The UNC Faculty Council met on Friday to give an update on the School of Civic Life and Leadership and new tuition support for eligible families. They also gave the Thomas Jefferson Award to a faculty member.
Update on the SCiLL
- The IDEAs in Action Curriculum will require students to take a course in the new school.
- The purpose of SCiLL is to produce citizens that can foster democracy and have difficult conversations, said Dean Jim White of the College of Arts and Sciences, where the SCiLL will be housed.
- White also said the Program for Public Discourse will become a part of the SCiLL.
- The school's creation is part of an effort to address the political polarization we see today, Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said.
- White presented the hire of nine faculty members for the school, effective immediately.
- Faculty members will be half-time hires, meaning that they will retain their positions in their home departments. They will be tenure-tracked as well as conduct research and creative work, White said.
- White named Inger Brodey in English and Comparative Literature, Kurt Gray in Psychology and Neuroscience, Fabian Heitsch in Physics and Astronomy, Mark Katz in Music, Matthew Kotzen in Philosophy, Christian Lundberg in Communications, Jason Roberts in Political Science and Molly Worthen in History as the inaugural faculty of the School.
- Sarah Truel, director of the Program for Public Discourse, will serve as interim director and dean of the School until a permanent dean can be found.
- In what he called a "faculty-led process,” White tasked the inaugural team with creating a vision for the School, drawing on UNC's strengths, finding a permanent dean, initiating the groundwork for building the school’s curriculum and building the administrative infrastructure that the school needs to operate.
- Guskiewicz said there is a fear, similar to those during the creation of the Program for Public Discourse, that the School is being pushed down from the [NC] legislature in order to teach students what to think, rather than how to think.
- “Its success will depend on the confidence this campus community has that it will be developed and executed consistent with the way that we have always developed curricula,” Guskiewicz said.
A new commitment to aid
- Jackie Copeland, associate provost and director of Scholarships and Student Aid, gave a report on an expansion to current tuition support programs.
- UNC currently meets full need in state and out of state. Student debt at graduation, averaging around $20,000, is below the national average, averaging around $29,000.
- Now the University extends increased scholarship funding to about 200 more undergraduates, preventing them from taking out loans. Recipients are still eligible for federal aid — the expansion will cover the gap between federal and state aid.
- The Council passed Resolution 2023-6 in support of the new aid programs, which “decrease barriers to higher education,” according to the resolution.
Thomas Jefferson Award
- Chancellor Guskiewicz presented the Thomas Jefferson Award to professor Patricia Parker, director of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities.
- The award is intended for a faculty member who best exemplifies upholding "Jeffersonian" ideals of democracy, public service, and the pursuit of knowledge.
- She condemns the flaws of enslaver Thomas Jefferson, while she also advocates enduring Jeffersonian ideas about the inalienable rights of all human beings," Lloyd Kramer, Parker’s nominator for the award, said.
- Guskiewicz said Parker has had “an incredible impact on our campus.”
What else is new?
- A new budget was passed in September by the N.C. General Assembly.
- The budget includes financial support for the SCiLL, the new school of Data Science and Society, as well as raises for staff and laboratory and safety projects.
- Cuts were made to the schools of Law and Government.
- Guskiewicz said the proposed new building for the School of Law did not secure funding and the School of Government experienced cuts to additional programs.
- A ramp was installed at the Old Well at the beginning of the fall semester. Guskiewicz said there is a continued effort to replace elevators in buildings.
- Wilson Library will close for two years for renovations, pending Americans with Disabilities Act compliance.
