REPORT TO THE UNC-CH FACULTY COUNCIL
FACULTY ASSEMBLY, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
January 9, 2006
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 located at http://uncfacultyassembly.northcarolina.edu. 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 (2008), Lolly Gasaway (2007), Jim Murphy (2006), Bonnie Yankaskas (2006) and Judith Wegner (ex officio) (2006). Louis Bartek, Joseph Ferrell, and Fleming Bell serve as alternates. 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, and a caucus for historically minority institutions. In addition, an ad hoc task force co-chaired by Professor Bonnie Yankaskas has been considering issues of the Assembly’s organization and governance structures.
The Faculty Assembly traditionally meets four times per academic year in the UNC General Administration Building in Chapel Hill. During the current academic year, fall meetings were held on September 16 and November 18; spring meetings will be held on February 17 and April 7. Meetings generally include presentations by the University system president and other administrative personnel who are part of General Administration (including those responsible for budget, legislative relations, academic oversight, and faculty welfare). In addition, the Assembly’s committees meet separately and report to the afternoon plenary session.
During the last year, the Assembly adopted resolutions in support of academic freedom, developed a statement on shared governance standards designed to provide campuses with benchmarks for good governance practices, discussed priorities to be shared with President Erskine Bowles, and adopted a resolution on textbook costs to be shared with campuses and with the Board of Governors’ task force on this subject. The Assembly and its committees have also discussed a wide range of topics including: tuition levels, budget, long-range strategic planning, legislative relations, technology, professional development, health benefits, early retirement policies, the search for the new University President, and faculty relations with General Administration and the Board of Governors. The Assembly also sponsored a professional development program to foster exchanges of insights among incoming faculty leaders on the various campuses. Steve Bachenheimer, one of our delegates, represents the Faculty Assembly on a special Optional Retirement Program Investment Advisory Committee. That group will make recommendations on investment benchmarks, numbers of providers, and transition to new fund offerings. Other faculty assembly delegates have worked with General Administration on the UNC Health Care Initiative.
Respectfully submitted,
Judith Welch Wegner
Appendix: Faculty Assembly Shared Governance Document (April 2005)
Faculty Assembly Resolution on Textbook Costs (November 2005)
Board of Governors Proposed Textbook Resolution (January 2006)