The 113th meeting of the Faculty Assembly of the University of North Carolina was called to order at 10:35 a.m. by Chair Howell, after waiting a few minutes on members of two or three delegations to arrive. 39 delegates were in attendance.

Chair Howell began with a brief history of the Faculty Assembly. He also explained that the number of delegates from each campus is tied to the size of the campus.

The main purpose of the Assembly is to enhance communication among the campuses and with the University General Administration. Gretchen Bataille, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs is our primary liaison with the UNC General Administration.

Chair Howell noted that there was a fairly large turnover in delegates this year, that will affect continuity.

Members asked to indicate, by noon, which committee they would like to serve on. Final assignments would be made during the lunch hour, prior to the afternoon committee meetings.

New members were asked to stand. The continuing members recognized them with an applause.

C. Approval of Minutes of April 14, 2000

The minutes of the April 7, 2000 meeting were posted on the Faculty Assembly Web site. Because the site was not available for a while, and several members had difficulty accessing the site, hard copies were also provided at this meeting. Web site currently being renovated, as part of the renovation of the UNC Web page. Copies provided because some people had problems getting them, on the Web site.

There being no corrections to the minutes, they were approval on motion made by Jeff Passe and seconded by Carl Hughes.

The Chair’s report covered the following main points:

• There are still errors in the list of delegates and alternates to the assembly. Names were still coming in up to yesterday (9/14/00). Chair Howell discussed the online form to be used by campuses to submit their delegations. Delegates were asked to complete the form by noon today, for data entry at UNCG. In the future, the form will be completed online. Members were asked to add their mailing address to the form. They were also asked to indicate first and second choices for committee assignments. Returning members will receive first choice and others will receive first choice as is possible. The goal is to have committees with 6-8 members.
  
  
• In response to a question, Chair Howell noted that the Technology Committee is still functioning, as an ad hoc committee and should be included on the sheet.
  
  
• President Broad and Sr. President Bataille were both surprised that the Faculty Assembly, traditionally, has not had a budget. They have agreed to provide funds to support the Assembly and Chair Howell has prepared this year’s budget. It is mainly based on projected travel expenses for a specific number of delegates from each campus attending four Assembly meetings. There is a new claim form, that must be completed and submitted for reimbursement. (GET COPY OF THE FORM). Delegates were asked to request reimbursement and to use the form included. Delegates were reminded that long than necessary stay-overs cannot be supported by Assembly funds. There is still the possibility of accessing additional funds to cover other activities.
  
  
• The Faculty Assembly is also trying to reduce the stack of paper that is generated. The Executive Committee met by videoconference this week (9/13/00). The hope is to move more of our work into that format and more of the Assembly work to the Web site. Committee chairs have been asked to get recommendations from their committees about what should be handled on the Web site. What we put on the Web is still open for discussion. The General Administration (President Broad and Sr. VP Bataille) are very supportive and will provide assistance for our efforts.
  
  
• One purpose of the Web site is to enhance communication and another is to gather information to advise President Broad and others. Some ideas offered so far include Web-casting our meetings, setting up chat rooms for each committee, and establishing links with each faculty senate.
  
  
• An election will be held at end of the day--for Vice Chair. Jimmy Smith, elected as Vice Chair at last meeting, is ill and will not be able to serve.
  
  
• The agenda will spend some time focusing on the Bond Issue. Vice President of Public Relations, J.B. Milliken will present on the Bond Issue and other ongoing legislative issues that affect faculty.
  
  
• Following the presentation there will be lunch--box lunches will be brought in. Delegates were encouraged to use the lunch hour to talk with colleagues from other campuses. Lunch together is a change from having dinner together, when colleagues had time to share a meal and discuss issues.
  
  
• After lunch we will convene briefly to share committee assignments, then break into committee meetings.
  
  
• During our second plenary session, following the committee meetings, President Broad will speak, addressing issues that were not covered by VP Milliken. There will be a question and answer period.
  
  
• Following President Broad’s presentation, the committee chairs will make their reports, followed by the election and other business.

Questions/Answers/Comments:

• Sr. VP Bataille encouraged delegates to note questions/issues that arise while listening to VP Milliken as she and others can be available to visit committees for further discussion.
  
  
• Chair Howell noted that a tentative agenda, for our next meeting, will be on the Web site about a month before the next meeting. He encouraged delegates to share suggestions for the agenda.
  
