Faculty Assembly of the University of North Carolina

 119th Meeting
 16 February 2002

[Agenda]

I. First Plenary Session  10:30- noon.

Chair Veit called the meeting to order at 10:35 a.m. with 47 delegates present.

    Present: ASU: Gayle Weitz, Howard Neufeld, Hugh Hindman, Dave Domermuth; ECU:  Robert Morrison, Mary A. Glascoff (for Ferrell), Linda Allred, David Pravica, Ralph Scott; ECSU: Ali Khan, Barbara C. Solaro (for Wayman Parson); FSU: Enid Beverley Jones, Genniver Bell; NCA&T: Beryl C. McEwen, Aurelia Mazyck; NCCU: George Conklin, George Wilson, Jerry Schooler; NCSA: Norman Coates; NCSU: Frederick T. Corbin, Harriette O. Griffin, Richard H. Bernhard (for Philip B. Carter), Stephen C. Lilley, Paul Williams; UNCA: Donald Lisnerski, Duane H. Davis; UNCCH: Philip A. Bromberg, Barbara B. Moran, William W. Smith, A. Fleming Bell, II (for Holditch-Davis), Sue E. Estroff; UNCC: Jeff Passe, Dick Toenjes, Mike Corwin; UNCG: James Evans, Keith Howell, William Link; UNCP: Jose D’Arruda, Thomas A. Dooling (for Kelley); UNCW: Richard Veit, Stephen McNamee, Dan Noland; WCU: David Claxton, Mary Adams, Kathleen Wright; WSSU: Jill Harp, Francine Madrey

    Absent: NCA&T: Alvin Keyes; NCSA: Robert Collins; UNCC: Ann Newman, Lee E. Gray; UNCG: Richard Ehrhart

1. Minutes of the November 2001 meeting of the Assembly were approved as submitted.
     

2. Chair Veit began the meeting.

   1. He passed around the attendance register for delegates to sign. He urged members to volunteer for Assembly Offices.  The Chair noted that a program had been aired last night on PBS that featured President Broad and a number of legislators. It was noted that one legislator stated on the program that faculty only teach two courses a semester.

   2. Delegate Passe asked the Chair for a report on his activities. The Chair reported that he had attended the December, January and February meetings of the Board of Governors and had addressed via a letter to President Broad, Assembly concerns regarding Information Technology (see motions log).
        

3. Report by President Molly Broad

   1. The earlier announced shortfall will be deeper than prior projections. University quality is viewed as important to citizens of North Carolina. We face difficult challenges with the budget.
   2. The first reversion cut was for 2.7% (around $43 million). The second cut was for $21 million (for a total percentage cut of between 3.5 and 4% overall).
   3. The date for the issuance of the next group of revenue bonds has slipped some. Bonds will be issued in mid-March. Expansion plan is on time and in budget. These expansion projects provide a needed economic stimulus for all areas of North Carolina.
   4. American Council on Education Report noted that North Carolinians believe that the 16 campuses of the University provide high-quality education and make important contributions to the state’s economy. The President noted that North Carolina’s “Pathway” early intervention program was a national exemplar of how to guide prospective students into higher education. The report noted that citizens were not afraid of higher tuition in order to maintain a quality university system. She noted that the 6% increase in minority enrollment (as opposed to 3% white) was due to the “Pathway” program and other financial aid policies of the university system.
        

4. Report by Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Gretchen Bataille

   1. Vice President Bataille introduced the Vice President of Academic Planning, Alan Mabe.
   2. She next thanked the Assembly for the Academic Calendar plan which has been adopted by the Board of Governors at their February 2002 meeting.
   3. Assembly delegates need to note the TLT Conference in Greensboro April 11-13.
   4. A task force on Serious Illness and Disability has been formed.
   5. RFPs for proposals for e-learning are due by March 8.
   6. She noted that there was a teacher shortage in North Carolina and an achievement gap between minorities and whites. We all need to be aware of this and work toward closing the gap.
   7. Bob Thompson (Interim VCAA-ECU) will chair a task force that will study graduate mathematics programs in the system.
   8. She directed members of a handout describing a conference on Computational Modeling being held in March.
        

