REPORT TO THE UNC-CH FACULTY COUNCIL

FACULTY ASSEMBLY, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA

March 4, 2005

The Faculty Assembly is the elected body of representatives of the faculty of the sixteen campuses of the University of North Carolina. The Faculty Assembly was formed in 1972 when all 16 public senior institutions were placed under one Board of Governors. According to its Charter, the Faculty Assembly has the following objectives:

1. The Faculty Assembly of the University of North Carolina shall gather and exchange information on behalf of the faculties of the constituent institutions of The University of North Carolina.

2. The Assembly shall, through appropriate channels, advise the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina, the General Assembly, and other governmental agencies and officers on matters of university-wide importance.

3. The Assembly shall advise and communicate with the President of the University of North Carolina with regard to the interests of the faculties and other matters of university-wide importance.

The Assembly has an expanded website current located at http://www.ncfaculty.com . UNC-Chapel Hill has five delegates elected from the faculty to represent this campus as part of the Assembly with terms as follows: Steve Bachenheimer (2005), Lolly Gasaway (2007), Carol Pardun (2006), Bonnie Yankaskas (2006) and Judith Wegner (ex officio) (2006). Joseph Ferrell, Fleming Bell, and Ute Bayne serve as alternates. During the current academic year, the delegates have been organized into standing committees on the following topics: academic freedom and tenure; budget; development; governance; planning/programs/administration; technology; welfare/benefits. In addition, an ad hoc task force on athletics was created and a caucus of historically minority universities was developed.

The Faculty Assembly traditionally meets four times per academic year in the UNC General Administration Building in Chapel Hill. The past year’s meetings were held on October 1, 2004; November 5, 2005; and February 4, 2005; with a final meeting scheduled for April 8, 2005. Meetings generally include presentations by President Molly Broad and other administrative personnel who are part of General Administration (including those responsible for budget, legislative relations, academic oversight, and faculty welfare), as well as meetings of the specified committees. Board of Governors Chair Brad Wilson and students involved in the Association of Student Governments also made presentations at recent meetings.

During the current year, the Assembly focused on certain items designed to assist some of the 16 campuses enhance faculty governance structures and practices. It passed a resolution calling for each campus to have an faculty athletics representative who has tenure and is selected with input from the faculty, has a written job description and adequate resources, and reports annually to the faculty. In addition, it developed a proposed statement on shared governance that will be presented at the March 4, 2005 Faculty Council meeting at UNC Chapel Hill for discussion. The Assembly went on record as supporting academic freedom and rejecting any possible future administrative or legislative effort to curtail freedom of inquiry in teaching and research. Committees of the Assembly also discussed matters such as the following: sexual harassment policies on campuses; promotion and tenure policies; web-based and technology-based courses and access to software; campus budgeting processes; teacher supply; campus administration; campus security; and health and retirement benefits.

Respectfully submitted,

Judith Welch Wegner