  
• Delegate Ferrell reminded the meeting about motion to invite the Speaker of House and the President pro-tem of the Senate to attend one of our meetings. Chair Howell will try to have this item on the agenda for the next meeting.
  
  
• Delegate Hindman asked delegates to consider staying over after our next meeting, to attend the AAUP meeting in Raleigh the next day--November 18, 2000.
  
  
• Delegate Hughes asked whether Sr. VP Bataille had any success in getting comments/concerns from campuses. She noted that it was moderately successful, and partly useful. She is also visiting campuses and hope to meet with faculty and student leaders as well as administrators.

E. Update on Bond Issue/Legislative Initiatives (J. B. Milliken, Public Relations, UNC-GA)

At 10:05 a.m. Chair Howell introduced VP Milliken who introduces his colleagues--Ron Penny, VP Human Resources and Mary Wakeford, Interim Assoc. VP for Academic Affairs.

His presentation primarily covered:

• Bond Campaign. There are seven weeks to go--until Nov. 7. The Bond Issue is the first item on the ballot, after the election. A strong campaign organization is in place in Raleigh. Consulting groups are also involved in working on the campaign, including television work--message development and tv/radio ads. However, more important than all that is the grassroots campaign--campuses winning their counties. This time we are working with the Community Colleges and have campuses (including Community Colleges) in 81 counties. We are trying to win 100 counties.

  There is need to involve faculty, students, staff, and other supporters in local efforts, e.g., student voter registration drives, satellite poling placing on campuses, signs in front of buildings that will be impacted by funds from the bond money, etc. Groups from Fayetteville, Wilmington, and Pembroke are doing a tour to promote the Bond Issue. They will be supported by the President.

  A handout listing bond coordinators on each campus, together with other related literature, was distributed to delegates. To campaign Web site (www.ncfeo.net) contains additional up-to-date information.

  Other information were offered to help to refute arguments that taxes will rise because of the Bond Issue. Even counties that can’t afford to raise taxes to provide matching dollars, can still use the repair and renovation money that requires no match--$488m of $600m dollars to Community Colleges requires no matching funds.

In response to specific questions, the speaker noted:

• North Carolina enjoys an AAA bond rating--low-debt state.
• Polls are very positive; weakest one seems to be Charlotte--47% favorable.
• Ads will be financed by North Carolinians for Educational Opportunity.
• UNC-TV has given considerable cover to the Bond Issue, but has advocated the passage. Some think they may have gone too far; he does not think so.
• He is not aware of any specific efforts to defeat the Bond Issue, but the John Locke Foundation is trying to cast doubt on the need. There is also a group in Charlotte that opposes school bonds but not particularly this one.
• He is not aware of any serious concerns that too much is going to Chapel Hill and State--not been an issue that they have had to deal with. The bill passed unanimously. It is not perfect but allocations are based on the Eva Klyne study.
• No taxes have to be raised because repair and renovation money requires no match.
• He does not think the lack of general administration oversight of the use of lapsed salaries and the attention that issue attracted will impact bond drive. The strategy is to explain what is being done, e.g., invite auditors in, criminal investigation, and new controls now in place.
• Bonds will be issued over six year, therefore not all projects will begin at once. Facilities management issues will dictate how projects are phased in.
  
  
• General Assembly. Mr. Milliken then focused his attention on efforts with the General Assembly. He shared the following:
  
  
  • The Board of Governors has not yet approved the legislative priorities. Work continues on the key priorities. The Bond campaign will be driven by the phrase "An investment in educational and economic opportunity in North Carolina." This phrase is being used to drive the bond campaign because it resonates with the public--broken buildings don’t.
    
    
  • The current Strategic Priorities are:

    Access
    Intellectual Capital Formation
    K-16 Partnerships
    Creation and Transfer of Knowledge
    Transformation and Change through IT

  • The three-pronged emphasis is on students, faculty, and facilities.

• Students--providing access as we are expected to have the third largest enrollment growth in the nation (31% by 2010), after Nevada (79%) and Arizona (48%). These students will need financial aid, therefore the proposed UNC-Need-Based Grant Program.
• Faculty--recruiting and retaining excellent faculty is a huge challenge. He referred to the UNC Faculty Salary Study, noting that a comparison with peer institutions shows that $28.5 million is still needed to close the competitive funding gab. Growing salary disparities between public and private institutions place UNC at a competitive disadvantage, and disparities in benefits exacerbate the faculty recruitment challenge. He briefly reviewed The Excellent University Act that addresses faculty salaries, retirement, and other benefits.
• Facilities--being addressed through the Bond Issue.
  
