After surveying his students and finding out what they have been dealing with since UNC announced the closing of its campus, one professor updated his syllabus to let students know that they are not alone.
With the transition to online learning coming up on March 23, UNC professors are planning on how to make their classes remote. For some areas of study like music and physical fitness, this online transition presents unique challenges. The University has extended spring break by a week to give professors time to prepare for online learning. For some professors, this means figuring out how to teach instrumental music over Zoom. For others, this means seeking help from other professors across the country.
Drew Ellis (Drell) is a UNC student and music producer.
The recent news about Silent Sam, free expression on campus and other issues were discussed at Friday's Faculty Council meeting.
The newly formed Commission on History, Race and a Way Forward offers an opportunity for UNC to reconcile with its racialized footprint.
On Dec. 20, Carolina Performing Arts released a statement in response to the Sons of Confederate Veterans settlement. Chancellor Emeritus James Moeser said CPA is "appalled at the agreement entered into on our behalf by the UNC System Board of Governors." However, CPA is also dealing with its own place in history. Its primary venue, Memorial Hall, prominently displays plaques in remembrance of founders of the University and memorializing Confederate alumni. Now, CPA recognizes its role in addressing these difficult issues through art.
UNC faculty from different departments signed a letter in support of graduate students who were arrested in Pittsboro during a protest.
Student participation in the computer science department at UNC has skyrocketed over the last decade, but issues have emerged from the department's inability to accommodate its newfound demand. While the number of declared or intended computer science majors has increased by more than tenfold since fall 2009, the department's faculty total has risen only 8.2 percent over the same time period. While the University recently extended a hint of incoming relief, the expectation remains that class cuts, reduced enrollment availability and other restrictive measures will make life increasingly difficult for computer science majors.
Nearly seven years after its investigation began, the U.S. Department of Education stated in a final program review report that UNC acted in violation of federal laws on campus safety and crime information throughout the department's review period while demonstrating a lack of administrative capability that “remains a matter of serious concern for the department.” Clery Act expert S. Daniel Carter told The Daily Tar Heel that the University is "certainly looking at six figures" in federal fines, and he called the department's description of UNC's administrative issues “one of the most blistering I’ve read in many years."
The investigation began in 2013, stemming from a federal complaint filed by four UNC students and a former administrator.
![Alexandra Smith, a senior media and journalism and Hispanic linguistics double major is photographed in her apartment on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2019. “I just wish people at UNC realized [mental health is] something that shouldn’t be stigmatized,” Smith said. “It’s something that should be normal and prioritized just as much as your physical health is.”](https://snworksceo.imgix.net/dth/ea968028-9315-489b-bf0d-54d0fdbeeb89.sized-1000x1000.JPG?w=800)
Several UNC students are speaking out about their mental health, and how they feel UNC should better accommodate students with mental illnesses. In April 2019, the Mental Health Task Force at UNC released a report showing that counseling services on campus are being used at an increasing rate. This trend also exists at colleges and universities nationwide. UNC is making a variety of changes, such as introducing a 24/7 CAPS hotline, to improve mental health care at UNC. Still, some students think the University should be doing more to provide this type of care.
Members of the Faculty Executive Committee met on Monday where they heard from UNC Police Chief David L. Perry.
Members for the Program for Public Discourse met with UNC faculty members on Monday to discuss how to facilitate civil conversations in their classrooms while also commenting on the program's origins and long-term motivations.
UNC's chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) held a statewide AAUP conference over the weekend, featuring a speech from national AAUP President Rudy Fichtenbaum.
Dan Gerlach, interim Chancellor of East Carolina University, has been placed on administrative leave in light of reports that he acted inappropriately in a Greenville-area bar last week.
Academic research is a staple of university libraries. Faculty depend on it for their own research, and students need it for their studies. But because of private publishing companies, who play a confusing and controlling role in the process of research creation, UNC Libraries is sounding alarms about the system's flaws. The publishing companies make money by selling research journal access to university libraries in confidential deals. UNC Libraries said there's an imbalance in the process, because tax payers subsidize research authoring, then subsequently have to pay again for research access. Rebels against the publishing giants advocate for open access — publishing online for free without paywalls — and say that continuing to buy into publishers' demands will impair scientific progress.
UNC students, professors and researchers will come together to conduct a study that examines the feasibility of changing the University's data science curriculum.
At the latest Faculty Executive Committee meeting, a new communication service, the Three Zeroes Initiative and the Program on Civic Virtue and Civil Discourse were on tap for discussion.
The Chancellor Search Committee met for the first time on Thursday to kick off the search for a new chancellor. The process is not only complex, but also confidential. Chairperson Richard Stevens said committee members should not even discuss candidates with their families. The timeline is projected to take four months, though the process could take longer.
![Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Robert Blouin discusses various changes to "digitial education" at UNC-Chapel Hill. Blouin placed a moratorium on third-party OPMs "mainly because [Blouin] felt that [UNC] needed to adopt a campus philosphy and a campus strategy towards digital residential and non residential education," Blouin said.](https://snworksceo.imgix.net/dth/083489dc-b8b7-47a7-acc8-02e5efd05195.sized-1000x1000.jpg?w=800)
A new data science initiative, survey on campus free speech and programs to support public debate were on the agenda for the most recent Faculty Executive Committee meeting.
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