Faculty Assembly
University of North Carolina
Minutes of the One Hundred and Third Meeting
November 21, 1997
First Plenary Session
The one hundred and third meeting of the Faculty Assembly for the University
of North Carolina was held in the Board Room of the General Assembly Building in
Chapel Hill on November 21, 1997. The meeting was called to order by Chair Laura
Gasaway at 1:08 p.m., with 36 delegates in attendance.
The minutes of the September 19, 1997 meeting of the Faculty Assembly as
posted on the Web Site were approved.
Chair's Report
Since the September meeting of the Assembly, the Faculty Website has been
expanded considerably. Minutes and agendas are distributed to delegates only
through the Website. The listserv is up and functioning, and problems seem to
have been corrected. Further, an Agenda Issues page has been created to reflect
the major issues on which the Assembly is working and the committee responsible
for the issue. An Issues and Concerns page has been created so faculty members
and delegates may convey issues and concerns to the chair who will post them on
the Website. Paul Duvall continues to provide outstanding service to the
Assembly by maintaining our website.
The recommendations of the Ad Hoc committee on Faculty Assembly meetings have
been incorporated in the structure of today's agenda. The Executive Committee
will evaluate how this agenda format worked and structure future meetings
accordingly. The agenda may be affected by the president's schedule, however.
Chair Gasaway reported that she had been attending Board of Governors
meetings, committee meetings, dinners, etc., to represent the Assembly. She has
been appointed to the Inaugural Committee which is responsible for planning the
April inauguration of President Broad. Additionally, the chair's visits to
campus faculty senates began with a visit to UNCG. Several more are planned for
the spring.
The chair concluded her remarks with a summary of the data compiled from
biographical data from the Faculty Assembly Biographical Directory
which was distributed to the delegates.
New Business
There was no new business.
The First Plenary Session was adjourned at 1:24 p.m. and the members met for
committee sessions.
Second Plenary Session
The Second Plenary Session was called to order by Chair Gasaway at 3: 30 p.m.
in the Board Room of the General Administration Building. Chair Gasaway
introduced President Molly Broad to the Assembly.
President Broad's Report
President Broad addressed the Assembly on a number of matters, including
Board of Governors' issues, faculty effective teaching and service, Legislative
Study: Funding of Students in Degree Programs, upgrading equipment, and status
in enrollment. (A copy of President
Broad's remarks is attached).
Following President Broad's remarks, Chair Gasaway introduced Dr. Don
Caughill, Associate Vice-President of Finance, General Administration, who
provided a presentation on the Equity Funding Model Report. The presentation
examined the funding of enrollment across the system based on Special Provision,
HB 229 (1995). The factors considered in designing an Equitable Funding System
were: (1) size of the student body; (2) cost of programs (3) levels of the
student body (graduate undergraduate); (4) resources required to meet early
college needs of entering students; (5) other factors identified by the Board of
Governors; (6) funding on the basis of schools rather than full time
enrollments. Dr. Caughill then entertained questions from Assembly delegates.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 p.m. for committee dinner meetings.
Third Plenary Session
The Third Plenary Session was called to order at 6:43 p.m. by Chair Gasaway.
Executive Committee Report (Pamela Hunter, NCA&T,
Vice Chair)
The Executive Committee of the Faculty Assembly met at 9:00 a.m. in
Conference Room B, UNC-General Administration. The Committee was joined by Dr.
Roy Carroll, Vice-President for Academic Affairs at 10:30 a.m. and President
Molly Broad at 11:00 a.m.
The Executive Committee identified the following items for discussion at the
February Faculty Assembly meeting:
1). Annual invitation to Senate Chairs to visit with the Governance Committee
and other Committees to possibly address a concern for faculty serving on Board
of Trustees.
2). Inviting Board of Governors' Chairman, Clifford Cameron, to the February
or April meeting.
3). Post Tenure Review drafts due by February 19, 1998 with possible
implementation in April, 1998; the Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee was
assigned to serve as an oversight committee for documents prepared by various
campuses.
4). Chair Gasaway will be presenting to the committee formulated by General
Administration to address the need for a policy statement for the UNC System
relative to copyright, on December 10, 1997. She will express the concern for
faculty input in drafting the policy before it becomes a draft and offer her
expertise and suggest other individual resources who can provide additional
assistance.
