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Spring Meeting of the Faculty Council and the General Faculty on April 8
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The spring semester joint meeting of the Faculty Council and the General Faculty is taking place remotely on Friday, April 8 from 3 to 5 p.m.
Members of the voting faculty who wish to attend on Zoom can register at this link. Registration closes at 12 p.m. on the meeting day. In addition, the meeting will be streamed live at this link.
Please contact Faculty Governance if you need assistance or have questions.
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Award Nomination Deadline |
2021-22 Faculty Council dates |
September 3
October 1
November 5 (with General Faculty)
December 3
January 14
February 11
March 11
April 8 (with General Faculty)
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In addition to updates from the chair of the faculty, chancellor and provost, the meeting will cover these topics:
- Remembrance of faculty colleagues
- All funds budget update
- Joint resolution of the Status of Women, Welfare and Fixed-Term committees on salary equity
- Resolution regarding emeritus status of retired faculty
- Committee annual reports
- Ceremonial resolution
A preliminary meeting agenda is available online.
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Faculty Election to be held from April 7-19 |
All members of the voting faculty will receive an individualized ballot for the 2022 UNC-Chapel Hill Faculty Election via email on April 7. Learn about the candidates in this year's voter guide.
The annual election is a way for faculty to influence policy on issues related to the University’s core research, teaching and service missions. Committees that are vital to the advancement and support of faculty are on the ballot, including the Committee on Appointments, Promotions and Tenure; the Faculty Grievance Committee; and the Educational Policy Committee.
Please remember to vote!
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Nominations for the Jefferson Award requested |
The Honorary Degrees and Special Awards Committee invites faculty to nominate colleagues for the 2022 Thomas Jefferson Award. Established in 1961, this award is given annually to a faculty member who embodies the ideals that Thomas Jefferson is best appreciated for: the promotion of freedom, tolerance and education. Any active member of the faculty is eligible, including those participating in the phased-retirement program. The nomination period has been extended. Please consider a worthy candidate and submit a nomination by midnight on Tuesday, April 12.
The committee acknowledges the complicated history and legacy of Thomas Jefferson, but still hopes that faculty will nominate colleagues who are deserving of recognition.
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Fixed-Term Faculty Committee News |
Happy Spring, Fixed-Term Faculty!
Here is a brief update from the Fixed-Term Faculty Committee.
We continue to work on the salary compression study and have requested additional data. We also started consolidating our efforts with other university committees that are focused on salary issues. Notably, the Committee on the Status of Women recently presented their findings during the March 11 Faculty Council meeting. Here are links to their presentation and report.
Thank you again for your feedback on the Fixed-Term faculty guidelines. We continue to edit the document and crosswalk it with other relevant documents.
Lastly, there are a number of schools and departments that are conducting searches for leadership positions. We strongly encourage you to be involved in the process and bring forward the issues that are important to fixed-term faculty.
Please do contact us with any questions or concerns you may have: FixedTermFaculty@unc.edu
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UNC System Employee Engagement Survey |
The UNC System's third Employee Engagement Survey opened on March 28; previous surveys were administered in 2018 and 2020. This is a significant opportunity for your voices to be heard on various workplace issues.
The anonymous survey results will help identify important employment trends and issues across the UNC System. The System Office needs feedback about what is working well, where they need to improve and what they can do better to best support you and your work on behalf of the University’s mission.
All permanent full-time faculty and staff received an email from ModernThink, the vendor administering this survey. The email contains a unique login and password for each individual. The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete. It is confidential, so your response will not be linked to your name.
The deadline to complete the survey is April 11, 2022.
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Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) is a nationally recognized campaign in April that raises awareness about sexual assault, educates people about prevention strategies, and connects people to resources. At Carolina, both on campus and community organizations come together to collaborate on events, share information, and offer support to survivors/victims and the greater campus community. The calendar of events can be found here. |
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Pride Week at Carolina is a partnership between the UNC LGBTQ Center, student organizations, University departments, and community organizations to host events that center themes of history, inclusion, intersectionality, expression, and advocacy within Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, and Asexual (LGBTIQA+) communities.
This year's theme is “Imagine Liberation,” and was inspired by Afrofuturism. One definition of Afrofuturism comes from Ytasha Womack, in which she defines Afrofuturism as “an intersection of imagination, technology, the future, and liberation.” While we have all been impacted by the heaviness of the events of the current moment and the previous year, we want to call forward visions and imaginings of what our collective liberation might look, sound, and be like.
The full list of events can be found here.
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Student Learning to Advance Truth and Equity 2022-23 Faculty Teaching Fellowships |
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Building on the work of 2019’s Reckoning initiative, the Institute of African American Research launched a new program in 2020: Student Learning to Advance Truth and Equity (SLATE). Engaging multiple pathways for undergraduate learning, the program aims to engage students in a critical understanding of race, racism, and racial equity, especially as these relate to the lives of people of African descent worldwide. We invite faculty to apply to have their courses included in SLATE’s shared learning component in which courses designated as part of SLATE will include activities in common that reflect the program’s topical focus.
SLATE Teaching Fellows commit to including three readings and three events on their syllabi that are shared across all SLATE courses. Along with their students, faculty will join in cross-course conversations concerning race, racism, and racial equity.
Faculty will participate in a diverse, interdisciplinary community of UNC scholars from across the campus who are committed to the study of, as well as teaching and learning about, race.
SLATE’s Teaching Fellows will be eligible to apply for a limited number of course development grants specific to the program. Pending budget approval, SLATE Teaching Fellows will receive a small stipend to support their efforts.
