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Separate resolutions on librarians' salaries and distance learning highlighted
the Faculty Council's March 26 meeting.
The resolution on librarians' salaries urged the state to grant University
librarians the same pay increases as their fellow faculty members. In recent
years, state pay raises for faculty members have specifically excluded
librarians, said Joe Hewett, associate provost for University libraries.
On the issue of distance learning, the resolution asked that a task force be
appointed to "evaluate the implications of distance learning on aspects of
faculty welfare."
Both resolutions passed without opposition.
In regard to the library, the resolution also urged the University to raise
salaries to be competitive with peer institutions.
Catharine Newbury, chair of the library administrative board, said that while
the University library network ranks 17th in the nation in quality, it ranks
80th in pay.
"This situation is already starting to have tremendous effects," Newbury said.
She added that salaries are one component of a financial crisis at the
libraries, which face another year with no budget increase at a time when
changes in information technology mean budgets need to grow just to keep up
with the pace of change.
The increasing emphasis on distance learning, both in the UNC system and
nationwide, prompted the Faculty Welfare Committee to ask for the task force to
be formed.
Among the issues the task force will study include the impact of distance
learning on: the number of part-time and contractual instructors employed;
faculty workloads; the instructor/student relationship; curriculum; and
intellectual property rights.
Also at the March 26 meeting, the Executive Committee of the Faculty Council
presented its annual report summarizing its work for the year.
Among the top issues mentioned in the report were enrollment growth, graduate
tuition remission, improvements to the University's management and support
services, and implementing the intellectual climate task force's report. (To
see the executive committee's complete report, visit http://www.unc.edu/
faculty/faccoun/reports/R99EXC01.html)
In other business, the Faculty Council:
* Approved a resolution opposing home football games on campus on
weeknights.
The resolution came as part of a long-standing discussion on Carolina's
contract through the ACC, which requires the school to host one Thursday night
game every five years. No such games currently are scheduled. Carolina's game
this fall in Charlotte against N.C. State is on a Thursday and considered a
home game, thereby fulfilling the University's obligation.
"Because of the demand for parking, we couldn't get to classes, couldn't get
to the library, we'd basically have to shut the campus down," said Dick Pfaff,
a history professor and the delegate who proposed the resolution.
Jack Evans, a business school professor and member of the athletics committee,
said that the athletics department has opposed Thursday night games since they
were first proposed and hopes that the contract can be fulfilled with minimal
disruption.
* Heard from Lee Conner, who became president of the Graduate and Professional
Students Association on April 6. Conner pledged to work closely with the
Faculty Council.
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