News
General
A look at the shift in DEI funding at UNC-Chapel Hill
WRAL
Creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive community at UNC-Chapel Hill was the number one priority in a Carolina Next strategic plan approved in 2020. Now, the board is pulling $2.3 million from that effort....The nation’s first public university is backtracking on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Reggie Shuford is Executive Director of the NC Justice Center and a double alum of UNC-Chapel Hill. "I was gravely disappointed, frustrated, upset, concerned that the decision sends the wrong message that not all students are welcome at UNC," Shuford said.
Bad News
Why three NC medical students think an anti-DEI bill would be a disaster for medicine
NC Newsline
Washington, Hyde, Gates, and Yancey are four of the North Carolina counties without a single pediatrician, OB-GYN, or psychiatrist. This is not uncommon — 20 of our state’s counties lack a pediatrician, 26 lack an OB-GYN, and 32 lack a psychiatrist. These provider shortages disproportionately impact rural and low-income communities and would likely worsen under a new proposal introduced by eastern North Carolina Congressman Greg Murphy. Misleadingly entitled the “Embracing Anti-Discrimination, Unbiased Curricula, and Advancing Truth in Education (EDUCATE) Act,” the bill would block U.S. medical schools from receiving federal funding if they support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)-related policies or programs.
Good News
The Daily Tarheel Profiles The Coalition for Carolina
Daily Tar Heel
Following public tensions surrounding UNC’s governing bodies in 2021, the Coalition for Carolina was founded. The coalition is a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that aims to shed light on how partisan politics impact the University and was created by former UNC Faculty Chair and current professor Mimi Chapman, Owner of Fitzpatrick Communications and UNC alumna Joyce Fitzpatrick, and former member of the UNC Board of Trustees Roger Perry.
Bad News
UNC board member predicts NC will ‘follow Florida’s path,’ ban DEI at public colleges
News & Observer
At a committee meeting of the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees, board member Jim Blaine — the former chief of staff to Republican Senate leader Phil Berger and a powerful political player in the state — predicted that North Carolina could become one of the next states to eliminate DEI efforts at its public universities. “It’s my belief that it is likely that the Board of Governors or the state legislature will follow Florida’s path as it relates to DEI this year,” Blaine said.
Good News
Letter: UNC faculty oppose legislative, Board of Governors and Board of Trustees overreach
Daily Tar Heel
UNC Chapel Hill faculty address governance overreach in an open letter. The letter begins: "We, the undersigned UNC-Chapel Hill faculty, are alarmed by the interference and overreach of the North Carolina legislature, the UNC System Board of Governors, and the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees whose actions violate the principles of academic freedom and shared governance that undergird higher education in N.C. and the U.S. If enacted, we believe that these measures will further damage the reputation of UNC and the state of North Carolina and will likely bring critical scrutiny from accrediting agencies that know undue interference in university affairs when they see it. Among the disturbing recent developments:..." They go on to cite several bills and actions that threaten academic freedom, shared governance and more.
Bad News
UNC–Chapel Hill Board of Trustees Undermines Value of Faculty Expertise
Acadame Blog
When the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Board of Trustees chair David Boliek explained the trustees’ rationale for seeking to create a new School of Civic Life and Leadership, he cited an imaginary problem in search of a blatantly political solution. On January 28, on the Fox and Friends news program, Boliek said, “At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, we clearly have a world-class faculty that exists and teaches students and creates leaders of the future. We, however, have no shortage of left-of-center, progressive views on our campus, like many campuses across the nation. But the same really can’t be said about right-of-center views. So, this is an effort to try to remedy that with the School of Civic Life and Leadership, which will provide equal opportunity for both views to be taught.” As Boliek, a personal injury attorney based in Fayetteville, North Carolina, sees it, what professors offer students are “views,” perhaps akin to competing stories fashioned in courtrooms. He apparently understands little about how people become professors or what they do.
Bad News
Emails reveal trustee's communication with Wall Street Journal prior to resolution approval
Daily Tar Heel
"Board of Trustees Vice Chairperson John Preyer communicated with the Wall Street Journal editorial team about the School for Civic Life and Leadership as early as Jan. 24, according to emails obtained by The Daily Tar Heel. The resolution calling for the “acceleration” of the School was approved on Jan. 26. Collin Levy, a WSJ editorial board member and past speechwriter for former President George W. Bush, asked Preyer in a Jan. 25 email to review a quote: “But it's ‘not going to be an indoctrination shop,’ Board Member John Preyer tells us. ‘I don’t want to indoctrinate on the right anymore than I want to indoctrinate on the left. We want talented people with the goal of civic discourse,’” the email said. Preyer’s quote was only partially included in the WSJ editorial. Before Levy's quote review email, Preyer forwarded to her an email from Jenna Robinson, president of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal — a nonprofit whose stated mission is to improve higher education in North Carolina and nationwide. The email included three articles discussing the political affiliation of UNC faculty members."
