Updates from October Faculty Council Meeting

President Ryan Collins and Chief of External Relations and Advocacy Maian Adams attended the October Faculty Council Meeting on Friday, October 9. A recording of the meeting can be found on YouTube. Notes from the meeting are below.

• Remarks from Chancellor Guskiewicz
  • Since last FC meeting, UNC has moved up in all the major rankings (U.S. News & World Report lists us at #5 among public universities).
  • Official installation as Chancellor will take place on Sunday, October 11, concurrent with University Day. Information can be found at installation.unc.edu.
• Spring 2021 Planning (Provost Blouin)
  • Working with several groups to explore mandatory re-entry and surveillance testing. We are considering how we will test and what the mode would be. This fall we have switched to saliva based testing and have been collecting samples in the Union. This has led to dramatic increases in voluntary testing (300-400 per day, at least 85% of which are off campus).
  • No decision has yet been made regarding a return to campus beyond what we currently have. Likewise, no decision has been made about instructional modes.
  • If we were to have a partial return to campus, we will focus on reducing density (Carolina Housing has previously said they would only have single occupancy rooms).
  • Any mandatory testing would be free for students, faculty, and staff.
  • Have talked to several institutions about what has worked well for them (particularly the University of Illinois, the University of New Hampshire, other UNC system, AAU, and ACC schools).
• Mental Health (moderated by Julie Byerley, UNC School of Medicine)
  • Mitch Prinstein, Director of Clinical Psychology
    • The pandemic is a unique stressor in multiple ways:
      • No end in sight
      • Threatens physical and mental health
      • Major disruption to daily lives
      • The very things keeping us safe (social distancing) are interfering with our usual defense mechanisms in dealing with stress
    • Many are experiencing compounding stressors from other sources, including people of color dealing with ongoing racial injustice.
    • Suicide and depression are up generally, and acutely among people around the undergraduate and graduate age group. Exercise and physical activity is down. Motivation and persistence are down. Loneliness is up.
  • Amy Johnson, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
    • Student Affairs is working diligently to keep students engaged and address social isolation (online events, Rams Head is now re-opened, Healthy Heels).
  • Desirée Rieckenberg, Dean of Students
    • The Office of the Dean of Students can provide support to students and help address their basic needs to support their academic success. Students can be referred via the online Care Form.
    • University approved absence process is housed in DOS.
    • The CV-19 Student Care Hub remains a place where students can access COVID-specific resources.
  • Allen O’Barr, Director of CAPS
    • One of the challenges students are facing right now is that if they are in another state they may not be able to access tele-health resources. However, some states do have reciprocity agreements.
    • CAPS has hired four new black therapists and has created the multi-cultural health program, which is designed to meet the needs of minority students.
  • Faculty Council Discussion of Spring Semester Planning
    • Jessica Boon: Has there been any thought of creating a medical leave of absence for graduate students, who could lose their stipend if they get sick with COVID and can’t teach/work?
      • Chair Chapman will take this back to university leadership.
    • Joan Krause: This virus is going to be with us for a while. It’s not like there is going to be a magic day next semester where everything goes back to normal. Is there a way we can better learn to live/cope with this new reality rather than simply taking another off-ramp immediately if things go badly in the spring semester?
      • CCAC is looking at what is working in the community now to keep viral load low; how can we replicate that on campus?
    • Ryan Thornburg: Whatever happens, we need clear and consistent communication that is explaining the why behind decisions that are being made. We need a more robust testing program, reduced density in campus housing, prioritizing those aspects of the student experience that need to be in person, etc.
    • Todd Vision: If there is going to be an on-campus experience, we should have more facilitated social offerings on campus to mitigate less safe off-campus activities. “Harm reduction socialization.”
    • David Burriss: We need to keep a greater focus on what students are doing off campus and how that causes viral spread as a whole.
      • Chair Chapman: This requires greater enforcement of the community standards and it is on the list of priorities of the CCAC.
    • Ryan Thornburg: We need to consider the effect of what we do in the spring on the campus long-term. How do we maintain the quality of the experience? How do we deliver what we promised to students and parents?
    • Harry Watson: The objective conditions have not changed since August. So why are we even talking about coming back when it didn’t work in August? What makes it okay now?
      • Chair Chapman: Some things have changed, some things have improved, much has been learned. This doesn’t mean we do exactly what we did in the fall. What do we need to do differently? Once again, however, this is a stressor without an end-date. So we may have to try something since we may be here for a while (even going into Fall 2021).
    • Barbara Entwisle: We need to consider the impact of remote instruction and social distancing on collaboration and socialization—this can be devastating.
    • Vin Steponaitis: I work in Archeology which is a very hands-on discipline. Students are not getting the experiential education they need. There truly is a cost to staying remote.
    • Lisa Rahangdale: Can we emphasize in-person learning for fields in which it is very important, like medicine and health affairs.
  • Student Athletes Well-Being (moderated by Lissa Broome, School of Law)
    • Everything is now being done in “pods”—you practice with whom you live.
    • Athletics made clear that student-athletes did not have to come back if they didn’t feel safe doing so.