Aden Hizkias
  Staff Writer

Last Wednesday afternoon, the UNC-Greensboro Faculty Senate held its monthly meeting to discuss various issues such as the Information Technology (IT) and the Family Leave Policy.

The UNC system policy requires the chancellor of each campus to establish an elected “faculty council or senate” and seek advice from the faculty “with respect to questions of academic policy and institutional governance,” according to the policy.

“I think that our meeting was a good demonstration of how Faculty Senate works and what kinds of contributions we can make to University life,” Anne Wallace, chair of the Faculty Senate, said.

In last week’s meeting, Lee Norris from IT Services presented the new points that they have established or in the process of establishing.

This included the new support for the SANS modules for Canvas and Data/ IT Security Awareness.

A 45-minute security training would also be in place for the faculty for basic and simplified usage along with a data confidentiality agreement. Once a faculty member has taken the first training, the training in the years after will be reduced to 15 minutes.

The IT Security training raised questions about how the mandatory training would be conducted, how many hours it takes to complete and how effective it will be in preventing cyber-attacks.

John Lepri, lead delegate of the UNC Faculty Assembly, introduced the General Administration’s Academic Affairs Fellowship program. It is new and begins this year, and they are expecting there to be a new round of selections each year.

The mission partly states, “The programs sells to identity faculty members who have the potential for effective leadership… fellows will have the chance to become familiar with other General Administration initiatives.”

The Academic Affairs Fellowship selects three faculty members throughout the UNC-System, and applications are submitted through the Provost’s Office.

Tenured faculty members at the associate or professor levels are preferred, but all are considered. Each applicant must have been at his or her home campus for at least three years. Each campus can forward up to two applications, and the fellowship itself may last up to a year.

The State Employees Combined Campaign also surpassed the $100,000 in gifts for charities for its 2015 campaign.

Dr. Carla LeFevre, chair of the Faculty Professional Development, Welfare and Compensation Committee, delivered the new features of the Family Leave policy.

The Family Leave Policy has been approved in terms of wording and language by both Dunn and Gilliam and is currently with the Board of Trustees.

This new policy establishes a maternity leave for nine-month faculty, like those on tenure lines, because it matches the academic year. This type of contract is connected to faculty instructional responsibilities so that the faculty member is able to pursue scholarship or creative work in the summer.

There are 10-month faculty members who will be able to use this policy since those faculty members are  considered a nine-month plus one-month extra. This applies to those hired into heavily administrative positions such as the Director for the Writing Center or faculty members who serve as departments heads.

However, this policy does not apply to those with a 12-month contract, which include the Library Faculty, some deans and higher administrators whose primary assignment is not instruction although they may teach in various ways such as workshops.

Individuals on a 12-month contract, however, do earn vacation and sick leave. This may be a reason as to why the Family Leave Policy states specifically nine-month contracts.

“The Provost and Deans’ agreement to do this is a tremendously important step forward, and with this precedent in place we may eventually find the resources to expand those benefits,” Wallace said.

This Family Leave Policy, if passed, allows faculty members a guarantee of up to 12 weeks of paid leave.

Although this policy may not apply to all faculty and staff, it is the first time funding has been available to help departments cover the costs of faculty member’s parental leave.