Bad News
UNC-Chapel Hill trustees hire their own PR firm to joust with their critics | Opinion
News & Observer
"Improving communication is a good thing, but what the board is doing is seeking national conservative support to help it make an internal power grab. Indeed, faculty members learned about the proposal from a Wall Street Journal editorial that appeared just hours after the board voted on Jan. 26 to accelerate development of the school. The program would have a minimum of 20 faculty members teaching courses already provided by the university. One projection of the cost is $5 million a year. The Wall Street Journal editorial was followed by Boliek being interviewed by Fox News, op-eds by Boliek and the board’s vice chairman, John Preyer, running in North Carolina newspapers, another Wall Street Journal editorial on the reaction to the proposal, a Journal podcast on the topic and a video interview with Boliek by the newspaper’s editorial page editor, Paul Gigot."
Bad News
How not to start a new School of Civic Life at UNC-Chapel Hill | Opinion
News & Observer
"Great universities are about open and transparent dialogue and debate, just what the trustees claim to support. But the resolution announcing the new school was kept a secret. No one on campus, including the Chancellor, Provost or Chair of the Faculty knew anything about it. Even UNC System President Peter Hans was kept in the dark....he inevitable conclusion from this veil of secrecy is that the resolution was an attempt to wrest control of academic decision making from the faculty. To make matters worse, Board of Trustees chair David Boliek implied without evidence that faculty do not have the ability to facilitate civil discourse in the classroom because they are typically registered Democrats or Independents. His remedy is to hire 20 faculty he calls “right of center.” Rhetoric belittling faculty is not a great way to introduce the idea of a new school to those who likely must approve and implement its creation."
Bad News
‘I’m flabbergasted’: UNC leaders blindsided by trustees' decision on School of Civic Life and Leadership
Daily Tar Heel
"Chapman said the lack of communication regarding the resolution will make faculty feel 'dismissed and devalued' at a time when faculty retention is already low. Muller said the resolution process was disrespectful of the faculty and noted the faculty deserved consultation on the merits of the proposal before the resolution passed. Thorp said that the BOT’s development of the resolution is ironic considering trustees want UNC to excel in national rankings, yet they 'alienate' the faculty allowing the University to succeed. 'It’s further erosion of trust between the faculty and the administration,' Thorp said. "
General
The myth of academic indoctrination
Science
"...UNC board chair didn’t dispute the framing of events as the imminent establishment of a conservative school. Further, he told Fox News that the new school would hire Republican professors as a solution to the imbalance of ideologies on campus. If there’s a remedy, there has to be a problem—which is apparently that liberal professors indoctrinate their students. He also said that UNC had a “world-class faculty.” Would such faculty be lousy professors who do a poor job of teaching? Will the new Republican professors be more competent and not indoctrinate students? "
Bad News
Tim Moore’s Heavy Hand
The Assembly
North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore wanted an old friend with a controversial track record named chancellor at UNC Wilmington. Emails show that when a key board member resisted, Moore had her removed.
General
The Charade of Political Neutrality
Chronicle for Higher Education
College leaders need to speak out on the issues of the day as "colleges are in the middle of the culture wars whether they like it or not...It’s ironic that the same folks advocating for 'viewpoint diversity' are simultaneously muzzling their presidents."
Bad News
Colleges Must Stop Trying to Appease the Right
Chronicle for Higher Education
"..the university’s response indulges as legitimate the sort of orchestrated, bad-faith fury conservatives are currently weaponizing against public schools and public libraries, which are, like colleges and universities, an intrinsic and ideally constitutive part of pluralist liberal democracy, the current GOP’s ultimate target...."
Bad News
Silence from UNC as public and private universities weigh in on Supreme Court abortion ruling
NC Policy Watch
One week after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with its landmark ruling in Dobbs v. Women’s Health Organization, public and private colleges and universities across the country have weighed in the elimination of a constitutional right to abortion. From the University of North Carolina System and its flagship campus, UNC-Chapel Hill: total silence. On Thursday Mimi Chapman, chair of the UNC-Chapel Hill faculty, released her own statement.