  

• The legistative priorities for 2001-2003 are

- Need-based Student Financial Aid
- Competitive Faculty Salaries and Benefits
- Enrollment Funding
- K-16 Initiatives
- Summer School Pilots
- Libraries
- Distinguished Professors Endowment
- ECU/UNCC Doctoral/Research Intensive Status
- Repair and Renovation
- Biotechnology and Genomics

 

Question/Answers/Comments:

In response to questions, Mr. Milliken stated the following:

 

• Many universities in the country have immediate vesting--very small percentage has five- year vesting.
  
  
• Candidates for Governor are supportive of higher education, but we need to work to get higher on their lists of priority, in terms of their support of the Bond Issue.
  
  
• President Broad has been supportive of the free college tuition for the children of K-12 teachers, but noted that it needs to be funded. He will ask her to address the question about including it in the Excellent University Act--similar benefits for the children of university faculty.
  
  
• Peer institutions for NC School of the Arts are now all private institutions, but the school is satisfied with the list that is being used in salary and other discussions.

II. Lunch Break (noon to 1:00 p.m.)

At 1:05 p.m., the 113th Faculty Assembly reconvened, briefly, and committee assignments were distributed. People were generally assigned to the committees they requested, except in a few cases--to balance for size and to ensure that no more than one member from an institution is on the same committee.

Based on the Executive Committee meeting, each Committee Chair has a basic agenda. Other items can be added. Chair Howell asked each committee to try to come up with specific projects that can be accomplished this year.

Chair Howell reminded members that one of the roles of the Faculty Assembly Chair is to visit the campuses. He asked to be invited to campuses. When he visits he usually speaks with the senate, other administrators, or even the Chancellor if the opportunity provides itself or he is asked. He is sometimes asked to give special messages or to discuss special issues with administrators.

Committee Chairs were introduced and the Assembly proceeded to committee work, based on their room assignments.

A. Presentation by President Molly Broad (3:30 to 4:15)

Chair Howell called the meeting to order at 3:33 p.m. He introduced President Molly Broad and thanked her for her support of the Faculty Assembly.

President Broad extended a warm welcome everyone, especially the new delegates . She reported that the University System has had a good year, in terms of legislation that support the University of North Carolina, e.g., the Bond Issue. A great deal of effort is now being placed on getting the citizens of North Carolina to support the bond campaign. She noted that it will set the direction for our campuses if it passes in November, and asked the Assembly, as leaders of the faculty, to help carry the message. All together, the University’s 2000-2001 operating budget increased by $94.6 million over the last year, including $127 million for construction and renovation of University facilities, plus the opportunity to place the $2.5 billion bond issue before the voters in November.

She outlined several other initiatives and provided a handout on the 2000-01 Expansion Budget Allocations. One very important continuing goal is to fund faculty salaries for this university in the top quintile of our peers. This will be pursued in the next biennium.

Recently, newspaper stories raised serious allegations of financial improprieties within North Carolina State’s Office of Public Safety, regarding the use of lapsed salary funds. These errors in judgment, though not typical of the UNC System institutions, cast doubt on our commitment to public accountability. The General Administration promptly and put controls into place designed to strengthen campus reporting procedures funds drawn from lapsed salaries. Every campus has responded regarding priority uses of year-end balances and salary savings from vacant positions.

The budget process for next biennium has already started. Two workshops have already been held to help the Board of Governors to focus on the linkages between the University’s budget requests and the strategic directions that have been adopted by the Board. The strategic directions encompass:

• Ensuring Access
• Intellectual Capital Formation (through excellent undergraduate, graduate and professional programs)
• K-16 Education Partnerships
• Creation and Transfer of Knowledge (through scholarship, research, economic development, and technology transfer)
• Transformation and Change (through information technology and effective practices).

UNC Charlotte has been reclassified as a Doctoral/Research Intensive University.

Over the past 15 years, the Board of Governors changed the classification of several UNC institutions to reflect their missions and programs. These classifications have been consistent with descriptive categories developed by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Carnegie is now creating a new taxonomy of rating universities. The Board of Governors will again be considering appropriate ratings for UNC institutions. This effort is being coordinated by Snr. VP Bataille.

