Templeton prepares to leave the ‘bully pulpit’

Joe Templeton never sought to become faculty chair. But he didn’t back away when he was asked to be a candidate three years ago. Neither did he sidestep thorny issues or milestone events that emerged during his tenure.

Much like the all-star soccer goalie he was in college, Templeton deftly led by being in the right place at the right time and knowing when to move and when to stay put. Characteristically, he addressed each new challenge with a blend of directness, aplomb and humility underscoring his Midwestern roots.

“I like to think I can be either a sheep or a shepherd,” he said. “I like to fill the role I’m supposed to, but I have a slight preference for being in the background, which sounds a little incompatible with being chair of the faculty.”

An inorganic chemist who has spent three decades at Carolina teaching – or preparing students to learn, to use his description – and conducting research, Templeton is no stranger to leadership. The Francis Preston Venable Professor of Chemistry has been chair of the chemistry department, a member of the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee and the Faculty Executive Committee and chair of the Summer Reading Program Book Selection Committee.

He is a Civil War history buff who enjoys the power of words, and often reads passages from literature to graduate students in his chemistry classes; yet he chooses his words carefully and uses them sparingly, humorously and pointedly.

“I think using too many words dilutes the power of each one,” he said. “There’s always a pill in the pudding. It’s one of Alan Alda’s lines, but I like it because it conveys that there’s a lot of humor, but there’s always a message. Sometimes it surfaces and sometimes not.”

Joe Ferrell, longtime secretary of the faculty, said working with Templeton was delightful.

“He is blessed with uncommonly good judgment, a sunny disposition and a sly sense of humor. With his guidance, we have usually managed to get to the right place while having fun on the journey,” Ferrell said.

The ‘bully pulpit’
Faculty governance is not the powerhouse people assume it to be, Templeton said.

“It’s parallel to the administration, almost independent. There are connections between faculty governance and what’s happening at the University, but they are not as direct, or the linkages are not as strong, as some people might anticipate or wish.”

In fact, one unexpected aspect of his role was the battery of questions about anything related to Carolina he suddenly received because “people think you get a magic wand with all areas of intelligence on the day you become chair of the faculty.”

Instead of trying to master an unfathomable number of details, the key is to build credibility so people hear what you have to say, he said.

“The faculty chair is really a bully pulpit. The number of resources you control is close to zero, but the number of settings in which you can provide input and hope it has value is really staggering,” Templeton said.

Tackling major issues
Templeton didn’t have far to look for such opportunities; a major topic of faculty discussion emerged each year of his tenure.

Just after he was elected, and as Judith Wegner was winding down her term as chair, the Faculty Council took on the then-controversial $5 million, six-year proposal by the John W. Pope Foundation to expand the University’s studies in Western cultures within the College of Arts and Sciences.

“That was THE topic as I started,” Templeton said, “and then it kind of drifted away.”

Topics the following two years came from the Educational Policy Committee. First, in spring 2007, there was a proposed achievement index to supplement GPA as a measure of undergraduates’ performance relative to that of their classmates. The following academic year, the issue was priority registration in which a small number of undergraduates could qualify to register for courses ahead of their classmates.

The first issue was narrowly defeated, the second passed by a clear majority. In each case, though, the outcome wasn’t as important to Templeton as the process.

Although he supported the achievement index, Templeton said he was pleased that the civil discussion and exploration of both sides of the issue served as a model for how to broach topics in which people had staunchly opposing viewpoints.

Priority registration, another hot topic, was an example of trying to allocate a scarce resource – classes. “Faculty teach students every year and pound a stake into the ground a little farther every year, and when you say you’re going to move that stake, they say no and here’s why.”

Even so, the issue passed, Templeton believes, because the discussion showed that priority registration was a transparent experimental process that would be evaluated in four years.

“This was another example where UNC was leading something – whether it’s the Carolina Covenant or dropping early admission or priority registration – and saying, ‘Here’s the way we do it,’” he said.

Challenges and opportunities
Templeton’s tenure was marked by landmark events in 2008, from the death of former student body president Eve Carson to the search for, and transition to, a new chancellor.

By far, he said, crafting a fitting message for the thousands of people gathered for Carson’s memorial service was the most traumatic event of his tenure.

At the other extreme, serving on the chancellor search committee that recommended Holden Thorp to succeed James Moeser, he conceded, was something any faculty member would enjoy.

“But if you wanted to ask me to do something for which I was ill suited, chairing the installation of the new chancellor would be high on my list of no capabilities,” he said.

Once again, Templeton said yes because he was asked. “In the end, it was a beautiful Carolina day, the installation went well and I was delighted to be a part of it.”

At Carolina, connections run exceptionally strong, he said. “Being exposed to all the intelligent, hard-working, well-intentioned individuals who are trying to make Carolina better has been one of the most rewarding experiences of this job.”

The list includes students, faculty and staff, alumni, trustees and legislators.

“As chair, you get to see the ways people contribute,” he said. “Through opportunities such as serving on the Massey Awards committee or in conversations with the alumni association, it’s clear what makes this place so special. There are grad students here who pay more attention to Carolina than to their undergraduate school. That isn’t the case everywhere.”

Words of advice
If the incoming faculty chair, McKay Coble, wants to build on some of the lessons Templeton learned, he can pass along a thing or two.

Being right is worth far less than people think, Templeton found. “You’re far better off building some consensus and getting movement. Being right is almost worthless by itself.”

Another fundamental lesson: Balance the risks and rewards.

To illustrate his point, Templeton cited a quote he liked from John A. Shedd’s 1928 book “Salt From My Attic,” which says, “A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”

Neither, apparently, is the role of faculty leadership.