Bad News
A pay cut
Higher Ed Works
With the 2022-23 budget they unveiled and adopted last week, state legislators simply aren’t taking care of their people – our people. The state has a $6.5 billion revenue surplus this year. Let that sink in: $6,524,141,444.00.1 Yet this state continues to systematically underfund public education. By one estimate, the budget falls $443 million short of what a court found would provide a sound, basic education to every child in North Carolina.2 Last year legislators promised state employees – including K-12 teachers, community-college instructors and university faculty – a raise of 2.5% in 2022-23.3 (Average teacher pay in North Carolina, meanwhile, ranks 34th in the nation4 – is that anything to brag about?)
Bad News
UNC across the street
Higher Ed Works
Now we know where state legislators want to put the UNC System, NC Community College System, Department of Public Instruction and Department of Commerce. Across the street. And now it will cost a mere $180 million in taxpayer dollars. In what has grown to a $250 million plan to demolish and shuffle state offices in downtown Raleigh,1 the state budget legislators unveiled and approved last week orders demolition of the Administration Building just across Salisbury Street from the Legislative Building.
Bad News
UNC Board of Governors undermined in UNC System move to Raleigh, conservative members say
Policy Watch
After six years on the UNC Board of Governors, Leo Daughtry is moving to the North Carolina State Board of Transportation. It wasn’t a move he sought, Daughtry told Policy Watch last week. But House leaders offered him a spot on the transportation board and he believed it was time to leave the Board of Governors....The change, part of a political appointments bill passed at the end of the legislative session, was probably inevitable after Daughtry said publicly something a number of board members privately say they also believe: The plan to move the UNC System offices to downtown Raleigh is expensive, ill-considered and motivated primarily by politics.
Good News
Some UNC BOG members object to Raleigh move
Higher Ed Works
Art Pope noted that the move was never discussed publicly until it emerged in a legislative conference report in November. When law is made behind closed doors, Pope said, “oftentimes it’s not the best legislation.” The transaction “lacks accountability and transparency,” he said. Pope also noted that the UNC System office only recently moved from its longtime headquarters to the Center for School Leadership Development in Chapel Hill. “We have space here. It’s not costing us $15 million to maintain space here,” he said. “I certainly don’t want to hear about a tuition increase when we’re spending $15 million unnecessarily.” Board member Leo Daughtry said the move to Raleigh was never discussed publicly by the Board of Governors, and he didn’t know about it until he read about it in a newspaper. “It seems to me that politics has seeped under our buffer,” Daughtry said. He added that the UNC System keeps a “political operative” on a retainer. “It is my opinion that the move from here to Raleigh was done purely on the basis of politics,” he said. “The reasons to do this seem to be lacking,” said Board of Governors member John Fraley. “This move is going to cost us a lot of money that we do not have to spend – and could cost us $100 million, ultimately.” Former Board Chair Lou Bissette, an ex officio member of the board, noted that when the idea of moving the System office surfaced in 2015, a board committee recommended that the office not move. “Members of this board owe their fiduciary duty to the UNC System, and not to the body that appoints them,” Bissette said. POPE, DAUGHTRY AND FRALEY were the only members of the board who voted against the lease proposal.
Good News
UNC-Chapel Hill researchers receive federal grant to help stave off another pandemic
News & Observer
Using a newly awarded $65 million federal grant, UNC-Chapel Hill researchers will create a new antiviral drug discovery center to tackle that question. The ultimate goal is to develop drugs that could be rapidly developed to combat future pandemics. The center will work with the university’s Rapidly Emerging Antiviral Drug Development Initiative, which pools the resources of academics and pharmaceutical companies to “give humanity an early advantage against future diseases”.
Good News
Graduating Tar Heels celebrate achievements during Commencement week
UNC Chapel Hill
It’s been a busy week for the Class of 2022. While they were still studying for finals, wrapping up their coursework and saying their goodbyes, graduates also celebrated their years of hard work and diligence at graduations across campus. Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz joined the festivities by attending several graduations, including the Carolina Latinx Center’s Éxitos and the American Indian Center’s ceremony, to celebrate with the students.
