Vernon-Feagans, Lynne

UNC Service

I joined the faculty at UNC in 2001 as the William C. Friday distinguished professor in the School of Education. At that time, the position included being head of the doctoral program in Early Childhood, Family, and Literacy. I held that position until 2012. During that time, I was also on the UNC Faculty Council as a representative from our School of Education. In 2016, with the termination of our undergraduate program in teacher education, I spearheaded and was head of a new undergraduate major, called Human Development and Family Studies. This major became an instant success with 120 majors in the first two years. I was also head of many search committees over the years, including the head of the recent search for the director of the FPG Child Development Institute.

Candidate Statement

As a UNC Faculty Council Representative and a member of the Retired Faculty Association (RFA) I would hope to elevate the visibility of UNC retired and emerita/us faculty as well as represent the views of the RFA to the larger UNC community. Retired Faculty have enormous expertise that is often not recognized by departments and other units on the UNC campus. I would hope to help develop with the RFA university wide policies that could promote the unique expertise of retired and emeritus/a faculty that could help enhance the mission of UNC. It is important for UNC to recognize the contributions of retired faculty, and also allow them opportunities to engage in activities such as mentoring junior faculty, helping with guest lectures and helping to promote the scholarly interests of both undergraduate and graduate students. As a member of the Faculty Council, I would hope to highlight many of the accomplishments of retired faculty so we are better integrated into the many activities at UNC.