5). President Broad was receptive to the concerns presented by the faculty
delegates of the Executive Committee. She expressed the need for continuous
dialogue with members of the Executive Committee. She will meet with the Chair
before the February meeting to address concerns and continue moving forward in
shared governance within this system.
6). Chair Gasaway received an invitation to present at the Board of Governors
meeting to address issues and concerns relative to faculty in the system.
7). President Broad's concern for the use of technology was to enhance
teaching and learning on the campuses. Faculty development summer workshops were
suggested as a means of assisting faculty in becoming comfortable with computers
in the delivery of instruction.
ELECTION OF NOMINATION COMMITTEE (Don Sexauer,
ECU)
Nominations for this committee must include two delegates from the Executive
Committee and three from the body. The potential candidates are: Pam Hunter,
NCA&T; Bruce Larson, UNCA (Executive Committee); Paul Duvall, UNCG; Steven
Lilly, NCSU; and Mary Ann Nixon, WCU (Assembly).
A motion to accept the slate as presented was carried. Chair Gasaway asked
Paul Duvall, UNCG, to convene for the Nomination Committee which will elect its
own chair.
Agenda Topics for February Meeting
Assembly delegates were asked to suggest topics for substantive discussion at
the February meeting. The group identified two (2) topics: (1) copyright; and
(2) report of the grievances.
STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS
Budget Committee (Bruce Larson, UNCA)
The Committee reviewed its agenda for the year and will begin the process of
updating the 1996-97 Faculty Involvement in the Budget Process Report. A request
for the information needed will soon be made to the Faculty Senate Chairs on all
campuses.
Ken Grogan, General Administration, met with the Committee to provide his
perspective of some recent developments with budgetary significance. In relation
to this he noted:
1). Projected enrollments for this year are about 1,000 greater than
previously thought, and that this should lead to some upward budgetary
adjustments.
2). The Board of Governors will hold a budget
workshop on January 9, 1998. The General Assembly will reconvene on May 11,
1998.
3). Regional budget workshops will take place in March and April at times and
places to be made known later.
4). Mr. Grogan also reviewed the Board of Governors Schedule of Priorities
for 1997-99, especially those for 1998-99. In light of this, the Committee
drafted a resolution, which was distributed to the Assembly for discussion.
5). The next meeting agenda will include the following:
a. Revised Faculty Involvement in the Budget Process Report;
b. Report on the Board of Governors Budget Workshop; and
c. Information on the capitol improvement budget, equity funding, and the
ongoing tuition study
The Committee submitted a resolution to increase funding and support of
teaching and learning. The resolution was adopted. (See
RESOLUTION 97-1)
Planning & Programs (Dan Caton, ASU)
The Committee heard the following reports from General Administration
representatives:
1). Judith Pulley, Vice President for Planning, reported on current
enrollments.
2). Jim Sadler,Assistant Vice President for Planning, reported on ten year
projections; predicting more than 40,000 new students over the next decade.
3). Henry Holmes, Associate Vice President for Finance, reported on the
status of outsourcing studies. He added that some institutions have done
extensive studies, and some are lagging behind. The reviews must take into
account the loss of benefits to staff who move to private jobs as a result of
outsourcing.
There was further discussion on distance learning and summer programs. With a
concern that the System has nine (9) month faculty at twelve (12) month schools,
the Committee asked the Welfare Committee to look at the effects of this trend.
There was also concern that distance learning courses are being taught as an
overload, with no credit counted toward faculty teaching load.
Old business, Resolution on Quality. Gary Barnes, Vice President for
Program Assessment, will be invited to the next meeting to report on the status
of two related studies, the new assessment plan and performance based budgeting,
to see how these include quantitative measurements of quality.
The Committee concluded with a discussion of the problem that resolutions
tend to boil down complex issues into a simple statement that does not carry the
feelings of the Committee. It was suggested that 'white papers' be generated on
some topics, to bring to the intended audience a better feeling of the issues.
