Faculty Assembly of the University of North Carolina

 118th Meeting
 16 November 2001

[Agenda]

1. Call  to Order. Chair Richard Veit called the Assembly to order at 10:30 a.m. with 34 delegates present.
2. Approval of Minutes. Minutes of the September 2001 meeting were approved on a voice vote with a minor correction.
3. Report by Vice President for Finance and CFO Jeff Davies.
   1. Vice President Davies updated the Assembly on the 2.7% reversion to the current Budget requested by the Governor. The University has full flexibility in how it meets the requirements of the reversion. We have committed to the Governor that we will maintain full instructional capabilities in seeking his support for a reduction in the original reversion proposed at the 4% level. This "one time" reversion is on top of permanent cuts already included in the budget adopted by the General Assembly.
   2. Delegate Neufeld asked about current economic projections for next year, the impact of the post September 11th economic decline which was more than anticipated, while at the same time enrollment growth is increasing and some institutions are raising tuition. He asked how we could sustain a reduction in base budgets yet be expected to respond to increased enrollments? In short do more with less. Davies responded that is exactly the problem. We must provide for the education of more students while our budgets have been reduced.
   3. Delegate Noland asked if tuition increases would still go to the respective campuses. Davies replied that there were two kinds of tuition increases, Board-initiated increases and campus-initiated increases. The receipts generated by increases initiated by the Board become a part of the general fund budget while those generated from campus-initiated increases remain on the campus to finance the specific purpose for which the increases were approved.
   4. Davies then elaborated more on how the proposed reversions were calculated. He noted that the reductions will be implemented at the discretion of the local campus to ensure that the best decisions are made in response to individual circumstances. Davies stated that student aid had been taken off the table for calculating the required reversions.
   5. Delegate Rosenberg asked how the North Carolina cuts compared with other states? Davies replied that other states were also reverting funds but that he did not know exactly the size of the reversions. In response to a question on whether or not the funds provided for enrollment growth were adequate, he responded by saying that, for enrollment, we were adequately funded. However, it was important to note that the enrollment funding was provided through tuition increases and budget reductions, again illustrating how the University would be serving increased enrollments while the overall budgets had not grown.
   6. Delegate Neufeld stated that all of the reduction at Appalachian was coming from Academic Affairs to the tune of 15%.
   7. Delegate Smith asked what lines the cuts would come from (Academic vs. non Academic lines). Davies replied again by stating that these decisions would be made at an institutional level, but with the understanding that instructional offerings to students would not be affected by the reversions.
   8. Delegate Bromberg asked why this reduction philosophy could not be implemented with regard to other cuts. Davies responded that the General Assembly had specifically designated certain budget reductions.
4. Report by Vice President for Public Affairs and University Advancement J.B. Milliken
   1. He remarked that the General Assembly leadership “knows what they are doing.” Thanks to them we have a rich enrollment growth formula. Milliken noted that we are doing much better than other states with regard to funding.
   2. He reported that in Raleigh there are two main themes
      1. Redistricting
      2. Bioterrorism.
   3. Milliken noted that a non-appropriation Capital bill has passed.
   4. He mentioned several Bio-terrorism bills:
      1. HB 1472 - Bio-agents registration Act
      2. HB 1471 - Bio-Terrorism Defense Fund Act
      3. HB? - Weapons of Mass Destruction Act.
   5. In the area of Construction Law there is a major change in the way in which public building contracts are to be let. This act is now in it’s 22nd draft.
   6. HB 1144 - relates to minority representation on the Board of Governors. Milliken noted that Bob Scott was the author of the modern University of North Carolina System.
   7. Milliken noted that there are legislative studies underway covering: an independent personnel system for the university, an independent procurement system, expansion of the optional retirement system, real property purchase plan (also different from the present state system) and plans for establishment of new colleges and schools in the system.
   8. Vice President Milliken next gave an update on activities in Washington. Terrorism has pushed all other items off the agenda. We now have an office of Homeland Security. Senators Kennedy and Feinstein have introduced bills related to student visas. There are a number of Bio-terrorism bills. Student aid has received “flat funding.” There is currently a deficit in Pell grant funding. Health and Defense funding is not yet finalized. Special appropriations have been received by UNC in the areas of agro-medicine, opto-electronics, and marine sciences.