Federal Government’s latest projections of public school enrollments through 2010 shows North Carolina as having the nation’s third-highest growth rate, in the number of high school graduates. The 2010 high school class is expected to number 79,000--a 31% increase over 1999. Only Nevada and Arizona are projected to have higher growth rates during this decade. North Carolina is 11th in the nation in total population, but third largest in high school students planning to enter university. This supports the need for the Bond Issue to support effort to prepare for the influx of new students.

President Board reported the following personnel matters:

• Vice Presidents Judith Pulley and Gary Barnes will retire in February 2001.
  
  
• Diana Oblinger has resigned to join EDUCAUSE.
  
  
• At the end of October, Former State Senator Leslie Winner will become the new VP and General Counsel, succeeding Dick Robinson, who retired in the spring.
  
  
• Ron Penny is the new VP of Human Resources.

Questions/Answers/Comments

In response to specific questions, President Broad made the following additional comments:

• Dick Robinson will stay on to help streamline the grievance process, as part of the Dispute Resolution process.
  
  
• Better policies/controls are now in place for the use of lapsed salaries. Plans for use, submitted by each campus, have been accepted.
  
  
• Faculty involvement in Boards of Trustees is good, whether they have a seat at the table or serve in some other ways such as ex-officio member(s). The hope is that they will have an active role. She needs to be more fully informed so she can take up the matter with the Chancellors.
  
  
• The role of the General Administration in distance education is that of a catalyst--to facilitate multi campus coordination and to help smooth out arrangement with community colleges, etc. Some collaborative efforts are emerging, and pilot projects are being funded to support the expansion of distance education. The University System is still grappling with many issues including how best practices are affected by technology in education. We will need to launch more comprehensive e-learning strategies. Discussions are currently underway with the Chancellors.
  
  
• We need to think strategically about where globalization fits into the University’s mission. There is need to give students and faculty international experiences, but we need to build on our strengths, possibly through partnering with other universities. Collaborating brings a tremendous resource to each institution, but we can’t pursue all possible relationships and do them well.
  
  
• The General Administration does not make decisions about who should be hired on the campus--part-time or full-time faculty. Resources are provided to the campuses through the funding formulas, but GA will not make the decision about who to hire. Decisions will vary from campus to campus regarding full-time, tenure track or part-time positions to be filled.
  
  
• It makes sense to collaborate on the acquisition of library resources, including online resources. Libraries on the various campuses have already agreed that 10 percent of their allocations will go to shared resources.
  
  
• It has been very hard to impress on legislature the importance of libraries, but the Legislature now has a new committee on Information Technology. That might be helpful. One delegate noted that the Legislature has funded NC Live, that is available to all campuses.
  
  
• There is no reason why the various campus libraries should not be able to share books the way databases are currently shared. It should be very possible to increase the turnaround time in sharing books among campuses.
  
  
• The Alliance for Web-enable Student Services is a procurement alliance that allows us to save when several campuses want to order the same software, e.g., 12 campuses are now collaborating on updating student record systems (comment from one of President Broad’s staff members who was present).
  
  
• Before a decision is made to reinstitute phased retirement after it expires, Sr. VP Bataille noted that they will share results of the last 5 years with the Faculty Assembly and with the various campus administrations and see what the impact has been.

The presentation of committee reports started at 4:20 p.m.

1. Budget (Carl Hughes, FSU)

Committee Chair Hughes introduced the members of his committee. He noted that Harriet Griffin had been elected Vice Chair. The Secretary will be rotated among the members, with Barbara Moran serving at this meeting.

The Committee would like a Web page that includes:

• Membership information
• Issues and concerns
• Agenda for meetings
• Links to GA budget information
• No chat room

The Committee’s issues focus for the year will include:

• Following up on last year’s survey, they will prepare a Frequently Asked Questions sheet. This can also be placed on the Web page. They will follow up with Nancy Fogarty (last year’s committee chair to see how this project is progressing.
  
  
• Continuing to educate itself on the UNC budget process and in turn try to educate UNC faculty. The goal is to enable the faculty to be well informed and therefore to become more involved in the budget process. They noted that two surveys, one done nationally in 1971, and then replicated here in North Carolina in 1983 found that the budget process is the activity in which the smallest number of faculty were involved--least of all matters of faculty concern. The study was done by the AAUP. The committee will make an effort to change this.
  
