Board
of Trustees Remarks
Marianna
Walker, Chair of the Faculty
September
25, 2009
Good Morning. I bring you greetings from the faculty at our
great university.
I would like to begin my
remarks by thanking the Board of Trustees and Chancellor Ballard for making
academic core functions a priority for the university budget. This insightful
planning spared faculty positions and academic programs allowing the university
to maintain excellence in higher education for the region and the state.
During this last two months,
as the incoming Chair of the Faculty, I have been involved with “charting the
course” and “setting the pace” for faculty involvement and representation in
major initiatives at the
university. As I assumed my role, I
found myself thinking about how to lead and motivate the faculty to undertake a
number of important endeavors that are “on the table”, issues that could be
perceived, by faculty, as affecting shared governance and altering traditional
faculty responsibilities. It became
clear to me that setting a strong course for positive and open communication
was necessary, not only between the Chair of the Faculty and senior
administrators, but within the faculty and between faculty officers, faculty
senators, faculty-at-large, Administration, and the Board of Trustees. As a
faculty officer for the past two years (as Secretary and Vice Chair) and now in
my third year as the Chair of the Faculty, I began to see a need for increased
and open oral communication regarding issues currently being discussed by administration
and faculty. In contemplating the
current state of university affairs, the officers and I planned a series of
changes to traditional faculty senate venues including monthly open faculty
forums, on both east and west campuses, and a blog entitled “Faculty Matters”,
which allow all faculty to come to the table to voice
their opinions and concerns regarding current faculty issues. There must be
chances for these ideas and initiatives to be discussed openly where all
opinions are valued resulting in a general consensus to develop and ultimately
implement a plan.
We must work together with
the administration to make
To lead the faculty, I must represent the faculty’s
interests, and advise the Chancellor on all matters important to the faculty. This
can be accomplished with the assistance of my wonderful leadership team and the
support from the Chancellor, Provost, and Vice Chancellors. I can assure you,
that these individuals have promised to uphold the role of the faculty in
shared governance, a perspective that I consistently portray to the faculty.
This support is valuable and needed, especially at this time when two of the
most important endeavors ever in the history of the university are undertaken,
“Review and revision of the Faculty Manual”, and the development of the
“University Policy Manual”.
To update you on our
progress in reviewing and revising the faculty manual, the Chancellor announced
a Steering Committee, jointly appointed by the Chancellor and myself to oversee
this emendation of the faculty manual. In addition, a Faculty Advisory Group
was also announced whose members will assist the Chair of the Faculty, the
Provost, and the
The Faculty Manual Steering
Committee will begin its work this week but the University Standing Academic
committees have already begun the review of the faculty manual. At each of the University Academic
Organizational committee meetings, I reviewed the charge to revise the faculty
manual and provided the members with a time line for the review and
recommendations to be presented to the faculty senate. I can assure the Board
of Trustees, that the faculty are taking this charge seriously and have been
conscientious in their role in this huge endeavor.
In my recent addresses to
the faculty (Convocation Speech) and the
To the
… “A thorough review and
emendation of the faculty manual will be a priority during this academic year.
The faculty officers received this directive from the Chancellor at the end of
July. Many of the policies and
procedures contained within the faculty manual are and have been the
responsibilities of other divisions on campus. It is time to review such
policies and to relinquish the maintenance of such administrative policies to
other divisions, and ultimately to the University Policy Manual. In addition,
the Chancellor has asked that the faculty manual be streamlined, which will
rectify inconsistencies, eliminate redundancies, and clarify any ambiguities.”
Faculty Convocation (8/24/2009)
…”Sometimes circumstances,
such as an auditor directive, dictate the need for important, thoughtful, and
immediate responses. There is a call for
renewed communication and collaboration between faculty and administration. It
is time for faculty to come together to ascertain ways to improve our
responsiveness and shared governance procedures to advance the mission of our
great university. We have an opportunity
to improve the faculty manual by making it a more understandable and
streamlined document consistent with the UNC Code.”
In a recent meeting with
David Brody, where the faculty manual directive was reiterated on behalf of the
Board of Trustees, Mr. Brody stated “the process must be better than the
person”. This simple but profound quote resonates the spirit of the faculty
manual and as well as the University Policy Manual. Thank you
Mr. Brody for sharing your words of wisdom and encouragement to the faculty
officers that day.
We have much work to do this
academic year, but it is comforting to know that we have great resources and
expertise among the faculty to make this possible. We must direct our passion
and experience toward this enormous endeavor. We must be positive and forward
thinking in our collaboration with the administration, and work to preserve the
academy and faculty rights in shared governance at
As we embark on this new academic
year, we need to remind ourselves that if faculty members are engaged in the
process of solving problems, suggesting solutions, developing new systems, or
revising existing policies and procedures, they will have ownership in the
final product and outcome. Ask yourself what you can do to be part of this
process. Remember, it is not only your right, but your responsibility.
Historically, our
The
faculty is the soul of the university. Faculty need to provide direction and insight
not only for our students, but for the administration and Board of Trustees on
important academic issues in order to safeguard the well-being of all faculty
now and in the future and to maintain The University’s process of shared
governance.
So,
to the Board of Trustees, I pledge to report to you, the progress made on the
review and revision of the faculty manual, and to apprise you of the role of
the faculty in all university goals and missions this year. I look forward to
our communication and future work together on these endeavors. Thank you in
advance for all that you do for the university.
We
look forward to our work together this year. Thanks also to the Academic
Council, for their continued commitment to shared governance and the detailed communication
that has already occurred with the faculty leadership – Thanks to Provost
Sheerer, Vice Chancellor Horn, and Vice Chancellor Deirdre Mageean. We look
forward to our continued dialogue.