A Big Step Forward: UNC System President and Board of Governors Rein in Trustees at Carolina

UNC President Peter Hans and the UNC System Board of Governors have taken significant – and laudable – action to support sound leadership to UNC-Chapel Hill.

In an “Administrative Memorandum” to Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts and trustees’ Chair John Preyer, President Hans and BOG Chair Randy Ramsey:

• Made clear that trustees “shall refrain from directing matters of administrative or executive action except through the chancellor.”
• Empowered the chancellor to set agendas for trustees’ meetings and required trustees to submit requests for agenda items to the chancellor in advance and in writing.
• Took back from the trustees, authority for a series of personnel actions – and assigned that authority to the interim chancellor.

The memo from is dated January 12, the same day Roberts took over as interim chancellor. While it was sent two months ago, it came to public notice only last week.

Read it here: https://coalitionforcarolinafoundation.org/letter-from-ramsey-and-hans-to-preyer-and-roberts/

Hear, Hear!

The Coalition for Carolina applauds President Hans and BOG Chair Ramsey for their action.

On December 14 of last year, we posted a petition urging Hans and Ramsey to:

• “Stop trustees’ improper interference at Carolina,” and
• “Ensure that the next Chancellor at Carolina maintains the standard of excellence that we all expect at America’s oldest and greatest state public university.”

Read our petition here: https://coalitionforcarolinafoundation.org/sign-our-petition-stop-the-political-meddling-that-chased-away-chancellor-guskiewicz/

The January 12 memorandum is a giant step in the right direction.

It says:

“These important actions are taken simultaneously to empower the interim chancellor to lead UNC-Chapel Hill and act decisively in the best interests of the University. While these actions necessarily rebalance the roles and responsibilities of the Office of Chancellor and the role of the Board of Trustees, empowering the interim chancellor by treating UNC Chapel Hill similarly to every other campus within the University System is an important step to maintain the excellence of UNC Chapel Hill.”

We could not agree more.

The memo is written with legal precision, and it is crisp and clear. It concludes: “We look forward to continuing to work with the UNC Chapel Hill leadership to stay apprised of these efforts.”

Trustees’ Role is “Advisory”

The memo said, “The role of the constituent institution boards of trustees is to promote the sound development of the institution by serving in an advisory capacity to the Board of Governors and the chancellor” (emphasis added).

Roberts echoed that language when he participated in a webinar with our coalition March 20. He said then that trustees’ role should be “guidance, advice and advocacy.” He made clear that “I report to the system president, Peter Hans, as everybody knows.”

Too often in recent years, individual trustees have improperly inserted themselves into university operations, including admissions, personnel and even academics, such as the creation of the controversial new School of Civic Life and Leadership.

While we may not agree with Interim Chancellor Roberts on every issue, we believe he should have authority to lead UNC without improper interference by trustees.

Agenda Authority

President Hans and the BOG put the interim chancellor clearly in charge of deciding the agenda for meetings of the full board of trustees and its committees, “in consultation” with the chairs “as appropriate.”

The memo said:

“Every request for inclusion of an item on the agenda of a meeting shall be put in writing and filed, together with any supporting documents, with the interim chancellor sufficiently far in advance of the meeting to permit a determination to be made by the interim chancellor with respect to the propriety and practicability of including that item on the agenda for the meeting.”

We hope this process will avoid the debacle that led to Heather Mac Donald, a right-wing critic of higher education, speaking to a trustees’ committee last November, where she launched an unjustified and unsupported assault on the very things that make UNC great.

• See our reports on her appearance: https://coalitionforcarolinafoundation.org/a-new-assault-on-carolina-is-happening/  and
• https://coalitionforcarolinafoundation.org/exposing-the-right-wing-attack-on-diversity-at-unc-and-across-america/

The memo reminded trustees that UNC bylaws provide for agendas to be made available at least seven days before regular meetings and four days before special meetings.

Personnel Authority

The memo “updated” – in reality, withdrew – previous delegations of authority to the board of trustees on personnel matters:

“To better align UNC Chapel Hill’s delegation of authority regarding personnel actions with the rest of the UNC System, this administrative memorandum suspends and modifies UNC Chapel Hill’s delegation of authority … to provide that, notwithstanding any previous delegation made to UNC Chapel Hill’s board of trustees, the interim chancellor, or the interim chancellor’s designee, shall have the authority to execute…personnel actions,” including:

• Appointment or reappointment of a faculty member to a tenure-track position.
• Appointments of special faculty, associate or assistant deans, department heads or chairs, associate or assistant vice chancellors, members of the chancellor’s staff, among others.
• Salary adjustments, including for athletics coaches.
• Faculty rank promotions.
• The final section on “Tier I SAAO Selection” indicates that is the Chancellor’s decision to appoint search committees and select these individuals. Positions like this include: Executive Vice Chancellor, Provost, Vice Chancellor, Dean, or Directors of major administrative, educational, research, and public services activities.  Again, this is a directive to allow the Chancellor to do their job without interference.

A Final Thought

Since we founded the Coalition for Carolina more than two years ago, we have pushed back against political interference and trustees’ overreach that we believe have damaged Carolina.

This battle is not won. Still, this action by President Hans and the Board of Governors is encouraging.

We believe our efforts have played some part in this progress. We take pride in that.

At the same time, we know that much work remains to be done.

We hope you will join us, read our reports and support our efforts – by passing on this information, by making your voice heard and, if you see fit, by making a financial donation to the Coalition for Carolina.

Hark the sound.