General
UNC Chancellor: Our challenges and mistakes will make us better
News and Observer
In response to “Dialogue, not silence, will heal the breach at UNC” (May 3): The 6,000 students gathered for graduation at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill this Sunday have been through a lot during the last four years. The usual gauntlet of being 19 years old while trying to learn physics and philosophy and become a productive adult is challenging enough. But these college graduates have also dealt with COVID lockdowns, an economic rollercoaster, and almost two years of making sacrifices in their personal lives and academic plans for the sake of public health. They’ve navigated a brave new world of online agitation that challenged the mental health of young people and the civic health of our society. And they’ve done it on a campus that serves as a prominent stage for controversy far more often than any of us would like. Through it all, they’ve stayed focused and remembered the goals that brought them to Carolina in the first place. They’ve been helped along by thousands of world-class faculty and staff who worked through the darkest days of the pandemic to provide a meaningful education to the sons and daughters of North Carolina and beyond, and to uphold the mission of public higher education at a time when it’s often in question. Kevin Guskiewicz.jpg Kevin Guskiewicz Jon Gardiner UNC-Chapel Hill I have been a professor at UNC-Chapel Hill for 27 years, and I don’t think I’ve ever sent off a graduating class with greater admiration or hope. I’ve never been more proud of the colleagues I work alongside each day. We ask an almost impossible thing of public higher education, to both serve society and challenge it at the same time. Every day, the scholars who work at Carolina have to provide trusted advice on everything from water quality to foreign policy to cutting-edge medical breakthroughs, making sure our campus is a ready toolbox for tackling the big problems that the policymakers, business leaders, and the citizens of North Carolina bring to us. At the same time, we are one of the few spaces in American public life where people of deep and genuine difference — in background, temperament, politics and worldview — have to find ways of working and learning together. It’s our responsibility and our constitutional mandate, to explore controversial subjects and invite challenging questions without stifling debate or limiting dissent. We don’t always get the balance right. And even when we do, the result can be chaotic and uncomfortable, especially for the vast majority of students and faculty who are trying to focus on their work and make a contribution in their chosen fields. Every fall, I start the graduate class I co-teach by sharing a favorite quote from Clark Kerr, the legendary leader of the University of California. “The university is so many things to so many different people that it must, of necessity, be partially at war with itself,” Kerr wrote. There is no question that the University has been through hard moments in its recent history, and that leaders like me could have handled some of them better. We’re still learning how to be a fair and humane institution in a divisive time, and I get advice every day from faculty and staff, from alumni, from lawmakers, students and strangers about how to do it better. They care about the place, and I’m grateful. I wouldn’t want it any other way. The belief that we can be better — that we can make progress, that we aren’t defined by our worst moments but by the way we learn from them — is what I want for the young people collecting their diplomas and celebrating with their families today.. It’s what I cherish most in this University, which has endured for two unquiet centuries because it was created out of confidence in a better future. Education has never been an easy thing. But it is always worth the struggle. Kevin Guskiewicz is a neuroscientist, a professor of exercise and sport science, and the chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
General
Our view: A UNC forensic exam
Winston-Salem Journal
Arecent report on the state of the UNC System drawn by the American Association of University Professors — a prestigious and influential national academic group — affirms what some have been saying for a while now. But there’s nothing about the confirmation that feels good. “The University of North Carolina System is in trouble,” the report reads. “And not the kind of trouble that record enrollments or good rankings can fix. It is the kind of trouble that festers and spreads.” It’s trouble that began in 2010 after Republicans took control of the state legislature and began to tinker with the UNC System — trouble that has diminished the reputation and operations of our educational flagship. “Many in the majority believed that the system, governed for decades by Democratic-leaning appointees, had become dominated by what they considered out-of-control liberalism to the detriment of conservative viewpoints,” the report says. “They saw the UNC board of governors, with its broad agenda-setting powers, as the key to transforming the university system.”
General
Dialogue, not silence, will heal the breach at UNC
Charlotte Observer
The American Association of University Professors issued a critical report last week on the University of North Carolina System that focused on political meddling in campus affairs, limitations on academic freedom and institutional racism, but the most telling part was what was not said. The introduction to the 36-page report includes this sentence: “UNC system president Peter Hans, Board of Governors chair Randall Ramsey, UNC–Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz, and UNC–Chapel Hill Board of Trustees chair David Boliek declined to be interviewed.” That those four said nothing says a lot.
Bad News
National faculty group criticizes political interference it says is damaging UNC System
News & Observer
A national organization of university faculty members released a report Thursday criticizing the UNC System, saying it violates standards of shared governance, threatens academic freedom and fosters institutional racism. “The University of North Carolina system is in trouble, and not the kind of trouble that record enrollments or good rankings can fix,” the report from the American Association of University Professors says. “It is the kind of trouble that festers and spreads.”
