Faculty retention has been at the top of the UNC administration’s agenda for months, and student leaders have started contributing to the discussion.
The student task force on faculty retention will present data that members have collected to the joint meeting of the student affairs and academic affairs committees of the Board of Trustees Wednesday.
Student Body Vice President and head of the committee Zealan Hoover will present a slideshow to the committees introducing his committee and its plans and will answer questions, he said.
“If we can improve the Carolina experience for our faculty, then we can positively affect retention rate,” he said.
The task force was formed last summer and just finished surveying every faculty member in the Colleges of Arts and Sciences. It succeeded in getting responses from one out of three faculty members, Hoover said.
In administering the survey, the task force sought to gauge the attitudes of faculty on a wide array of issues, including what measures the University could take to keep faculty members at UNC.
“The key is finding actionable data,” Hoover said. “One of the challenges is finding ways to increase faculty retention that is not revolved around increasing salary.”
So far, Hoover said he is pleased with the support he and his committee are receiving
“We’ve been incredibly well supported in this endeavor. I know the provost is very excited to see the results,” he said.