Faculty Governance (Ken Gurganus, UNCW)
The Committee continued its discussion and review of the Faculty Assembly
by-laws. A preliminary report is scheduled for the February Assembly meeting;
the Committee will complete the report a month before the April meeting. Further
discussion included the Senate Chair visit in February and two items of concern:
(1) the perception that there is a dramatic increase in grievances; looking at
the grievance process with the question in mind that the execution of current
procedures are consistent with the Code; and (2) the computer use policy (Model
Computer Use Policy). On the issue of purging computer files, Chair Gasaway
added that as long as files of electronic mail are kept by the campus
Information Technology people, faculty may purge their own files because it is
being saved somewhere on the campus unless a campus policy dictates otherwise.
The Committee submitted a resolution on faculty rewards and salaries. The
resolution was adopted. (See
RESOLUTION 97-2)
Academic Freedom and Tenure (Don Sexauer, ECU)
The Committee discussed the draft guidelines for the use of copyrighted works
being developed by system legal staff. On Chair Gasaway's recommendation, the
Committee decided not to proceed with a resolution, awaiting the outcome of her
December 10th meeting with the attorneys and her interactions with President
Broad.
The implications of part-time and non-tenure track faculty for academic
freedom and tenure will continue at the next Assembly meeting in February. Other
issues discussed included AAUP guidelines and Post-Tenure Review policies on
other campuses.
The Committee decided that the university calendar change should be addressed
by one of the committees and suggested this assignment be discussed by the
Executive Committee.
Professional Development (Mike Pearson, UNCC)
The Professional Development Committee focused on two issues. First, the
current situation confronting ICUT (Institute on College & University
Teaching). Judith Stillion, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, and
the first Director of ICUT in the late 1980s, reported the funding crisis at
ICUT. Supported in cooperation with Western Carolina University, this program
was oriented toward supporting various teaching initiatives, including the
Carolina Colloquy. At present, ICUT is without funds. The Committee discussed
how the Assembly might respond to this situation. A resolution was prepared and
presented. After a lengthy discussion, Chair Gasaway suggested that instead of a
resolution, the Assembly simply direct her to write a letter to the President
expressing these concerns and asking her to convene a group to address this
issue. The motion carried.
The second issue involved a survey of campuses on the types and scope of
Administrator Review. A summary of this report will be given at the April
meeting.
Faculty Welfare Committee (William Siegfried, UNCC)
The Faculty Welfare Committee addressed several issues. Kitty McCollum,
Assistant Vice President for Finance, asked the members to react to a plan that
would add a fourth option to the Optional Retirement Plan. Working with a
benefits consultant, the General Administration will solicit bids by mutual fund
companies to make a portfolio of funds available in addition to TIAA/CREF,
Lincoln Life and Valic. The Committee supported the idea. After bids have been
received, a committee will be formed that will include a member of the Faculty
Welfare Committee. Fred Eckel, UNCCH, was selected to be the representative to
that group.
A discussion among members revealed that some faculty were getting regular
updates about the performance of the various options in the Optional Retirement
Plan but that some were not. Ms. McCollum asked that faculty be reminded on our
campuses that comparative performance information is regularly placed on the
General Administration website at http://www.NorthCarolina.edu/hr/benefits/benefits.cfm.
Ms. McCollum will also supply a copy of a matrix she developed a couple of years
ago, that shows all of the available benefits. It will be placed on the Faculty
Welfare Committee webpage.
The Issues and Concerns section on the Faculty Assembly Webpage had several
issues relative to faculty welfare.
a) One is the adequacy of the state health plan. The Committee asked Kitty
McCollum to provide information comparing our health plan with those in other
states.
b) A second issue asked what the different campuses proposed as their phased
retirement plan. Kitty McCollum will be asked to provide information that might
be used to produce a matrix showing how key decisions are addressed on each
campus.
c) A third issue was whether more might be done for retired faculty while
recognizing that their continued involvement also benefit the University. Keith
Howell will work on this issue and lead discussion at the next meeting.
Finally, following up on an agenda item from the last meeting, the Committee
received a copy of the new Faculty Workload Policy adopted at ECU. Lou Everett
(ECU) will contact the other campuses to see if similar university-wide workload
policies exist.
Old Business
There was no old business.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Maceo C. Smith