September 3, 2004 - Faculty Governance

Meeting of the General Faculty and Faculty Council

Friday, September 3rd 2004 at 3:00 p.m.
(Orientation for New Council Members begins at 2:30)

The Pleasants Family Assembly Room in Wilson Library

Chancellor James Moeser and Professor Judith Wegner, Chair of the Faculty, will preside.

Agenda

2:30 Orientation for New Council Members (Joseph Ferrell, Secretary of the Faculty).

3:00 General Faculty and Faculty Council Convene.

Introductory Remarks; Questions and Comments from the Floor.

Remarks by the Chancellor; Recognition of Hettleman Award Winners.
Remarks by Provost Robert Shelton.
Remarks by the Chair of the Faculty; Introduction of Student Government Leaders.
Announcements by the Secretary of the Faculty: Election Results.

3:40 Faculty Forum on Achieving Excellence: Strategic Planning and Assessment.

Dr. Gretchen Bataille, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, UNC General Administration.
Robert Shelton, Provost: Excellence and the Academic Plan.
Panel: Accreditation and Engaged Assessment.

Professor and Senior Associate Dean Bobbi Owen, SACS Quality Enhancement.
Dr. Lynn Williford, Assistant Provost & Director, Institutional Research.

5:00 Adjourn.

Joseph S. Ferrell

Secretary of the Faculty

Minutes

The General Faculty and Faculty Council of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill convened at 3:00 p.m.in the Pleasants Family Assembly Room of the Wilson Library. The following 55 members of the Council attended: Alperin, Ammerman, Arnold, Bachenheimer, Bennett, Blocher, Cairns, Cantwell, Chapman, Dalton, Degener, Eble, Frampton, Gerber, Gollop, Granger, Gulledge, Heenan, Holmgren, Howell, Jonas, Leigh, Leonard, Lin, MacLean, Matthysse, Mesibov, Miguel, Morris-Natschke, Morton, Pardun, Perrin, Pittman, Porto, Renner, Rippe, Rock, Rogers, Salmon, Sandelowski, Sawin, Smith, Sulik, Sutherland, Tauchen, Taylor, Tiwana, Tobin, Toews, Trotman, Vandermeer, Wallace, Weinberg, Wilson, and Yankaskas. The following 29 members were granted excused absences: Anton, Connolly, Conover, de Silva, Foley, Gasaway, Gitterman, Givre, Huber, Kagarise, Keagy, Klebanow, Kramer, Lastro, Martin, Matson, McIntosh, Miller, Muller, Nicholas, Reisner, Rustioni, Schoultz, Simpson, Slavick, Strom-Gottfried, Vick, and Whitsel. The following four members were absent without excuse: Booth, Cloud, Lohr, and Lin.

Chancellor Moeser praised the quality of the incoming freshman class, which has set another record for academic preparedness. There were over 19,000 applicants for a little over 3,500 slots (11,000 applicants were from out-of-state students). Three-quarters of those were in the top 10% of their high school class, and nearly 40% ranked between first and tenth overall in their classes. Two hundred and fifty of the entering freshmen are Carolina Covenant scholars. The Chancellor commented on a few snapshots of data emerging from recent national rankings of colleges and universities by U.S. News and World Report. Overall,Carolina ranked second among public institutions and ninth among all institutions in an accessibility ranking based on academic quality, net cost of attendance, and average student debt.

Chancellor Moeser presented the 2004 Philip and Ruth Hettleman Prizes for Artistic and Scholarly Achievement by Young Faculty. These prizes are awarded annually to recognize outstanding scholarly and artistic achievement by faculty members who have not yet achieved permanent tenure or have only recently done so. This year’s prizes were presented to Derek A. Goldman, Assistant Professor Communication Studies; Matthew R. Redinbo, Associate Professor of Chemistry; Nicola Terrenato, Assistant Professor of Classics, and Yi Zhang, Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics.

In the course of his remarks, Chancellor Moeser had taken note of Carolina’s U.S. News & World Report rankings in class size and had said that this has been one of the University’s priorities. Prof. Diane Leonard (Comparative Literature) expressed surprise at that observation, saying that in her program faculty are strongly encouraged to increase enrollment in their courses. In fact, she said, courses that do not meet enrollment targets set by the dean’s office are being dropped. The Chancellor replied that being able to offer small classes is considered a sign of quality in the undergraduate program. On the other hand, the College has limited faculty resources and must be careful to use those resources efficiently. The task of balancing the wide array of courses required by the curriculum is a major one.

