Faculty Voice Looks Ahead to Loud Year

Leaning back in her chair -- arms behind her head and feet atop a desk covered in endless stacks of papers -- Estroff can sum up her experience as Faculty Council chairwoman rather briefly.

"It's been a ride, I'll tell you," she said. "I've learned a lot."

And now, as she enters the last year of the position's three-year term, Estroff says the ride is only going to get more interesting.

"I have some clear goals in mind," said the professor of social medicine. "I do like to stay busy, but I don't have a choice."

Throughout her first two years as council chairwoman, Estroff has been a consistently vocal campus figure in UNC's most prominent debates and controversies.

But this year could keep her busier than before. She said there's no shortage of issues for the faculty's governing body to tackle the next two semesters.

With every item of discussion that emerges, she said, her mission will stay the same -- to accurately gauge faculty sentiment. "I think they look to me to be a spokesperson, to speak out on behalf of the faculty" Estroff said. "We get together, we argue, we discuss and come together. When you have seen me coming out swinging, it's as much them as it is me.

"Faculty Council is really in no way different from Student Congress. The council is the legislative arm, valve, mechanism of the faculty."

Estroff believes many of the issues that were brought to the table at the beginning of her term will culminate as the year takes shape.

For one, a task force on appointment, promotion and tenure is expected to submit a report sometime this semester, which should outline potential revisions to tenure guidelines.

The council also will debate a number of system overhauls that have been long in the making -- one to the General College curriculum and the other to the Honor Court.

"I definitely want to see the Honor Court reforms discussed, changed and implemented," Estroff said. "I realized there was such large faculty dissatisfaction with the process."

The past has shown, however, that some of the University's most contested items of discussion have surfaced unexpectedly, Estroff said.

Last year, a heavily divided campus prompted the council to support UNC's proposed establishment of a satellite campus in the Middle Eastern city of Doha, Qatar.

Similarly, the Executive Committee of the council found itself taking quick action to endorse academic freedom after the University's summer reading choice came under fire this year.

"You do get sidelined," Estroff said. "Who knew Qatar would come up? Who knew the Quran would come up?"

What will keep her grounded during her last year leading UNC's faculty is teaching, Estroff said.

"It saves me. This is going to sound sort of drippy, but every semester when I meet my students, it reminds me of why I'm here."

Taking all that lies ahead into consideration, Estroff said, it will be difficult for her to embody all of the faculty's diverse values and ideals.

"I don't think any one person could do that," she said. "I hope I do reflect some of their best and minimize some of their worst."

It's also important to realize that whatever stances the faculty take, students will be involved in the process, Estroff said.

"They need to understand that shared governance is tripartite," she said. "The good news is, we're on the same side -- unless it's grades or money."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.