   9. The Bush budget for 2003 is in the works.
   10. He is working on Board of Governors requests regarding multi campus funding and new policy initiatives.
   11. Delegate Bromberg noted that the UNC School of Public Health had received a Grant. He asked where we stand on grant overheads. Milliken replied that “that issue is still alive and well.” We have not done a good job in this area and we have some work to do on this.
   12. Delegate D’Arruda asked “How do you get study bills for new program?” Milliken replied that you get them by ignoring the Board of Governors plans in place and go directly to the General Assembly.
5. Report by Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Gretchen Bataille
   1. Senior Vice President Bataille provided a copy of a draft memo that will go to the Committee on Educational Planning, Policies and Programs regarding a change in the policy on semester length and a draft policy of “Management Flexiblity to Appoint and Fix Compensation.”
   2. She next presented a PowerPoint summary of what will be included in the “Long Range Planning, 2002-2007” report to be adopted by the Board of Governors in January 2002.
   3. Assembly members received copies of two documents: “Strategic Directions” and the “Enrollment Reports”.
   4. Delegate Neufeld noted an article in the American Scientist, regarding funding. He asked about the status of non-flagship institution funding in light of a newspaper article in the press quoting Chancellor Fox. Senior Vice President Bataille replied that it was “clear from the presentation that all institutions are represented” in future funding.
   5. Delegate Bromberg asked about the role of campuses in advanced placement for High School students. He also asked about the contradiction between the cost of out of state tuition and the need for international recruiting.
   6. Delegate Harp asked about trends of increased number of students going back to system universities due to layoffs?
   7. Delegate Wilson asked about the status of new institutes and centers with regard to funding. Vice President Bataille replied that these are self supporting.

II. Lunch. Delegates meet informally for lunch

1. Chair Veit gave the Chair’s report.
   1. He reported on the controversy about faculty returning this year's $625 raise at North Carolina Central University.
   2. He reported on the e-mail privacy  issue at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Vice President Leslie Winner will report to the Assembly on this and related issues in February. Secretary Scott reported that he had been in contact with Donna Euben, the General Counsel for the American Association of University Professors, on this issue. She stated that campus e-mails were most likely covered by locally developed policies. Secretary Scott read the East Carolina University policy in which it is expressly stated that faculty have no right to privacy with respect to email sent over university owned facilities. Donna Euben suggested that Faculty Senates might want to re-visit their policies with the idea that they might want to insert a special provision covering private non-statutory emails.
2. Elections were held to fill the remaining term of the current Vice-Chair Rosenberg who has resigned. David Claxton received a majority vote of the Assembly for Vice Chair.
3. Elections were held for the Nominating Committee. Elected were Jose D'Arruda, Jill Harp, Dan Noland, Steven McNamee, and Jeff Passe.
4. Report by President Molly Broad
   1. Budget information - The Outlook for the economy is not good. 4% reversion to the Budget was proposed but later reduced to 2.7%. It may have to be revised later. Repair and Renovation funds are frozen. It ended up as well as we had hoped with the budget given the economy.
   2. Enrollment report - Increase funding support is the result of positive image of UNC with citizens hence the success of the bond referendum. President Broad express thanks to the faculty for helping with increased student loads. “Thanks for the extra effort.” There was significant increase in enrollment in the system in every racial category. The seven Focused Growth Campuses had strong enrollments. Increase in D.E. enrollment in the range of 20%. The college-going rate in North Carolina is now above national average for the first time.
   3. Evaluation of the Quality of Education - The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) statistical handout was presented to the Assembly. President Broad serves on NSSE advisory board. Important points of the NSSE survey are: a)Students attending smaller campuses report higher quality of experiences, b)Elite schools (Harvard, Duke) do not participle in NSSE, c)Student do not spend as much time on studies as in the past(extended laughter by Assembly), d)Quality of advising is the most important indicator of quality of student experiences.
   4. Prospective Student Portal pilot beta at Western Carolina will be up in early December. Please look at this site: www.wcu.edu/portal <http://www.wcu.edu/portal>. The site is linked to “Gear Up” and CFNC (www.cfnc.org <http://www.cfnc.org/>).
