The Committee on University Government held a meeting on Wednesday to debate potential changes regarding the Faculty Code of University Government.
The code, which represents legislation enacted by faculty designed to ensure the effective operation of the University, is periodically reviewed by the University Government Committee. Wednesday's meeting featured six members of the committee who are appointed directly by the chancellor.
Check your spam mail
During spring of 2018, UNC made the decision to switch from the mass email client the University formerly used. As a result of the change, the Office of Faculty Governance has struggled to reach other faculty through email without the messages being placed in their spam folder.
During election time last year for the other committees in the Faculty Governance, nearly all ballots that were emailed ended up in the recipient’s spam folder. As a result, participation from faculty in the election last year dropped nearly 30 percent from previous years, said Secretary of the Faculty Vincas Steponaitis.
With the issue persisting after a newsletter sent out yesterday failed to reach half of its intended audience, Steponaitis said he is aware of the danger this issue has in halting the flow of information the Faculty Governance needs.
“People don’t know what they didn’t get and they’re not critical things like the one that we sent out yesterday or the ballot, so we just haven’t noticed,” Steponaitis said. “This committee can’t solve it, but it’s a critical problem.”
As another election season approaches for the Faculty Governance, University Government Committee member Suzanne Gulledge offered Steponaitis a temporary solution.
“We usually get a ‘look for your ballot’ email. Those tend to go out,” Gulledge said. “Would you not say if you don’t see it, go to your spam filter and find it?”
Name changes get recognized
The committee unanimously passed a motion to approve changing the Code to reflect name changes for the School of Media and Journalism and the School of Dentistry. On Feb. 20, the School of Dentistry was renamed the UNC Claude A. Adams Jr. and Grace Phillips Adams School of Dentistry. This change comes after the estate of Dr. Claude A. Adams III gifted the School of Dentistry with its largest single donation ever in a $27.68 million gift.
In 2015, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication changed its name to the School of Media and Journalism. These changes to the Code will occur both online and in print.
Keeping the libraries in mind
The committee spent time toying with the notion of adding a membership on the Financial Exigency and Program Change Committee for the Chairperson of the Administrative Board of the Library.
A committee that no one ever wants to see, the Financial Exigency Committee comes into effect during times of financial crisis. The position would be "ex officio," meaning the position would be by virtue of one’s position rather than elections. With other institutes at the University able to make a similar claim, the proposal was put on the backburners for another time.
“Is there anything we need to do to that committee to make sure that faculty interests and support and featured activities are at the table,” said Chairperson of the University Governance Committee Anne Klinefelter about the status of the Financial Exigency Committee.
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