  
• Inviting VP Davies to its November meeting to discuss the funding formula for UNC institution, lapse salary policy and procedures for reporting expenditures, and controls implemented. There was $100m in lapsed salaries in UNC last year. VP Davies will also be asked to share information on the budget for the next biennium.

The Committee offered the following motion (text provided)

The Committee moved that the Faculty Assembly Chair, Keith Howell, write a letter to UNC President Broad expressing the (unanimous) support of the Faculty Assembly for the UNC-Community College Bond Campaign. We also pledge our individual efforts to work on behalf of the campaign and will encourage colleagues and others to support the bond campaign.

The Faculty Assembly unanimously supported the motion.

2. Faculty Development (Richard Swanson, UNCG)

This year the committee has all new members, who have brought many new ideas. The committee supports the University’s efforts to broaden leadership development activities for faculty. Snr. Vice President Bataille has requested $1 million for professional development, including faculty seeking to move in Department Chair positions.

This year’s committee focus will include:

• Putting seminars on the Web, if they can benefit faculty on other campuses. Member will start developing ideas for consideration at the next meeting.
  
  
• Reviewing campus policies and practices regarding paid leave, to help make the University more competitive when recruiting new faculty.
  
  
• Exploring the possibility of faculty visiting campuses as guest faculty, e.g., faculty exchanges or faculty visits while on leave, especially between HBCUs and others.
  
  
• Reviewing campus practices on new faculty development after recruitment, especially new Assistant Professors, e.g., mentoring in teaching and research to help them become university faculty citizens.

3. Planning and Programs (Ali Kahn, ECSU)

Committee member Lou Everett (Alternate--ECU) introduced the committee members and gave the committee report.

• VP, Judith Pulley visited the committee and talked about current and proposed procedures for initiating new academic programs. Proposed changes include the opportunity to provide notice of intent to plan at any time. Also, a proposal to plan will no longer be needed for master’s degree programs. They will continue to be needed for doctoral programs.
  
  
• About one-third of proposed new programs are recommended. Some are withdrawn.
  
  
• Campuses should know how the adoption of a new program will affect existing programs. They should also consider society’s need for the new program, the quality of the program, duplication of existing programs, and adequacy of funds to support the new program.
  
  
• Except for doctoral program, the GA will not be examining program quality. This should be done at the campus level. But, the GA will check that the resources in place to run the programs effectively.
  
  
• Each proposal will project the number of students and the credit hours to be generated.
  
  
• As new program classifications are considered, the Faculty Assembly should be prepared to provide advice to the General Administration.

The Committee requests that President Broad invites the Chair of the Faculty Assembly or a designee to participate to staff/Chancellors’ retreats that set agenda for UNC programs, etc.

4. Faculty Governance (Henry Ferrell, ECU)

Committee Chair Henry Ferrell introduced his committee, then shared their requests for the Web site. They would like to have a page that includes:

• Items currently being discussed, with links to minutes and/or other related sites
• Links to other professional groups, both within and outside the state, e.g., AAUP
• Links to other sources of information, e.g., newspaper sites
• A chat room

They think it is an admirable project and they urged Chair Howell to get it done.

The Committee’s focus for this year will include:

• Working with the Disputes Resolution Task Force. Committee member Hugh Hindman noted that the Dispute Resolution Task Force grew out of a recommendation form this body. The General Administration appointed the task force, headed by General Counsel Dick Robinson. They had hoped to make recommendations about grievance processing, but the committee met only once since its beginning in November. The meetings have been very fruitful in terms of discussion but the follow up has not been there.

The Committee made the following motion:

That the Faculty Assembly recommends to the Chair that the Chair reaffirms to President Broad the Assembly’s commitment to the work of the Dispute Resolution Committee and its expeditious conclusions.

The motion was approved unanimously.

• Exploring the possibility of participation in Board of Trustees. The Committee reminded the Assembly of previous resolutions to that effect. President Broad’s initiatives need to be more structured than simply encouraging Chancellors to consider it. There needs to be discussions with the Board of Trustee chairs.
• Understanding/exposing who opposes and who obeys Administrative law. Adherence to Procedures seems to be expected of faculty, but not of administrators. Administrators seem to be setting aside the Code of the UNC, endangering faculty morale. Delegates were asked to bring issues to the November meeting or share them with Committee Chair Henry Ferrell or with Faculty Assembly Chair Keith Howell, before the meeting.
• Trying to bring legislators to our meeting. The Committee asked that the Chair Howell continue to work on getting them here.
• Trying to get faculty representation at Board of Trustee meetings. Trustee chairs can, by resolution, allow for the seating of Faculty Senate Chairs as non-voting members at their meetings--currently being done at Appalachian State, UNC Greensboro, and UNC Pembroke. They will try to get that practice institutionalized throughout our campuses. We can now make nominations to the Board of Governors, for appointments to the Board of Trustees. Some retired faculty might make good members.
• Reviewing the use of the faculty manual at some institutions. There is some concern that it is being ignored.