Provost Robert Shelton reported on several topics:

A new faculty leave policy has been adopted and is accessible on the Office of the Provost website at http://www.unc.edu/provost/policies/faculty_leave_policy2004.doc. The policy breaks new ground in providing for paid parental leave and disability leave. All teaching faculty, including both nine-month and twelve-month faculty, will be allowed one full semester parental leave and up to 60 days paid disability leave. Administrators and non-teaching faculty will be allowed up to 15 weeks paid maternity leave as well as 60 days paid disability leave. In response to a question, the Provost said that the cost, if any, of these leaves will be absorbed by the department or school as there is no additional funding available for this purpose.
A Tuition Task Force will be active again this year. It includes members representing students, faculty, trustees, and the Office of the Provost.
During the fall semester, the Office of the Provost will hold a competition to name new holders of the Boshamer, Kenan, William Rand Kenan Jr., and Burton Craig professorships. Funds are available in the endowments to award up to ten new chairs. Nominees will be evaluated by a committee composed of current holders of these named chairs. The Provost urged the faculty to nominate colleagues who should be considered. The deadline for nominations is October 15.
Later this semester, the Provost will invite nominations for the Nan Keohane Distinguished Visiting Professorship who will hold a joint appointment at Carolina and Duke. A joint selection committee is being formed with the goal of selecting a recipient to begin work at both institutions in the spring semester 2005. It is anticipated that the recipient will be from outside both institutions. Members from Carolina are Professors Lars Schoultz(Political Science), Joy Kasson (American Studies) and James Leloudis (History).

Professor Judith Wegner, Chair of the Faculty, reviewed several areas of focus for the work of the Council in the coming year:

The University will be preparing for reaccredidation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Results of the survey on faculty retention undertaken last semester will be presented to the Council in October with the expectation that recommendations for addressing issues identified by the survey will be discussed by the Council in April.
A faculty convocation will be held soon to identify about 75 faculty members and librarians who will meet at the Friday Center January 27-28 to develop an action plan addressing issues related to access to scholarly publications in the digital age. This initiative stems from the ongoing difficulties being experienced in negotiations with Reid-Elsivier, the world’s largest publisher of scientific scholarly journals.
Vice Chancellor Dan Reed will visit the Council later this year to discuss changes inCarolina’s information technology structure and mission focus.
The Faculty Welfare Committee has been asked to focus on efforts to promote fitness and wellness as a means of slowing the escalation of health insurance costs.
Efforts to improve our climate for diversity and community will continue.
The Council will begin to address the question “what is the social compact between a great public research university and society at this time in history, and how might it be more clearly framed and understood both by the university community and the public at large?”
The Agenda Committee will be thinking about how the Council goes about its work and how it might be enabled to work more efficiently and effectively.

Professor Wegner asked members of the Council to indicate interest in working on one or more of these topics and distributed response forms for that purpose.

Professor Wegner introduced Matt Calabria, President of the Student Body, and Jen Bushman, President of the Graduate and Professional Students Federation. Each greeted the Council with brief remarks.

Professor Wegner introduced Dr. Gretchen M. Bataille, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs of The University of North Carolina. Dr. Bataille touched on a number of topics affecting the UNC System in particular and American higher education in general. Her remarks are attached to these Minutes and are posted on the web at http://www.unc.edu/faculty/faccoun/reports/Bataille09_03_04.htm.

Professor Wegner called on Provost Robert Shelton to speak on strategic planning in the context of implementation of the Academic Plan. Provost Shelton’s main points are summarized in a PowerPoint presentation attached to these minutes and posted on the web at http://www.unc.edu/faculty/faccoun/reports/aca_plan_prog-rpt.ppt.

Professor Wegner called on Prof. Bobbi Owen, Head of the Quality Enhancement Plan component of the upcoming SACS self-study, and Dr. Lynn Williford, Director of the Office of Institutional Research. Prof. Owen explained that the curriculum, international presence, and research experiences for undergraduates are the basis for the Quality Enhancement Plan. Dr. Williford presented a PowerPoint explaining how the SACS re-accreditation process offers opportunities to enhance quality at Carolina. These presentations are attached to these Minutes and are posted to the web at http://www.unc.edu/faculty/faccoun/reports/SACS_Process.ppt and http://www.unc.edu/faculty/faccoun/reports/Critical_Connections.htm.

Its business having been completed, the Council and General Faculty adjourned at5:15 p.m.

Joseph S. Ferrell Secretary of the Faculty