5. Report by Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Betsy Brown

   1. The Draft Report on Non-Tenure Track faculty has already been shared with system chancellors. Assembly delegates received an executive summary of the report. The full report will be on the web in the near future following its adoption by the Board of Governors. Clearly non-tenure-track faculty use is a national issue. Chancellors feel there is a need to hire more full time faculty. This report will provide guidance to campuses on the use of Non-Tenure Track faculty. The report calls for a plan to be developed to insure quality faculty are hired on campuses. How much is enough with regard to the part-time, full time mix? Each campus must decide on their own what is best. Need to look at what the impact part-timers have on the research and service mission of the university. Report calls for the development of “Best Practices” in North Carolina with regard to non-tenure-track faculty. The Report contains a brief survey of working conditions among North Carolina fixed-term faculty. Report was compiled using focus groups on a number of campuses. It is not a systematic sample but a “flavor” of current practice. Report has a number of recommendations concerning multi-year contracts, salary, terms of employment, computer and office issues, research and professional development.
        

6. Report by Vice President for Finance and CFO Jeff Davies

   1. Budget Situation: 18 states cut budgets in fiscal 2001 by $1.3 billion.
   2. Currently 39 states face officially announced budget shortfalls
   3. Aggregate shortfalls currently are estimated to be around $40 billion
   4. Revenues for most states are declining in 2001. Medicaid costs are soaring. Corporate and personal income tax collections lag changes in income by at least six months. Corporate tax receipts are down 17%. Loss-carry-forward provisions exaggerate the lag for corporate income tax collections.
   5. State has used a number of strategies for dealing with the shortfall: rainy-day funds, tobacco settlements, cut aid to localities, suspended some employer retirement contributions, funds transferred, construction delayed, across the board budget cuts.
   6. After removing K-12, Higher Education, Medicaid, Public Assistance, Corrections and Transportation remained of budget available for cutting is 32.1% of total. But cutting in these areas also causes problems in other areas.
   7. Economic Outlook: Enrollment growth brought us1700 more students with an increase in funding by the General Assembly
   8. Faculty Productivity: Noted a number improvements on the campuses of UNCG, NCCU, UNCC, UNCW and WSSU as typical examples of increases in the system.
   9. Recent budget reductions: Recurring reductions of 48.3 million (2001-2002) UNC-Wide; 32 million (2000-2001) in nonrecurring reductions; 21.1 million (2001-2002) in additional nonrecurring reductions for a grand total of 64.1 million; 51.5 million in repair and renovation funding.
   10. Lapsed salary funds are made available when positions remain unfilled. The capability to use these funds to address high priority needs is a component of “budget flexibility.

II. Lunch     noon – 1 p.m.

1. Report by Vice President for Legal Affairs Leslie Winner

   1. During lunch Vice President Winner presented a report on “Public Records in North Carolina – Application to UNC Faculty.” She gave the background to G.S. 132, its application to UNC faculty, and procedures that need to be followed in the making of a public record request. She concluded with some the following advice: 1) Be careful about what you put in e-mails and 2) When in doubt, consult with your campus attorney.

III. Standing Committee Meetings 1:15 - 3:00 p.m.

IV. Second Plenary Session  3:15 p.m. –  4:35 p.m.

    Absent: NCA&T: Alvin Keyes; NCSA: Robert Collins; UNCCH: Sue Estroff; UNCC: Ann Newman, Dick Toenjes, Lee E. Gray; UNCG: Christopher Ruhm

1. Hugh Hindman presented a resolution that Howard Neufeld be commended for his service to the Faculty Assembly. Motion passed on voice vote.
     