Bad News
Quick Takes Print UNC Journalism School Accreditation Downgraded
Inside Higher Ed
Just days after the formal downgrading of the accreditation of the journalism school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the chair of the campus’s Faculty Council said Hussman School of Journalism and Media faculty members and students are being punished for university leaders’ mistreatment and failed hiring of a high-profile appointee for a tenured teaching position. “It wasn’t the journalism department that didn’t want to tenure Nikole Hannah-Jones,” Mimi Chapman, the council chair, said of the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist whose appointment for the job became a national story and a source of division on the campus last year. “That was a problem at the Board of Trustees level, which has been widely reported. The delay in the vote and the whole maneuvering behind the scenes is what produced this problem.”
Good News
UNC-Chapel Hill graduate programs ranked among best in nation
UNC Chapel Hill
Numerous University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate programs received high rankings — 19 were among the top 10 in the nation in their respective categories — as part of U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools” list. For the fifth consecutive rankings period, Gillings School of Global Public Health was ranked second out of 195 schools and programs of public health in the United States, also maintaining its position as the top public school of public health. The Gillings School has been ranked among the top schools and programs of public health by U.S. News since the magazine first ranked public health schools in 1987. Additionally, the School of Law ranked eighth out of public law schools and has jumped 22 spots since 2019 to land in the top 25 law schools for the second year in a row. Altogether, 30 programs increased their rankings, including numerous programs in the School of Law, School of Education, College of Arts & Sciences, School of Nursing and Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Good News
UNC-CH launches program focusing on student career development
WRAL
Thank you for your leadership Chancellor Guskiewicz. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is inviting communities across the state to join its Carolina Across 100 initiative “Our State, Our Work: Connecting Young Adults with their Future.” The program will identify and implement strategies to expand and deepen education and employment pathways across the state with a focus on people 16 through 24 years old.
Good News
Carolina named the top public university in the South
UNC Website
The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education rankings are based on 15 factors across four main categories, including resources, engagement, outcomes and environment. Carolina recorded its strongest score in the outcomes category, which reviews graduation rate, reputation, graduate salaries and debt after graduation.
Bad News
Editorial: Fixing a lack of diversity by eliminating diversity
WRAL
It has long been a matter of ideological faith to the current leaders of the state legislature, that there is a “diversity problem” at the state’s universities. “University professors are far more liberal and Democratic,” they've complained. So, what solution have these legislative leaders done about the perceived lack of diversity? They have made the campus boards – and the UNC Board itself – even LESS diverse and MORE partisan.
General
DR. WESLEY BURKS: Let's not forget dedication of essential healthcare workers
WRAL
The challenge in this moment is how best to support our teammates, the dedicated professionals who have devoted their lives to caring for others and to helping their friends and neighbors become and stay healthy. Even if we don’t hear it as much these days, they are still heroes. The heroes, however, are also human. What they have experienced has been traumatic – both physically and emotionally exhausting.
Bad News
Women’s Financial Independence Makes Some Uneasy
Ellevest Magazine
"...it was a kick to the stomach when I recently got a call from a North Carolina journalist, letting me know that I had been nominated for a faculty award … but was rejected by the university's board of trustees."
General
'What it really means to love Carolina': UNC leaders discuss power tensions
Daily Tar Heel
“That term (shared governance) really embodies what the idea is,” Faculty Chairperson Mimi Chapman said. “It's that no one part of the puzzle is controlling the whole thing, but that there is a series of complementary and advisory relationships that result in governance of the institution that is reflective of common values between these groups.”
General
Year in review: In higher ed, higher stakes as the UNC system becomes more politicized
NC Policy Watch
It was another tumultuous year for one of the largest public institutions in North Carolina — the UNC System. While the COVID-19 pandemic made 2020 dangerous and unpredictable, 2021 was defined by a much more familiar threat — political influence.
General
Breaking down UNC Board of Trustees and Board of Governors decisions this year
Daily Tar Heel
As UNC attempted to return to near-normal operations following the onset of the pandemic, University leaders and UNC System officials have made many significant decisions impacting the campus community. Here’s a review of the University and system-wide events and decisions that shaped this year.
Good News
Inside Coalition for Carolina's efforts to depoliticize UNC-Chapel Hill's governance
Higher Ed Dive
Roger Perry had a mentor in his first year as a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill trustee in 2002, an experienced board member who would impart a simple piece of advice: "First do no harm." In Perry's view, the current roster of trustees has failed that mission.
General
Tensions Rise Within the UNC System Board of Governors
Assembly
The Chairman of the UNC Board of Governors apparently approved a $100 Million move of the UNC System office to Raleigh without ever informing the full UNC Board of Governors.
