Whenever UNC faces an issue that garners negative attention, the go-to response seems to be the formation of a working group, committee or task force to look at the issue.
Sometimes, these groups are equipped with real policy-making weight and do truly admirable work. At other times, they provide recommendations that go unimplemented.
To heighten the effectiveness of public accountability, the University should create a web page providing access to details of the goals, powers, memberships and meeting times of the University’s officially-sanctioned working groups, task forces and committees. This page could be hosted on an expanded Carolina Commitment website.
Unfortunately, a reliance on working groups and task forces, common bureaucratic mechanisms, has the potential to slow action on issues of vital importance.
UNC already hosts a webpage that lists open meetings, but this list doesn’t have any details of the groups beside their meeting calendars.
Another page on the website of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost lists several groups but is inconsistent in the level of detail provided about each group’s mission and does not list all of the task forces working across the University bureaucracy.
A single web page to help the public hold task forces accountable could improve engagement and the ability of the University’s various reform groups to improve UNC when it matters.
