BOG Announces Unplanned Meeting

The UNC-system Board of Governors is gathering today for an unplanned meeting to discuss faculty salaries and legislative requests, according to an agenda the board released to the media on Wednesday.

“The meeting was called to ensure the info the board controls is given to the public and the legislature,” said board member Marty Kotis.

He said it’s important the entire board have a voice, rather than a subset of the body making decisions on others’ behalf.

The board last met Oct. 30 when they voted to raise many of the UNC-system chancellors’ salaries, including UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol Folt’s, in the closed session.

Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause N.C., said he hopes the board offers an explanation for the increases.

“There’s a lot of concern, frustration, maybe even anger, that we’re not doing what we need to for our faculty and staff,” he said.

A staff member in UNC’s School of Dentistry, who asked to remain anonymous, said faculty and staff feel neglected by the Board of Governors.

“They’re acting like a corporation,” the source said. “I don’t know who they’re working for, but it’s not this University, and the people I’ve spoken to have gotten sick of it.”

UNC’s interim Faculty Chairperson Peter Mucha said the most consistent, resonating worry has been the board’s processes and how it’s moved forward with problems.

“Part of the reason people are concerned about process is that the lack of transparency makes it difficult for us to know what’s really going on,” he said.

Kotis said there have been legislative concern over some of the board’s actions in regards to compliance with open meeting laws.

“Some of us had concerns as well about interpretations of open meeting laws,” he said. “The meeting will not only address various concerns from the legislature that we’re complying with the laws, but it’ll also let some sunshine into the board room.”

The anonymous source said the UNC system will continue to face faculty retention problems if the board doesn’t get more in touch with employees.

David Rice, executive director of Higher Education Works, a nonprofit that encourages public interest in education, echoed this point.

“Of 419 faculty across the UNC system who received offers from other institutions from 2012-14, 320, or 76 percent, took the competing offer,” he said.

Phillips said closed-door discussions are poor practice for a public body.

“It’s the people’s business and the people’s university,” he said. “The business should be conducted in full, transparent fashion out in the sunshine.”

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