Bad News
UNC Chancellor is facing pressure for new provost decision
Daily Tarheel
UNC trustees interfering in tier II faculty hires, distinguished alumni awards, admissions appeals and, if true, attempting to dictate who the new Provost will be, is an outrageous abuse of power. Are they trying to destroy Carolina?
Bad News
A difficult place, a time of opportunity:' UNC-CH dealing with exodus of top leaders
WRAL
... nine top leaders have announced their retirement or departure from the university since last May, including Bob Blouin, executive vice chancellor and provost, a position only second to the chancellor.
General
New biography of UNC President Frank Porter Graham profiles a titan of education in N.C.
Star News
President of the Chapel Hill campus from 1930, and first president of the state's consolidated university system. Graham kept the University alive through the Depression and built it into a regional powerhouse — in large part, through his stalwart defense of academic freedom.
Bad News
UNC trustees upend honorary alumni awards, reject Trump critic and Black Democrat
News & Observer
A largely unnoticed dispute over honorary and special awards at UNC-Chapel Hill is emerging as a mini version of the school’s Nikole Hannah-Jones controversy
General
UNC's Mild-Mannered Change Agent
The Assembly
UNC System presidents are a storied lot. Among their roster sit a former White House chief of staff, a former U.S. secretary of education, and a former foundation president. The most famous is Bill Friday, a man whose name is synonymous with an unabashedly lofty vision for North Carolina, and a beloved leader who shaped a state and built an institution.
General
After the Nikole Hannah-Jones blowup, UNC’s journalism school is healing, but slowly
Poynter
Four months later, the main players in the drama are taking measured steps to move on.
Bad News
'Time To Go': Faculty of Color Explain What Made Them Ready To Leave UNC Chapel Hill
WUNC
Professor Malinda Maynor Lowery signed her offer letter for a position at Emory University hours before the news broke about Nikole Hannah-Jones.
Good News
Scientists Find Genetic Cause, Underlying Mechanisms of New Neurodevelopmental Syndrome
UNC School of Medicine News
Damaris Lorenzo, PhD, at the UNC School of Medicine, led the discovery of a new neurodevelopmental syndrome, its underlying genetic basis and molecular mechanisms, both important milestones on the road to create therapeutic strategies.
Good News
UNC System enrollment continues to climb
Higher Ed Works
Despite a global pandemic that clamped down activity nationwide, the University of North Carolina System saw record enrollment this fall for the fourth year in a row.
Good News
Michael Jordan Pledges $1 Million to Support UNC’s Ida B. Wells Society
Chapelboro
A $1 million grant from basketball legend Michael Jordan and his Jordan Brand’s Black Community Commitment will aid the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting.
Good News
Guskiewicz: The virtue of raucous debate
Higher Ed Works
Public universities are one of this country’s oldest and best ideas. The University of North Carolina was chartered in 1789, the same year our state ratified the US Constitution. There is no doubt the lawmakers of that era considered higher education to be an essential public good.
Bad News
UNC in turmoil over Silent Sam, the Confederate monument toppled by protesters
Washington Post
This semester more than any other, the University of North Carolina’s flagship campus has been riven over a statue some see as a hateful symbol of racism and others defend as a historical monument.
Bad News
U.N.C. at Chapel Hill Shifts to Remote Learning After a Covid-19 Outbreak
New York Times
U.S. college campuses grapple with coronavirus fears, outbreaks and protests.
Bad News
UNC keeps donor contracts private. But should the public know what’s being promised?
News & Observer
Bad News
EDITORIAL: UNC's denying Nikole Hannah-Jones tenure highlights systemic racism across UNC System
(NC State) Technician
On May 19, NC Policy Watch reported Nikole Hannah-Jones, renowned journalist and UNC-Chapel Hill alumna, was denied tenureship by the UNC-Chapel Hill board of trustees.
Bad News
UNC’s communications director is leaving. Here’s some serious advice for the next one
News & Observer
In 2013, I attended a reception for Joel Curran, the newly hired vice chancellor for communications at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Bad News
UNC and ECU settle with feds after allegedly falsifying volunteer hours for AmeriCorps
News & Observer
UNC-Chapel Hill and East Carolina University reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday after officials said the universities made false claims to get AmeriCorps grant money over five years.
Good News
Is The Worst Over? Modelers Predict A Steady Decline In COVID Cases Through March
NPR
Americans may be able to breathe a tentative sigh of relief soon, according to researchers studying the trajectory of the pandemic.
Bad News
Breaking down the power structure and history of the UNC Board of Trustees
Daily Tar Heel
"We have a very highly partisan situation," Mimi Chapman says
Bad News
Why have UNC faculty and employee reps been excluded from recent trustee meetings?
