New chair, new board get to work

In his opening remarks at the July 15 Board of Trustees meeting, new Chair David L. Boliek Jr. outlined four “areas of focus” for the upcoming year:

• a fall semester that looks as “normal as possible,”
• a commitment to harnessing the University’s economic power,
• support for the existing Carolina Next strategic plan and
• a faculty tenure process that is “clear, transparent and consistent with best practices.”

“Each member of this board is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The University of North Carolina has taught each one of us many life lessons. We all have a Carolina story,” Boliek said. “We are supportive of the chancellor as we work together to move this university forward.”

The board Boliek leads is a mix of returning and new trustees with six of the 13 members being sworn in July 14, all for four-year terms, and Student Body President Lamar Richards having joined in May. The board elected John Preyer vice chair and new member Malcolm Turner secretary.

Over their two-day meeting schedule, the trustees received an overview of the University’s financial situation, the Carolina Next strategic plan and details about the return to campus for the fall semester.

Nate Knuffman, vice chancellor for finance and operations, had good news to report. Not only is the University ahead of schedule to achieve a balanced budget by June 30, 2022, but it also had its AAA credit rating re-affirmed by all three primary U.S. bond rating agencies.

“It was wonderful this week to see this story about how our chancellor and his leadership team came together to work on eliminating this deficit and shortfall,” said trustee Teresa Artis Neal.

Provost Robert A. Blouin walked the group through the annual report on the Carolina Next strategic plan, pointing out the many adaptations made throughout the pandemic.

“One of the things that we wanted to do is to make sure that this strategic plan is a living, breathing document,” Blouin said. “We felt strongly that even though we had approved this strategic plan in January that we needed to make sure that it stayed fresh and was sensitive to the changes that were taking place around it.”

Trustee Gene Davis congratulated Blouin and his team on their efforts. “During the midst of this pandemic, the University stayed true to our strategic plan. In making these meaningful strides, our University is made better and stronger.”

Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz speaks as new Board of Trustees Chair David Boliek Jr. and Vice Chair John Preyer look on. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

For the fall semester, Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz announced that convocation will be held in Kenan Stadium for the first time to accommodate the largest incoming class in Carolina’s history as well as the sophomores whose 2020 convocation was a virtual one.

“Our faculty and staff have done an incredible job, working tirelessly to make sure we can create that experience for our students and to make sure we’re fully operational,” Guskiewicz said.

Amy Johnson, vice chancellor for student affairs, led off a team of presenters who gave more details about the return to campus. She described how her staff has reimagined the welcome back to campus for students with festivals, cookouts, block parties and other community-building activities throughout the fall.

Rick Wernoski, senior vice provost for business operations, talked about how staff have been preparing buildings to be occupied at full capacity again by cleaning, improving air quality and ventilation and flushing water systems, as well as setting up canopies for outdoor gathering.

Fielding the most questions from trustees was Amir Barzin, assistant professor and medical director of the Family Medicine Center. Barzin addressed the University’s testing and vaccination protocols and community standards that require wearing masks indoors, a mandate more stringent than current CDC guidelines.

“A college campus is a very unique affair,” Barzin said, pointing out that students will be coming to Chapel Hill from across the state, nation and world, including places affected by the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19. “We want to set ourselves up to succeed, so we’re going to start with masking and remove the masks if the information allows us to.”

Trustee Ralph W. Meekins Sr. thanked the presenters for their insights. “It’s like having the dream team right here in our back yard.”

In other action, the board:

• approved transfer of restricted funds from the endowment fund to the University but delayed action on unrestricted funds pending further review;
• approved spending authority for renovations to Bingham and Coates Halls and an addition to the Gillings School of Global Public Health; and
• adopted the updated flex parking fee chart and requested more study on current overall fee structure.