5. Academic Freedom and Tenure (Robert Morrison, ECU)

The Committee elected Mary Adams, Western Carolina University, as vice chair and Ralph Scott, East Carolina University, as secretary. The Committee issues for this year are:

• Fixed-term faculty issues. The OP (Office of the President) is forming a task force to study issues related to fixed-term faculty. The task force will be much smaller than envisioned originally, where there was one member from each campus. Snr. Vice President Bataille is looking for a better mix of faculty with representatives from medical schools and health sciences, and someone to represent the fixed-term faculty. She is also looking for someone who has a research interest in studying fixed-term faculty issues.
  
  
• Intellectual property issues. The new report on copyright and intellectual property is being examined by university officials on the various campuses. The Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee is interested in intellectual property related to electronic media such as Web-based materials.
  
  
• Tenure processes. The committee will examine the tenure processes across the UNC system. The committee wishes to determine if there are differences in the processes. Chairman Howell has been asked to provide the portions of faculty manuals that contain this information.
  
  
• Post-tenure Review. The OP has a three-member team with a grant to study the post-tenure review process in North Carolina. The Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee will study the reports when they become available. In the meantime Snr. VP Bataille will provide copies of the grant proposal as a starting point in our investigations.
  
  
• Phased Retirement. The committee would like to find out how phased retirement is working. It looks like the original notion of replacing one person in phased retirement with a new tenure-track person isn’t working, because there is not enough money to hire a full-time, tenure-track person with half the salary of a faculty member who is starting phased retirement. This has the effect of adding more part-time, fixed-term faculty. It appears that sometimes there aren’t even part-time position replacements going back to the department that is losing the retiring faculty member.

The committee would like to have a web site with :

• Links to agenda and minutes
• Group e-mail button to all members
• Links to AAUP--national and local
• Links to relevant GA documents, such as copyright report, post-tenure report, and report on how campuses will use lapsed salary funds
• No chat room.

6. Faculty Benefits and Welfare (Don Lisnerski, UNCA)

Committee Chair Don Lisnerski introduced his committee members, then shared what they would like to see in a Web page. They would like a committee page that includes:

• Bulletin Board
• E-mail drop
• Chat room for holding meetings
• Committee charge, agenda, minutes, and reports
• Faculty Assembly Agenda
• Links to GA’s policies and procedures
• Links to campus faculty senate pages
• Links to guidelines relating to faculty benefits

The committee would like to have VP of Human Resources, Ron Penny, visit their next committee meeting (11/17/00) to share information and participate in a question and answer session.

Other issues they plan to pursue this year, include:

• Merit raises--guidelines and distribution.
  
  
• Teaching merit increases--guidelines and distribution.
  
  
• Faculty hiring procedures and practices on the various campuses, including contract duration, dates, etc.
  
  
• Faculty illness and maternity leave policies.
  
  
• Faculty benefit options available on the various campuses.
  
  
• Child care issues--what is done on the various campuses and how we can learn from each other.
  
  
• Heath care options and costs--information/objective data will help new faculty make good decision, e.g., if one plan is selected over another, what the faculty should expect.
  
  
• Optional retirement plan vs. state retirement plans. Objective data are needed to show rates, returns, etc. so that new faculty can make informed decisions on best option for them.
  
  
• Phased retirement plan--information needed in easily understandable format.
  
  
• Merit pay--false impression is given to faculty and the public regarding how salary increases are made to faculty. The University receives an allocation, but the exact distributions are made by the campuses. Apparently some skimming of funds occurs at various administrative levels, before faculty raises are decided, for example, skimming to support equity adjustments and even raises for promotion.
  
  
• GA’s guidelines for merit allocations should be placed on the Web site so campuses can no longer hide behind a "GA mandate" to justify their decisions.
  