   5. Bioinformatics - IBM has funded the North Carolina Bioinformatics Grid. A handout was provided to Assembly delegates on this issue. GNOMAX software has been provided to all 16 campuses.
   6. Bond Oversight Committee - Committee will monitor implementation of Bond program. They have held their first meeting. The Committee is impressed with construction work being carried out - on time and on budget. President Broad would like to see two resolutions from the General Assembly - 1) replacement of Repair and Renovation funds and 2) resolution in support of legislation that will provide increased budget flexibility on campuses.
   7. Clusters of Innovation Initiative - Handout for delegates on the Research Triangle Cluster Project was distributed. These projects hold an important parts of our mission. This technology has insights that can be used by all campuses. Conclusion of Research Triangle Cluster was that universities in the region are an important asset. President Broad hopes that other campuses can find something in the Initiative.
5. Committee Reports
   1. Technology - Jose D’Arruda
      1. 1.Presented draft letter to President Veit (re: motion #09)
      2. 2.Committee met with Frank Perkaska concerning the TLT conference probably to be held in May 2002. Jose asks that the Assembly promote the conference to faculty on their campuses.
      3. 3.Please check out the TLT portal web site at: www.nctlt.org <http://www.nctlt.org/>.
      4. 4.He asks that Robin Rynder give an update on wireless initiatives on local campuses.
      5. 5.He asks that the University Librarians Advisory Committee (ULAC) give a report on availability of e-journals in system libraries.
   2. Planning and Programs - Stephen Lilley
      1. The Committee looked at agenda building for future meetings
      2. The Committee wants to look at Graduate students in UNC with respect to stipends and in-state/out-state tuition.
      3. The Committee wants to look at the number of doctoral programs at comprehensive universities with regard to Board of Governors initiated programs vs. General Assembly initiated programs.
      4. The Committee presented the following Resolution: Be it resolved that the UNC Faculty Assembly endorses the Office of the President’s proposed policy on academic calendars outlined in the November 9th, 2001 memorandum from Vice President Bataille to the Committee on Educational Planning, Policies and Programs of the UNC Board of Governors. Motion passes on voice vote.
   3. Governance - Henry Ferrell
      1. Reported out Motion #1 which passes on voice vote
      2. Reported out Motion #3 which passes on voice vote
      3. Reported out Motion #4 which passes on voice vote
      4. He will send an e-mail requesting delegates to report what the role of faculty is in the budget process on their campus.
      5. The Committee looked at the “draft, draft” on “Management Flexibility to Appoint and Fix Compensation” that was passed out this morning. Committee suggests that:
         1. Sections B1,2,3,5 need faculty input on campuses.
         2. How does this policy mesh with section 600 of the UNC Code?
         3. There is concern with the award of tenure contrary to current written policy that would be allowed by the “draft,draft.”
         4. Committee feels that existing procedures might supply what is needed and that there is no need to revise existing policies of the Board.
         5. Local faculty would also like to see that the Faculty Assembly has input on “draft, draft” policy
         6. Professor Ferrell moves that the Assembly accept these suggestions as “concerns of the Assembly.” Motion passes on voice vote.
         7. Delegate Morrison noted that he was concerned also about de-centralized personnel decision making.
         8. Vice President Bataille responded that this “draft, draft” was in response to legislation passed recently and the policy must be adopted by January 2002.
         9. Professor Ferrell next asked about the status of several motion that had been passed by the Assembly. Chair Veit responded that he had been looking into this and will have to go through the last two years of minutes to find these motions and determine what has become of them.
   4. Faculty Welfare and Benefits - David Claxton
      1. Kitty McCullum and Ron Penny met with the committee.
      2. Improvements have been seen in the Flexplan.
      3. Many health care concerns expressed by committee members. Final solution is for the legislature to give more money to the system, but this is not likely.
      4. A survey on Faculty retention in the System survey has been promised.
      5. The Committee looked at concept of vesting in retirement programs. Five years is the standard in most plans. Most state optional retirement plans vest state contributions immediately, but North Carolina requires a five year waiting period.
      6. Medicaid - Committee heard plight of faculty member whose spouse needs nursing home care. The faculty member must spend down retirement before they can go on Medicaid.
