EDITOR’S NOTE: The following was UNC School of the Arts Chancellor Brian Cole’s message to the UNCSA community after last week’s vote on a new diversity and inclusion policy by the UNC System Board of Governors. 

Dear UNCSA Community,

I am writing to share my report from the May 2024 meeting of the UNC Board of Governors (BOG) at the UNC System headquarters in Raleigh and highlight important initiatives and decisions from the board and UNC System leadership.

I know that one of the agenda items that many members of our campus community have been monitoring is the BOG Governance Committee’s recommendation to repeal and replace the UNC System’s policy on diversity and inclusion from 2019 (see Agenda Item A-3 from April 2024). That proposed new policy was forwarded to this month’s meeting of the full board for vote on the consent agenda, which was approved yesterday. The new policy is listed as 300.8.5 in the UNC System policy manual: “Equality Within the University of North Carolina.”

I want to strongly reaffirm that UNCSA remains committed to ensuring that every member of our community feels a sense of belonging, is valued, and receives equal support and resources to ensure their success.

As we understand it, this new policy outlines a realignment of resources, not the elimination of any particular department or position. We have no plans to withdraw support of any member of our campus community, or our people who work to achieve these goals every day and continue to make student success one of our highest priorities – understanding that community and belonging are critical to that success.

The new policy states: “Campuses shall continue to implement programming or services designed to have a positive effect on the academic performance, retention, or graduation of students from different backgrounds… .” It also addresses ensuring equality of all persons and viewpoints; commitment to freedom of speech and expression; maintaining academic freedom; maintaining institutional neutrality; and a commitment to student success and employee well-being.

It should be made clear that the new policy will not prohibit student-led organizations focused on equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging (EDIB) from continuing their important work, nor the continuation of the student activity funding that some groups may receive. Additionally, it will not limit faculty members who choose to participate in EDIB research from doing so as a matter of academic freedom.

While we have been reviewing the new policy since it was first proposed in April, we expect to receive official guidance from the UNC System Office within the next few weeks regarding implementation.

As we determine any changes in approach that our institution must make in order to be compliant with the new policy, I pledge to keep our campus focused on the core value of belonging, with student success and employee well-being as a top priority for our community.

Here are a few other items from the meetings that I would like to draw to your attention:

• New officers: The Board of Governors elected a new set of executive officers for the coming year, with unanimous approval for Wendy Murphy to serve as chair, Kellie Blue to serve as vice chair, and Pearl Burris-Floyd to serve as secretary. I want to note that this is the first time in the history of the UNC Board of Governors that it will have all women serving in its leadership, which is something to celebrate (see Agenda Item 18).
• FY2025 all-funds budget: In the Budget and Finance Committee meeting, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Haygood reviewed the proposed all-funds budget for the UNC System for FY2025, which unifies the fiscal data for all 17 constituent institutions, highlights areas of strength and growth for each institution, and identifies challenges to monitor (see Agenda Item A-3).
• Faculty retention and recruitment funding report: In the University Personnel Committee meeting, Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer David English gave a report on the utilization of faculty retention and recruitment funding from May 2023 to May 2024. UNCSA had five approved funding requests during this period (see Agenda Item A-2 and the committee supplemental materials.)

All materials from each meeting are published on the web, and all committee and full board meetings are livestreamed on PBS North Carolina. The full board meetings are also archived for later viewing. I hope that you continue to find these reports useful. Over the past year I have received positive feedback from members of our community about them and plan to continue the updates in the future.

Sincerely,

Brian Cole
Chancellor