2. Committee Reports:
     
   1. Report of Nominations Committee – Jill Harp
      The following are candidates for 2002-03 offices:
      • For Chair: Richard Veit, William Smith
      • For Vice-Chair: George Conklin, William Smith
      • For Secretary: Ralph Lee Scott, William Smith
      • For Budget Committee: Duane Davis and James Evans
      • For Academic Freedom and Tenure: Mary Adams and David Provica
      • For Faculty Development: Francine Madrey and Bonnie Kelley
      • For Faculty Welfare: Don Lisnerski
      • For Governance: Jeff Passe
      • For Planning and Programs: Dan Noland and David Pravica
      • For Technology: Jose D'Arruda and George Conklin
   2. Technology Committee – Jose D’Arruda
      1. The TLT and the Faculty Assembly will be having an April Conference in Greensboro. 40-50 minutes time slots have been reserved for presenters. Please let your colleagues know about this important conference and encourage them to attend.
   3. Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee – Paul Williams
      1. Committee discussed the Non-Tenure Track Faculty report with Betsy Brown.
      2. The Chair was given guidance on possible additional fixed term reappointment guidelines. These guidelines call for faculty appointment terms that would be longer than those currently in the Code.
      3. The Committee looked at copyright policy and noted that the UNC Policy is interpreted differently on different campuses
      4. Other items under discussion: Votes for candidates being made available on local campuses and possible publication of  the list of principles for RTPs.
      5. Comments for delegates:
         • Fleming (UNCCH) noted that the votes of candidates are public record and that we ought not to break the law.
         • Conklin (NCCU) reported on the promotion and tenure process at NCCU. Due to an earlier Department of Justice consent decree, Promotion and Tenure Committees meet only with the chair and deans. They draw up a simple two-sentence letter that reports the decision to the candidate.  Discussion followed on this policy.
   4. Budget Committee – Barbara Moran
      1. Committee is looking at its role. Would like to make budget issues more transparent to system faculty.  Instead of doing a workshop will have a web site with information. She noted that budget issues are often local campus issues. She passed out a schedule of the new budget process for 2003-2005.
   5. Faculty Development Committee – Beryl McEwen
      1. The Committee met with the Academic Freedom and Tenure and the Faculty Welfare Committees to hear Dr. Betsy Brown's report on Non-tenure Track Faculty.  Later the Committee also met with the Technology Committee to discuss the upcoming TLT conference in Greensboro, NC.  The Committee endorses the conference as an excellent professional development opportunity for faculty and reiterated its concern that more effective systems be in place on campuses to help faculty with their promotion and tenure efforts. There is need also to provide resources to assist part-time faculty with their professional development, especially as it relates to excellence in teaching.
   6. Faculty Welfare Committee – Don Lisnerski
      1. The Committee me with Betsy Brown and reviewed the Non-Tenure Track Faculty report.
      2. The Committee met with Ron Penny and received the report on UNC system faculty retention. No major surprises in the report. Turnover rate constant for the system.
      3. Concern over tuition increases being used for faculty salaries. What will happen to universities that do not raise tuition? Will tuition increases be the only avenue for raises? How will tuition monies be used on individual campuses? Ron Penny responded that the monies must be used for merit system. Committee noted that this drift in salary allocation away from a merit based system is different from the original intent of the state system. He asks that President Broad look into this.
   7. Governance Committee – Jeff Passe
      1. Discussed in committee: Copyright policy (system wide vs. individual campus), Code Revisions (hopefully produce a manual on code use), and Faculty Assembly Governance (resolution governance presented below).
      2. Motion: BE IT RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Faculty Assembly shall include a list of all resolutions passed in the last two years and their status. Motion passes on voice vote.
      3. Motion: BE IT RESOLVED: That the Assembly requests that President Broad report on prior motions passed by the Assembly at each meeting.
             Chair Veit suggested that the committee just send a request to President Broad before each meeting requesting a report on submitted motions. Smith stated that we need a motion that states what we would like to have reported. Dommermuth made a friendly amendment, which was adopted on voice vote to add the phrase “as a matter of record” to the motion. Morrison moved to send the motion back to committee. Motion was seconded. Morrison motion passes on a voice vote.
      4. Governance committee suggests that the Executive Board of the Faculty Assembly look at the schedule and get committees involved in meeting on issues earlier in the meeting agenda. Committee does not like the current format where we have a large number of reports and PowerPoint presentations at the beginning of the Assembly meetings.
   8. Planning and Programs Committee – Steve Lilley.
      1. Committee looked at the purpose of their committee. Suggested eliminating or combining Planning and Programs with another Faculty Assembly committee. They met with Alan Mabe, Vice President of Planning and Programs. The focus of the meeting was on how programs are being planned in an era of low budgets. They will look at the planning process on each campus. When planning we need to focus on high need areas such as teacher education and e-learning. Also the committee is interested in looking at how to better organize summer sessions. They would also like to look at Graduate Programs and Planning as well as new program review and University Research Parks.
   9. Chair Veit commented on the current status of Assembly motions:
      • Calendar Motion (2001-Sept-#05) – Allow each university to set it calendar length – approved by Board of Governors 2/02
      • Part-Time Faculty – Assembly received report today on this issue from the Office of the President.
      • The Chair urges members to frame issues and bring these issues to the assembly meetings.

Respectfully submitted by
Ralph Lee Scott, Secretary

See Motions Log