TO THE EDITOR:
As members of the Progressive Faculty Network, we are pleased that the N.C. Student Power Union brought attention to the dearth of student, faculty and staff representation on the Advisory Committee for Strategic Directions.
The work of that committee will affect all of us in the UNC system. In addition, faculty councils at East Carolina University, UNC-Pembroke and UNC-Chapel Hill — asking for representation on the committee — led to some, but not enough, progress.
UNC-system President Tom Ross agreed to the creation of a separate 12-person Faculty Advisory Council to provide input to the five-year planning committee.
Here’s the crux of the problem: input is not representation. And the committee remains dominated by administrators, politicians and CEOs, including some who oppose publicly-funded higher education.
The 2007 UNC Tomorrow committee was also low in faculty representation, but it had a 14-member Scholars Advisory Council from its inception. Faculty conducted research and prepared briefs on student diversity, environmental challenges, and economic inequality. Committee members visited all campuses, held 22 public forums and conducted a statewide survey.
Why not now?
Ross and the Advisory Committee on Strategic Directions should institute ongoing public forums; take a year — not a few months — to prepare the report; and add faculty, students and staff to the committee who represent the diversity of North Carolina.
A rush job with limited participation is likely to produce poor results that will ill serve the citizens of the state.