Faculty who hold tenured, tenure track, and fixed term (e.g., adjunct and research teaching professors) appointments across the University and whose undergraduate courses for Fall 2022 or Spring 2023 address race, racism, and racial equity, especially as they relate to the experiences of people of African descent, are eligible to apply. The SLATE Teaching Fellow application is included as a Qualtrics survey link found below. Applicants will be asked to provide basic information about themselves and the proposed course(s) as well as brief responses to questions about the factors motivating their desire to participate in SLATE and how the course in question engages with the core themes of SLATE.
Survey link: SLATE Teaching Faculty 2022-2023
Applications are due on April 8, 2022; review of applications will begin April 11, 2022 and continue until the available spaces have been filled.
Questions may be addressed to Anna Agbe-Davies, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Anthropology, and Faculty Director of Teaching for SLATE at agbe-davies@unc.edu.
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Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, in partnership with UNC students and faculty, will once again celebrate science with our community as a part of the North Carolina Science Festival.
Universe Week showcases the best of UNC science, provides the public with a behind-the-scenes look at a major research university, and promotes STEM as a vital part of our culture—all in a fun and engaging way!
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Daily events will be held from April 2-9 that celebrate the science and scientists from UNC-Chapel Hill! The UNC Science Expo will be held April 9 from 11am-4pm. It is an annual opportunity for students and faculty to share their research with families in a fun, festival atmosphere. |
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In February, UNC-Chapel Hill launched the Heels Care Network website at care.unc.edu. The site serves as a hub for mental health and well-being resources available to all Carolina students, staff and faculty, including links to 24/7 support and suicide prevention resources. It also features a live chat and a link to an anonymous care referral form for anyone to report concerns they have for a student. |
The University Libraries has partnered with The Washington Post to provide students, faculty, and staff with access to https://www.washingtonpost.com/, a source for expert reporting and analysis from Washington and around the world, including award-winning investigative coverage and editorial commentary. Coverage includes the past 15 years of content.
Accessing The Washington Post
The Washington Post Historical Newspaper offers hundreds of thousands of pages of full-text and full-image newspaper articles covering the entire publishing history of the newspaper from 1877 to 1990. Researchers and students can use the images to find not only news, editorials, letters to the editor, obituaries, and birth and marriage announcements, but also historical photos, stock photos, and advertisements.
For questions about these subscriptions or to receive notifications of special subscriber events from The Washington Post, contact Suchi Mohanty, head of the R.B. House Undergraduate Library, at smohanty@unc.edu.
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The Carolina Data Science Now seminar series will be returning on May 26. The theme of the event will be announced in the coming weeks. If you are interested in presenting your work at a future event, visit the website where you can also review blogs and videos from past events, learn about data science news and events from around Carolina. |
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Spring Commencement will be held Sunday, May 8 at 9 a.m. in Kenan Stadium. The ceremony will also be livestreamed on several platforms for virtual participation or viewing. The commencement speaker is New York Times opinion writer, acclaimed author and Carolina alumnus Frank Bruni Jr. |
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March Faculty Council meeting highlights |
The Faculty Council met remotely on March 11, 2022. A recording of the meeting is available online.
Executive Vice Provost Ronald Strauss (Dentistry) gave a COVID-19 update. On March 7, 2022, the indoor mask requirement was lifted for most of the campus. Masks are optional in classrooms, residence halls, offices, libraries, athletic venues and performance halls. Masking continues to be required in all health care settings, Chapel Hill Transit and University transit. The Carolina Testing Together Program is no longer accepting appointments; all tests are walk-in only. All testing is located at the Frank Porter Graham Student Union. Regular testing times are Mondays and Fridays from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. and Wednesdays from 7 a.m.-2 p.m. The testing center is closed on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer Leah Cox gave an update on the programs of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and an overview of the University Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Council. The office offers Project Uplift, Uplift Plus and Intergroup Dialogue. The DEI Council works closely with the Chief Diversity Officer to implement Carolina’s DEI action plan and to promote knowledge, skills and best practices.
Professor Misha Becker (Linguistics), committee chair, presented the Committee on the Status of Women's annual report and provided an overview of salary equity issues at the University. Over the past many years, the committee has focused its efforts on salary equity at the University. The Office of Institutional Research and Assessment has conducted five salary studies and the committee conducted a study of its own in 2019. These studies revealed that male faculty, on average, earn more than female faculty and that white faculty, on average, earn more than faculty who are African American, Latinx, Native American, or identify as belonging to another racial category.
Professor Timothy Ives (Pharmacy), chair of the UNC System Faculty Assembly, gave an overview of the Assembly's recent activities. The Faculty Assembly was established in 1972 at the request of then UNC President William Friday. It is an elected body of faculty representatives from the 17 campuses of the UNC System.
Reports presented at the meeting are available at this link.
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Additional Events and Announcements
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Upcoming faculty governance committee meetings
Please consult our online calendar for updates, meeting times, and locations. All meetings are open to everyone, including members of the public, unless held in closed session in accordance with state open meeting regulations. Meetings may be added and are subject to change on short notice.
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April 4
April 5
April 6
April 8
April 11
April 13
April 14
April 18
April 21
April 22
April 25
May 2
May 4
May 12
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Committee on University Government
Faculty Executive Committee
Faculty Research Committee
Committee on Appointments, Promotions and Tenure
Meeting of the Faculty Council and General Faculty
Committee on Community and Diversity
Faculty Welfare Committee
Faculty Athletics Committee
Committee on Fixed-Term Faculty
Buildings and Grounds Committee
Committee on the Status of Women
Honorary Degrees and Special Awards Committee
Faculty Executive Committee
Advisory Committee
Faculty Assembly Delegation
Educational Policy Committee
Administrative Board of the Library
Faculty Information Technology Advisory Committee
Committee on University Government
Faculty Athletics Committee
Committee on Appointments, Promotions and Tenure
Administrative Board of the Library
Buildings and Grounds Committee
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