Entry D and take the elevator down to the main floor. Marshals will direct you to the room. Parking is available in the Koury Lot adjacent to the Smith Center. Full details are online at http://www.unc.edu/commencement/. If you have questions, please contact Jane Smith at jane_smith@unc.edu.
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.
Dialogue on Engagement: The Academic Plan will be held January 8
The fourth annual Campus Dialogue on Engagement will be held Friday, January 8, 2010 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon at the Friday Center. The campus is in the process of developing a new Academic Plan, and this year’s Dialogue will focus on engagement and engaged scholarship as related to that planning. Interim Provost Bruce Carney and members of the Academic Plan committee will join the discussion. Faculty, staff, students and community representatives are invited to attend. Please rsvp to ccps@unc.edu by Wednesday, December 30.
FAQ of the Week: Who addresses changes that may be needed in the Faculty Code?
Like any constitution or set of organizational bylaws, the Faculty Code is (and needs to be) a living document, evolving over the years since its creation in 1947 as “Faculty Legislation.” Standing committees, for instance, have come and gone, and the method for choosing members of both Faculty Council and many of the standing committees has changed. As late as 1999, a standing “Committee on Established Lecturers” was appointed by the chancellor to conduct a series of “named lectureships on topics of campus-wide interest and concern,” but by 2004, this committee had been eliminated.
Who watches over the Faculty Code, considers how and whether it needs to be changed, and makes recommendations to the General Faculty about Code revisions? These duties are handled by the appointed Committee on University Government, which, the Code notes, “is concerned with the continuing development, adaptation, and interpretation of The Faculty Code of University Government.” The Code further notes that the Committee, currently chaired by Prof. Vin Steponaitis (Anthropology), should be “especially concerned with maintaining internal forms and procedures of academic administration which reflect principles of democracy and equity, vision and adaptability, and quality and responsibility, toward achieving the intellectual aims of the University.”
Lofty aims indeed for a committee with a fairly bland name!
Association for Women Faculty and Professionals invites faculty to holiday social gathering, Thursday, December 10 at Carolina Inn
The UNC Association for Women Faculty and Professionals will hold its annual holiday social on Thursday, 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!
Black Faculty-Staff Caucus to hold workshop on “Teaching the Millenium Generation: What Faculty Should Know,” December 10
The Black Faculty-Staff Caucus invites all faculty to a presentation on “Teaching the Millenium Generation: What Faculty Should Know” by Dean Winston Crisp, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. The event will take place on Thursday, December 10, from 12:00 to 1:00 pm in Toy Lounge in Dey Hall.
Old Blackboard sites scheduled for deletion
In mid-December, as part of the yearly maintenance of the UNC-Chapel Hill Blackboard system, faculty will be sent a URL and asked to review the list of their Blackboard courses which have been targeted for deletion. Faculty will have until the end of January to review the list of their courses to be deleted and request deletion exceptions. If you have any questions about this process, please contact bbdelete@unc.edu.
Faculty Governance Reading Room
Articles, books, or other resources of interest to faculty. This week’s selection:
- UNC Global: Comprehensive website of information about global education iniatives, programs, and resources at Carolina. Check it out!
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.
