Faculty Assembly – UNC System

The UNC Faculty Assembly

Established in 1972 by UNC System President William Friday, the UNC Faculty Assembly is an advisory body on Systemwide issues, serving the President, the UNC System Office, the Board of Governors, the NC General Assembly, and campus faculty and administrative bodies.

In addition to formulating advice and counsel on issues impacting the UNC System, Faculty Assembly members frequently serve on working groups, policy committees, and personnel committees of the UNC System Office. The Faculty Assembly also nominates members of the general faculty to support System initiatives.

The Chair of the Faculty Assembly and, when in place, the Chair-Elect, attend all Board of Governors public meetings and serve ex-officio on the Board of Governors Personnel and Tenure Committee, Education Policy and Planning Committee, and on the UNC System Office’s Chief Academic Officers (Provosts’) Council.

2022-24 FACULTY ASSEMBLY CHAIR

Wade Maki, UNC Greensboro

Wade is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at UNCG and Director of the Online Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies Program.

Leadership and Delegation

Meetings

Resources

VISION

The faculty voice in shared governance across the UNC System by way of advocacy, communication, and collaborative effort.

MISSION

The mission of the UNC Faculty Assembly is to advise the UNC System President, System Office, and Board of Governors by advocating for the faculty across all campuses in the development of sound policies and practices for world class university education.

In fulfilling this role, the UNC Faculty Assembly engages in the following practices:

Partner and collaborate with administrators, staff, and governing boards to serve the students and faculty of the UNC System;
Provide advice and counsel to the UNC President, System Office, and Board of Governors on proposed changes to Systemwide policy or the UNC Policy Manual;
Work with the UNC System President and System Office in support of Systemwide projects and initiatives that advance the mission of the UNC System;
Serve as a conduit for communicating faculty perspectives and concerns to the UNC President and System Office;
Disseminate UNC System Office information to the faculty at each of the constituent institutions, both directly and through the Faculty Senates;
Identify and share ideas and best practices to support the Systemwide shared governance and productive collaboration between faculty and administration;
Promote greater understanding of the role and contributions of faculty to the UNC System and state of North Carolina within the UNC Board of Governors, General Assembly, and the broader public;
Serve as an active representative of the faculty voice at the UNC System Office, Board of Governors, and individual campus committees; and
Ensure equitable representation and opportunity for all faculty and equal representation for every institution in the UNC System.

DELEGATES

Delegates must be full-time members of the voting faculty of their home institution. Each constituent institution chooses its Faculty Assembly delegation according to procedures established by campus governance bodies.

The size of delegations is proportionate to the number of budgeted full-time faculty positions on a campus; the representation system allows for two, three, four, or five member delegations. Assembly bylaws specify that the length of a delegate’s term should be two or three years, according to the institution’s discretion. Bylaws also require the selection of alternate delegates.

The Faculty Assembly Executive Committee provides representation for each of the delegation size-groupings, and the HMI institutions. Members are elected and serve one-year terms. One delegate each is chosen by caucuses of campuses by delegation size:

Five delegate (ECU, NC State, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC Charlotte)
Four delegate (Appalachian, N.C. A&T, UNC Greensboro, UNC Wilmington)
Three delegate (FSU, NCCU, UNC Pembroke, WCU, WSSU)
Two delegate (ECSU, NCSSM, UNC Asheville, UNC School of the Arts)

The body elects two members “at large,” and the chair of the HMI caucus also serves on the Executive Committee. No institution may have more than three members on the Executive Committee, including the Assembly officers.

Officers of the committee include:

Chair (two-year term),
Chair-elect (one year term in that capacity before assuming the two-year term as chair)
Vice Chair (two-year term)
Secretary (one-year term)
Parliamentarian (appointed for a one-year term by the chair from among either current or past delegates)

The Assembly also has a staff liaison, who provides support at the UNC System Office.

View the Current Faculty Assembly Leadership and Full Delegation

PAST FACULTY ASSEMBLY CHAIRS