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Assembly Highlights for September
2002
WCU's delegates to UNCs Faculty Assembly, Mary
Adams,
Kathy Wright, and Mary
Anne Nixon, represent our faculty's concerns at
the system level, reporting what they learn from system
administrators and other delegates annually and making
resolutions and recommendations. Because we believe
the knowledge we gain in Chapel Hill to be potentially
more powerful than our recommendations, we'd like
to share our findings in report form as soon after
meetings as possible.
Below you'll
find a short summary of discussions we thought of
greatest concern for the WCU community at the last
session, along with links to the web pages for the
Faculty Senate and the Office of the President for
you to read more.
These notes are not the official
assembly minutes. You can read official
Assembly minutes at the UNC main site.
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Summary
of Findings
(download
printable version here):
ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND TENURE
- In light of the recent controversy regarding
Chapel Hill's Koran reading program, the Academic
Freedom and Tenure Committee submitted a resolution
in support of academic freedom. This was passed
unanimously.
- When asked about the "significant escalation"
in adjunct teaching positions, President Broad said,
"Great universities are not built on adjuncts."
It is only presumed from this statement that she
would support measures to limit the number of courses
taught by adjuncts.
- We learned that Fred Hinson is WCU's campus liaison
for carrying out the charges of the Non-tenure-track
Faculty task force (read the report at http://www.northcarolina.edu/aa/reports/ntt_faculty/)
BUDGET AND FINANCE
- In the finalized budget, UNC received permanent
cuts at 2.88%, much lower than the anticipated 7
- 15%. These cuts come from "campus flexibility
reserves;" in other words, they are made at
the Chancellor's discretion.
- This was generally hailed as excellent news, and
all faculty are encouraged to thank appropriate
legislators
- However, we should also expect to bear a disproportionate
share of "hidden" reductions, includng
$25 million in "efficiency" reductions
and $41 million in additional cuts "to be managed
by the governor" (I'm quoting UNC Chief Financial
Officer Jeff Davies). We should also expect additional
1x reversions
- Special provisions: good news:
- Enrollment increases and graduate tuition
breaks were fully funded, despite efforts to
cut them.
- Local tuition increase funds were not seized,
so Chancellor Bardo should be able to put into
effect his plans to give raises and benefits
to non-tenure-track faculty
- The budget included $11 million in funds for
Focused Growth institutions (WCU is one of these).
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PLANNING, GLOBAL ISSUES, AND THE HOMELAND SECURITY
ACT
- VP for Academic Affairs Gretchen Bataille reports
the positives and negatives of 9/11 for us: though
parents are less likely to support international
exchange programs, 90% of citizens say that a knowledge
of international affairs is important to their careers.
25% said their own college education did not help
them understand international issues.
- The UNC Board of Governors recently approved Internationalization
as a sixth prong of its long-range strategic plan.
(See http://www.northcarolina.edu/aa/departments/inter_programs/unc_inter.cfm
- WCU's Faculty Senate just passed an RFP (Request
for Planning) for a new Emergency Management program.
Bataille says that, because of the Homeland Security
Acts, UNC expects so many of these RFP's that they
will set up a special division to deal with them.
- President Broad spoke of her priority to attract
skilled jobs to NC and to educate a skilled workforce,
since NC has permanently lost 120,000 manufacturing
jobs in recent years. She emphasized in particular
Biotechnology, which could employ thousands of graduates
now. She said we should treat bioltechnology as
an "interdisciplinary degree," not just
a series of skills.
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ACCESS, RECRUITMENT, RETENTION
- Bobby Kanoy, UNC Associate Vice President for
Access and Outreach, reported to us about major
initiatives to increase access to college including
- Creation of the UNC College Foundation Web
Site (http://www.cfnc.org)
which allows students to prepare online for
college tests, apply once for college and have
that application delivered to schools of their
choice, locate financial aid, etc.
- A new feature, "College Redirection,"
allows students who aren't admitted to their
first choice schools to send their names to
schools like WCU looking for additional students
o Gear UP is a new program to prepare students
for college.
- VP Gretchen Bataille urged all schools to find
ways to expand course offerings to NC troops, who
now often go outside the state. An untapped market,
troops want "face-to-face" courses as
well as online courses.
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TECHNOLOGY
- UNC's Information Resources division has a list
of university-wide site licenses at http://www.northcarolina.edu/ir/programs/programs.cfm
- Information Resources is also the place to go
for information about e-learning and other technological
initiatives
- The TLT (Teaching and Learning with Technology)
Collaborative, which is funded by all 16 institutions,
has a web site at http://www.unctlt.org/tlt/.
They plan a second conference in April or May, focusing
on collaborating with technology.
COMMITTEE PRIORITIES FOR THIS YEAR
- Academic Freedom and Tenure plans to investigate
the changing ratio of administrators to faculty
across campuses, with special emphasis on Academic
Affairs positions funded by vacant faculty positions.
They hope to persuade faculty and administrators
across the system to create a "ceiling"
on administrative growth, and to include this topic
in strategic planning. They will also revisit Post-Tenure
Review, Intellectual Property rights, and faculty
reviews of administrators.
- The Budget committee plans a web site where we
all can get access to budget information, not only
at the UNC level, but at the campus level.
- Faculty Development will investigate disparities
in faculty travel money, as low as $70 per faculty
member at some schools as as high as $1500 per faculty
member at others (Winston Salem State). They will
also look at exclusions and limitations placed on
travel, with the hopes of recommending Best Practices.
- Benefits and Welfare will look at benefits and
phased retirement. They pointed out that UNC benefits
do not pay to ship remains of faculty who die abroad.
They will also look at parking fees, especially
from schools where parking increases have been levied
to pay for lawsuits regarding access to the disabled.
Though WCU has not yet been sued, we should expect
such lawsuits if our own parking lots are not
brought into compliance with federal regulations.
- Governance will monitor current Board of Governor
efforts to revise the Code.
- Planning will investigate ways to involve faculty
in the next round of long-range planning, which
begins in 2003.
- Technology will find ways to influence UNC technology
and access initiatives, and hopes to play a crucial
role in this year's Teaching and Technology Collaborative
conference, slated for late March or early April.
(Western's own Frank Prochaska heads up this Collaborative).
BOARD OF GOVERNORS RESOLUTION PRAISING ASSEMBLY
AND FACULTY
FYI, the Board of Governors recently resolved to
"pay tribute to the faculty assembly for its
thirty years of valued and distinguished service"
as well as to honor "the faculty of the University
of North Carolina for its primary role in the University's
missions of teaching, scholarship, and service"
(full text available soon at
http://northcarolina.edu/bog/minutes/2002/index.cfm)
For more information
and the full minutes, please go to the
link for the faculty assembly.
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