The UNC Board of Trustees unanimously approved a resolution which would amend and restate the current delegations of authority between the BOT, Board of Governors and University administration at a special meeting Thursday.
What’s new?
- BOT Chairperson David Boliek said many hours have gone into identifying how the authorities and responsibilities of the BOT, BOG and UNC administration should be divided.
- He said the purpose of the special meeting is to start the conversation of deciding which responsibilities should lie with the BOT specifically.
- Boliek added that, while the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the proposed Amendment and Restatement of Board of Trustees Authority, the resolution would not go into effect directly after the meeting. He said the resolution will be sent to the BOG for edits before being returned to the BOT.
- Boliek said the resolution is important because it will also leave a legacy.
- "So when board members come into the role as a member of the Board of Trustees, they are given a road map," Boliek said. "They are given a notebook as it were so future board members are able to understand what their role is in the University and where they will have the opportunity to make a difference.”
- Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said he is glad the authorities are being revised, especially since many have not been updated since they were put in place in 1972.
- “I think this is a healthy exercise that we have been going through over the past several weeks with members of our leadership team to really take a closer look at these delegated authorities,” Guskiewicz said.
- Boliek presented the BOT with the three main changes in the resolution:
- The process for the appointment of fixed-term faculty members would be updated so that faculty appointments of more than three years with an annual salary greater than $100,000 would be approved by Guskiewicz or delegated by him to the Office of the Provost. All other fixed-term faculty appointments would be handled by the deans of specific schools.
- Appointment of Tier II hires — which includes associate vice chancellors, assistant vice chancellors, associate deans and assistant deans — would be approved by the BOT. According to a previous policy, Tier II appointments were handled by the University chancellor or a delegate of the chancellor.
- The BOT currently approves appointment of Tier I hires, which include the chancellor, provost, vice chancellors and deans.
- The BOT would approve salary ranges for athletics assistant coaches.
- “I’ve talked to the athletic director, he actually believes that would be helpful for him if we as a Board are giving him some parameters," Boliek said. "So when head coaches are out, they already have a number they can work with."
- The BOT discussed how the approval of Tier II hires would effect efficiency.
- “I do think it’s important to recognize that UNC-Chapel Hill is a very large place and there are a lot of personnel transactions that take place monthly and weekly," Guskiewicz said. "And I think we need to be sure that the approval process remains timely and that campus operations are effective."
- Student Body President Lamar Richards said he is concerned about the process of the BOT reviewing Tier II hires and would like more information about what it would entail.
- "I’ve heard a lot of trustees say that they felt that the tenure process for us was just a rubber stamp," he said. "And I’m concerned that this would also be that, if we were just given a list of names and rolls that we may not know anything about, in the same excel sheet form over and over again several times."