  
• Teaching merit pay--guidelines also need to be published so that GA mandate can no longer be used to cover or justify bizarre practices--thus creating inequities. For example, some campuses allocated funds to a maximum number of faculty and some campuses awarded few larger awards, creating severe inequities that are ongoing.

Questions/Answers/Comments

• One delegate noted that the legislature considered offering fixed raises this year, with a mandate that GA not use money for merit, and wondered whether we should we try to get that done for two or three years. Other members cautioned against having GA or the state to set guidelines as this could set a bad precedent--faculty governance issue. The best thing might be to give faculty information.
  
  
• Problems with merit raises are campus problems--Richard Veit. Each distribute increases as it sees fit.
  
  
• SPA employees get medical leave where faculty don’t. One delegate asked whether we have ever asked to be brought into a more equitable policy.
  
  
• Another delegate noted that benefits are restricted because we are lumped in with state personnel, but if we are treated separately, as is done in the Texas system, we will have more flexibility.

7. Ad hoc Technology (Jose D’Arruda)

The committee would like to have a Web page with:

• Links to Web sites of other University systems
• Links to archived minutes of past Faculty Assembly meeting--to develop a history of issues addressed in the past
• Links to General Assembly bills related to faculty salaries and benefits
• Links to all Faculty Assembly committees and committee chairs with an easy method to post questions and concerns
• Link to a page containing information on Assembly members who are running for Executive Committee positions--Chair, Secretary, Vice Chair, and Committee Chairs
• Group e-mail button to all members
• Links to AAUP--national and local
• Links to relevant GA documents, such as copyright report, post-tenure report, faculty benefit reports, retirement plans, and report on how campuses will use lapsed salary funds
• No chat room

The committee recommended the following:

• A system wide central server for software technology. This server should be available for use by all faculty on all campuses and should contain a wide variety of software. This will have several advantages such as cost to the UNC system when compared to buying site licenses at different campuses. This will offer faculty a variety of software as well as software of common applications.
  
  
• Faculty should have access of software from home as well.
  
  
• Faculty should have access of their e-mail accounts from home.
  
  
• System should allow for faculty to have mass storage for video clips, lecture material, etc.
  
  
• All faculty should have the same level of computer power and adequate training on using software
  
  
• All classrooms should have Internet connections and projection screens should be available in every room.
  
  
• A system-wide computer forum and training conference open to all faculties from all campuses (strongly support). This two-day conference/workshop will have training available on all levels of software and hardware. The conference should also address major developments and future trends in computers and software.

The committee recommends that the Technology Committee obtain a permanent status.

Questions/Answers/Comments

• One delegate asked that President Board’s e-mail address be included on the Faculty Assembly Web page. It is not easy to find it on the UNC page. Another delegate shared that the address is: broadm@ga.unc.edu.
  
  
• Delegate Howard Neufeld restated an earlier request for a statistical consultant to support faculty, similar to a unit that is available at NC State. The unit could be started with a doctoral student. The committee will explore the possibility.

 

C. Election of Vice Chair Replacement

Chair Howell noted that the Faculty Assembly bylaws require that an election be held at the next meeting, following the resignation.

Thirty-nine (39) ballots were prepared for the members present.

The nominees were:

Barbara Moran---UNCCH
Jeff Passe--UNCC
Richard Veit--UNCW

After the first vote, no clear winner emerged, and Barbara Moran withdrew. The second voted resulted in Passe receiving 23 votes and Veit receiving 16 votes. Jeff Passe is the new Vice Chair of the Faculty Senate.

D. Old Business

Chair Howell sought feedback on when Faculty Assembly meeting should be held. Most people prefer the present schedule to the former one that had meeting ending at 9:00 p.m. One delegate asked that Committee Chairs distribute agendas prior to the meetings. This will help to make meetings more productive.

One delegate asked when we can expect Web sites to be up and ready. Chair Howell noted that the structure will soon be ready; we need to send in the content.

Though members are more comfortable with the present meeting schedule, some wanted to know if another meeting could be scheduled, possibly by videoconferencing, teleconferencing, or in chat rooms? Would open meeting laws apply to these alternate meeting formats. Chair Howell had checked earlier and informed the Assembly that the answer is yes. These meetings must also be announced and the press can attend if they wish, but we don’t have to beam meetings to them. We don’t know if chat rooms are also subject to open meeting rules.

E. Adjournment

Motioned to adjourn was made and accepted. The meeting ended at 6:05 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Beryl C. McEwen, Ph.D.
Faculty Assembly Secretary