The Board of Governors at the Beach

The University of North Carolina at Wilmington hosted the UNC Board of Governors on Thursday and Friday of this week. The campus was lovely and welcoming. Of course, it also helps to have a gorgeous beach close by!

Now for the updates.

You have probably seen the press on UNC Football which was clearly why most of the television cameras were there. No need to report any more on that. We also heard reporting on programs that were not meeting NCAA requirements and the problems are being reduced -- which is good.

The presentation this month was on Reach-NC, the new network being developed to help put faculty research out there to the world. The Executive Committee saw the beta version presentation which was much the same this summer at our retreat. The Board seemed quite taken with the system and with how it could present us to the business world and function as a marketing tool.

Of course, the budget discussions are everywhere. While most of the real budget work will be at the next meeting in October, you are likely aware that the governor asked all state agencies to prepare for 5%, 10% and 15% cuts. The universities, however, were only asked for 5% and 10% scenarios. It is a hopeful sign that education will be a priority even in a budget crisis. But it is, of course, way too early to know.

The campuses are all doing their work now and budget priorities will be set in the next month. At the Assembly meeting next week, we will discuss if we want to have input on these priorities. The two big pieces that will concern us look to be the state health plan and retirement.

There is also considerable conversation over our licensing responsibilities for not-for-profits and how to handle this situation. That will also be a feature of next month's meeting.

Let me get you thinking on a couple of perennial issues: how to talk about tenure and what it means (not so much to faculty, but to the effective functioning of a university and thus to students), and how to talk effectively about faculty workload to people who are not insiders to the academic world and do not understand the range of faculty responsibilities and their value (again, with a focus on what our work means to students -- inside and outside of the classroom).

It is time to be creative, visionary, and problem solving.