Durham Herald-Sun
The leaders representing groups of UNC-Chapel Hill professors, employees and graduate students have not been invited to speak on behalf of their colleagues to the campus Board of Trustees since new leaders of the board took over in the the summer.
Good News
A 3D printed vaccine patch offers vaccination without a shot
UNC School of Medicine News
Stanford University and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill develop microneedle vaccine patch that delivers stronger immune response than a vaccine shot
Good News
UNC lands $24M grant to drive more genetic research for precision medicine
WRAL TechWire
Doctors have accurate diagnostic tests for some single-gene conditions, such as sickle cell disease or cystic fibrosis. But when it comes to understanding the genetic variants underlying most rare genetic conditions, there is still much to learn. This is where the Clinical Genome Resource Consortium (ClinGen) comes in.
Bad News
Academic Tenure: In Desperate Need of Reform or In Desperate Need of Defenders?
Inside Higher Ed
Tenure is once again in the headlines, and not in a good way.
Bad News
Board of Trustees committee discusses latest 'All-Funds' budget approach
Daily Tar Heel
The UNC Board of Trustees Finance, Infrastructure and Audit Committee discussed the newly-approved All-Funds budget, a plan that would view the University's budget holistically and increase revenue and expenditure transparency, at its meeting Wednesday.
Good News
North Carolina at Chapel Hill Opens Esports Arena
AV Network
Black Box's MCX AV-over-IP system lowers technical barriers to participation in the gaming community.
Good News
Former Director John L. Sanders Passes Away at 94
UNC School of Government
The UNC School of Government is saddened to share the passing of John L. Sanders, former longtime faculty member and two-time director.
Bad News
UNC chancellor says antisemitism has 'no place on our campus'
WTVD
UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz is reaching out to the Jewish community amid rising concerns about antisemitism on campus.
Good News
3-D printed vaccine patch pioneered at UNC could revolutionize how we distribute vaccinations
WTVD
New technology coming out of UNC Chapel Hill could change everything about how vaccines are administered.
Good News
UNC-Chapel Hill joins Hillel International program to combat antisemitism on campus
News & Observer
UNC-Chapel Hill is joining the Hillel International’s Campus Climate Initiative program to combat antisemitism on campus.
Bad News
'Antisemitism has mutated': Jewish students, leaders worry over UNC-CH instructor's comments
News & Observer / WTVD
There are accusations of antisemitism on the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's campus, specifically in an academic discourse surrounding Israel and the Middle East – spurring a new complaint filed to the U.S. Department of Education.
Good News
UNC Listed as Third-Best Public U.S. University in Latest Academic Rankings
Chapelboro
As the newest rankings of universities across the United States continue to be released, UNC continues to place highly among other public universities.
Good News
‘Coalition for Carolina’ Scrutinizes Power Dynamics on UNC’s Campus
Chapelboro
A group of UNC alumni, faculty, students, and staff are coming together to stop what they say are political influences in campus decisions.
Bad News
UNC Chapel Hill Trustees Appoint John Hood and Allie Ray McCullen To WUNC Board of Directors
WUNC 91.5
The UNC Chapel Hill Board of Trustees voted today to appoint two new members to the board that oversees North Carolina Public Radio WUNC.
Bad News
Search for new UNC journalism school dean commences in aftermath of Hannah-Jones/Hussman controversy
NC Policy Watch
The search committee charged with finding the next dean of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media set out its goals and a rough timeline this week.
Good News
New antiviral drug has been researched at UNC for years
WRAL
The new anti-viral drug Molnupiravir has been in development for years at the University of North Carolina's Gillings School of Public Health in Chapel Hill.
Good News
Carolina awarded $24 million NIH grant to improve genomic, precision medicine
UNC Health
Dr. Jonathan Berg at the UNC School of Medicine is a principal investigator of the Clinical Genome Resource, a multi-institution consortium initially launched in 2013 by the National Human Genome Research Institute to provide evidence-based evaluations of clinically relevant genes and variants.
Good News
Gene editing center targeting new drug research to open at UNC-CH
WRAL TechWire
A new facility at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will enable researchers to screen for new drug targets using CRISPR, the powerful genome-editing technology that is accelerating discovery and development across the life sciences.
Bad News
After Hannah-Jones Tenure Debacle, AAUP Prepares Report Exploring 'Violations of Academic Governance' at UNC
Diverse Education
A special committee at the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is preparing a report detailing what it calls "a pattern of egregious violations of principles of academic governance and persistent structural racism" in the University of North Carolina System.