      7. The Committee explored benefits for part-time faculty. Betsy Brown having meetings in the state with regard to part-time faculty. There are differences on campuses for faculty with 75% teaching load with regard to benefits. The Committee will look into this in the future.
      8. Tuition increases for “Faculty Salaries” on some campuses raises concern for Committee. Claxton would like to see a study of the differential impact on faculty salaries due to tuition increases.
      9. Delegate Conklin noted that the News and Observer reported that the State Health Plan was in a “death spiral.”
   5. Faculty Development - Beryl McEwen
      1. The Committee has a Web site that is linked from the Faculty Assembly home page. Please visit this site. The URL is http://www.uncwil.edu/facassembly/committees/development/.
      2. The Committee has started to compile some information on what the various campuses are doing with Faculty Development. Links to such information are on the Web site.
      3. Teaching and Learning Centers are not well publicized on campuses. Need for more publicity in this area.
      4. Universities need to include faculty mentoring in its faculty development initiatives and appropriate incentives should be included to reward faculty who mentor effectively.
      5. Some concerns were expressed regard some of the Teaching and Learning Theories that are being offered as new, innovative, and good, for example, “Constructivist Theory.”
      6. There is also concern about teaching being perceived as a business, with too much emphasis on “bringing in the dollars.”
      7. There is concern that Part-time and Fixed-term faculty are not being supported through campus faculty development activities.
      8. The Committee suggested that training provided for Department Chairs and Deans include faculty mentoring and faculty development.
      9. Dr. Frank Prochaska talked with the Committee about the TLT collaborative. There is a Professional Development Portal at www.unctlt.org/pdp  It provides the following information related to:  (a) Teaching and Learning, (b) Human Resources, and (c) Administrative Development (Chairs and Deans).  Merlot is now available on all campuses. It provides access to online learning materials through searchable databases.  The URL is http://www.merlot.org.
      10. At its next meeting the Committee hopes discuss issues related to faculty development for Fixed-term and Part-time instructors, possibly meeting with the Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee.  That Committee has also been discussing issues related to Fixed-term and Part-time faculty for some time now.  The committee also hopes to provide some suggestions for enhancing faculty development on our campuses.
   6. Budget - Jim Evans
      1. The Committee feels there is a Faculty/Budget disconnect on most campuses. He suggests use of Committee web site for information on the budget. He also urges that local campus Faculty Senates provide information on local budget issues to faculty.
      2. The Committee suggests that faculty leaders be trained in budget matters by the Office of the President.
      3. The Committee is looking at a pilot project workshop on budgeting. Would possibly have the workshop at UNC-A.
   7. Academic Freedom and Tenure - Allan Rosenberg
      1. The Committee has reviewed the “Performance Review of Tenured Faculty” copies of which were passed out to Assembly delegates.
      2. The Committee is concerned about non-tenure track faculty in the system.
      3. The Committee would like a report on who owns what with regard to Intellectual property and what impact this has on Academic Freedom
      4. The Committee wanted Delegate Rosenberg to speak to the Committee motion on review of Chancellors which had been edited by the Secretary after talking with Delegate Rosenberg. He hopes that we can look at administrative review in some form and that the results will become available to faculty on the various campuses.
      5. Delegate Neufeld asks about the relationship between Post-tenure Review and faculty who retire? Rosenberg replies that there is some correlation, but he is not sure how much. Betsy Brown adds that there may be some, but we don’t know much about it yet.
      6. Delegate Neufeld asks how many faculty appealed their Post-tenure Review? Betsy Brown replies that we don’t know yet. She thinks about 12% of faculty retired or went on Phased-retirement at about the time of Post-tenure review introduction.
      7. Delegate Neufeld asks about older faculty being treated differently than younger faculty on campuses. Betsy Brown replies that she had not heard that this is problem on campuses.
      8. Delegate Ferrell states that at the time of the first Post-tenure review at East Carolina University, Deans were asked to lower ratings because they “were too high.”
      9. Delegate Harp asks if Chair and Deans go through Post-tenure review? Chair responds that they only if the teach more than half time.
6. Adjournment. Chair Veit declares the meeting adjourned at 5:07 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by
Ralph Lee Scott, Secretary