FACULTY

8/4/2020 9:09pm

Screenshot from the virtually Faculty Committee Meeting on Friday, June 19, 2020 to discuss the Carolina Roadmap.

'This road leads to a disaster': Faculty express reopening concerns in letters

By Maydha Devarajan and Preston Fore

UNC faculty have expressed concerns about the University's reopening, along with student leaders and campus workers. Through a public letter published in The Charlotte Observer and a letter from Chairperson of the Faculty Mimi Chapman, faculty have expressed their fears of returning to campus and of community spread of COVID-19.  “We are willing to do our part,” Chapman wrote. “But at this point, I believe that our University and perhaps the entire UNC System is being asked to turn straw into gold.”

6/29/2020 7:45am

Graphic of Heel Talk podcast

Heel Talk episode 12: Faculty and staff petition UNC against return to campus

By Evely Forte and Meredith Radford

In this episode, host Evely Forte spoke to DTH reporter and incoming Assistant Copy Editor Sasha Schroeder and incoming Assistant Online Editor Praveena Somasundaram to understand why many UNC faculty members, professors and teaching assistants are petitioning UNC administration about the fall 2020 semester because of the COVID-19 pandemic, what the petitioners are really demanding and how they hope the University will implement potential changes. 

6/23/2020 10:03pm

Screenshot of the Faculty Executive Meeting on Monday, June 22, 2020, where there was discussion on racial equity in the upcoming school year.

Faculty Executive Committee discusses fall semester, racial injustice at UNC

By Rachel Crumpler

Two UNC professors presented a roadmap for racial equity that has been in development for over a year at Monday's Faculty Executive meeting.  The roadmap calls for sustained actions over the course of three years, including renaming campus buildings in an inclusive process, establishing faculty advisory groups on racial equity and holding an annual UNC Board of Trustees meeting with Black and Indigenous faculty, and faculty of color. 

6/21/2020 11:33pm

The Graduate Student Petition and a previous Graduate and Professional Student Federation (GPSF) Meeting in Kerr Hall on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019.

Graduate workers continue to petition UNC, demand not reopen in-person instruction

By Rachel Crumpler

In a petition published June 12, graduate workers have expressed concerns about the safety and logistics of returning to campus for in-person instruction this fall. Workers demanded that UNC not reopen in-person this fall, does not layoff or furlough staff and grant them a one-year time-to-degree extension, among other demands. The University has said the Carolina Roadmap was developed with feedback from multiple parties, are working to refine the plan and will make "whatever adjustments are needed in real time.”

Editors Picks

3/16/2020 9:24pm

DTH Photo Illustration. A student sits at a desk on March 16, 2020. UNC students and professors are preparing for online instruction.

From jazz to LFIT, UNC professors plan how they'll take their classes online next week

By Allie Kelly

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. 

11/26/2019 12:38am

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Waitlists and frustrations grow as UNC's computer science department tries to keep up

By Hannah McClellan and Cynthia Dong

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.

9/18/2019 9:40pm

Unsustainable scholarship: How private companies control research in higher education

By Preston Lennon

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.

4/25/2019 11:02pm

Western Carolina University's new chancellor, Kelli R. Brown. Photo courtesy of UNC-system media relations.

Western Carolina University has a new chancellor

By Nathan Wesley

Kelli R. Brown will assume the position of the 12th chancellor of Western Carolina University in July. Brown was elected by the WCU Board of Governors on Thursday, bringing a legacy of success to the chancellor-less University