Bad News
Upcoming changes to library collections
Email from Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Bob Blouin and Vice Provost for University Libraries Elaine L. Westbrooks
The following campus message was sent on October 1, 2021 by Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Bob Blouin and Vice Provost for University Libraries Elaine L. Westbrooks.
Bad News
National faculty group investigating ‘egregious violations,’ ‘structural racism’ at UNC
News & Observer
The American Association of University Professors, a national organization of faculty, is investigating “a pattern of egregious violations of principles of academic governance and persistent structural racism” in the UNC System, particularly at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Bad News
Editorial: Reflecting on UNC's lack of transparency as communications staff depart
Daily Tar Heel
Two of UNC's major communications officials, Vice Chancellor for Communications Joel Curran and Director of Media Relations Joanne Peters Denny, announced within about two weeks of each other that they are leaving the University.
Good News
$1M donation to help UNC-Chapel Hill research disparities in breast cancer outcomes for Black, white women
WRAL
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill could be a step closer to finding a cure for breast cancer.
Bad News
UNC-Chapel Hill plans to cut $5 million from libraries, spurring questions about funding priorities
WUNC
When professor Tamlin Pavelsky was a young graduate student, he was among the last generation to Xerox research articles in the library.
Bad News
Column: UNC can't remain a research powerhouse without library resources
Daily Tar Heel
University Libraries announced this week it is facing a significant budget cut, with a loss of $2 million this fiscal year and $3 million the next.
General
BOT discusses resolution that would allow approval of Tier II faculty hires
Daily Tar Heel
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.
Good News
Unsung Founders Memorial topic of webinar series
UNC Communications
The University Commission on History, Race and a Way Forward will host two webinars in October.
Good News
UNC-Chapel Hill reduces COVID-19 testing requirement, brings booster shots to campus
CBS-17
UNC-Chapel Hill is reducing the testing requirements for unvaccinated students and, at the same time, bringing COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to those who qualify.
Good News
Delayed due to COVID 19, commencement for UNC's Class of 2020 features Roy Williams
ABC-11
One year and a half in the making, the Class of 2020 finally got the commencement they deserve.
General
Coalition for Carolina plans to assess governance structure of the University
Daily Tar Heel
The Coalition for Carolina introduced themselves in an ad in the Carolina Alumni Review entitled “What the hell is going on in Chapel Hill?” last month.
General
UNC Chapel Hill cancels classes Tuesday as police investigate 2 student deaths
Blue Ridge Public Radio
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is canceling classes for World Mental Health Day on Tuesday after two students died on campus in the last month.
General
UNC-Chapel Hill campus trying to come to grips with suicides
WRAL
Faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill discussed mental health concerns on campus Monday, following one reported student suicide and a suicide attempt over the weekend.
General
As UNC deals with mental health concerns, students & faculty say counseling center needs improvement
WTVD-11
It's been a challenging past few weeks on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill as the school deals with the recent suicides of at least two students.
General
UNC deals with mental health concerns in wake of student suicides
ABC-30 (Fresno, CA)
It's been a challenging past few weeks on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill as the school deals with the recent death by suicides of at least two students.
General
UNC faculty meeting to address mental health concerns
WRAL
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has canceled classes on Tuesday after UNC Police investigated two suicides over the weekend.
Good News
UNC-Chapel Hill to cancel classes Tuesday for a Wellness Day after suicide investigations
Albany Herald
The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill announced Sunday, World Mental Health Day, it is canceling classes Tuesday to observe what it called a "Wellness Day."
General
As UNC deals with mental health concerns, students & faculty say counseling center needs improvement
News & Observer
Bad News
Special Committee to Report on Structural Racism and Violations of Shared Governance at UNC
AAUP
The American Association of University Professors has launched a special committee to prepare a report on a pattern of egregious violations of principles of academic governance and persistent structural racism in the University of North Carolina System.
General
Guskiewicz: Making room for a moonshot
Higher Ed Works
Each fall, UNC Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz co-teaches a seminar for graduate students – professors of the future – called ‘The American Professoriate.’
General
‘Crisis on UNC’s campus’: University takes time to grieve and focus on mental health
News & Observer
General
Editorial: Mental health resources for the Chapel Hill community
Daily Tar Heel
In light of recent events, the Editorial Board has compiled a list of mental health resources for the UNC community.
General
Dogs and moms offer support, embrace UNC community
Daily Tar Heel
Dogs and moms came to UNC this week in an effort to improve student and community mental health following reports of a suicide and an attempted suicide over the weekend, according to the UNC Police crime log.