Dear Commons Community,

The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on Thursday that The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill hasn’t tenured a single professor in fields outside the health sciences since January — an unusual period of inaction that has spurred confusion and alarm among faculty.

At its normal meeting last week, the university’s Board of Trustees deferred a vote on pending tenure cases outside of the health-affairs schools. At its March meeting, the board didn’t act on any tenure cases, and in January, it only approved two tenure bids outside the health sciences: one professor at the civic-life school and another at the School of Social Work.

No professors in the College of Arts and Sciences, the university’s primary academic unit, have received tenure this year.

The university’s interim provost, James W. Dean Jr., acknowledged last week’s deferral in a message to deans. “I understand the stress this ongoing uncertainty places on affected faculty members and the schools and departments that support them,” he wrote, adding that he was “confident that these votes will be taken at the next Board of Trustees’ meeting.”

A university spokesperson did not offer a specific reason for the board’s inaction. “The exact timing of tenure awards is subject to a number of variables that our Board of Trustees and administration may consider with any recommended appointments,” the university said in a statement to The Chronicle. The university has not changed its tenure policies and tenure-track faculty across the university, including those in the College of Arts and Sciences, are eligible for tenure, the spokesperson wrote.

Jennifer Lloyd, a trustee and former professor of the practice in UNC’s economics department, told The Chronicle in an email that she was the only trustee to vote against a motion to defer consideration on tenure decisions at the March meeting. “I … always seek to be a fair and honest advocate on issues impacting faculty,” she wrote. A spokesperson said the university could not comment on this vote since it was taken during a closed session. John P. Preyer, the board’s chair, did not respond to a message seeking comment.

Beth Moracco, chair of the university’s Faculty Council, said she’s never seen this happen since she joined the faculty in 2008. “Typically, the personnel actions are reviewed and acted upon during the meeting that they are submitted,” she said. “The only personnel actions that were acted on were from schools within health affairs. It was a selective inaction, which was also extraordinary.”

Moracco said faculty are frustrated and confused, especially by a lack of communication from the university and uncertainty over when their cases might be considered. Many of them found out about the deferred vote through rumors from colleagues, she added. Moracco discovered that the board had not voted on some tenure cases by checking the board’s website.

The board’s delay hinders a faculty member’s career planning and hampers recruitment, Moracco said. “To go through that amount of work for a career milestone, and then to have it be deferred with a question mark of what’s going to happen next is extremely deflating,” she said. It’s especially demoralizing when higher education is facing funding cuts and attacks on academic freedom, she added.

The board’s inaction also comes at a time when state legislatures nationwide have aimed to weaken tenure or add stipulations to it. A wave of bills propose post-tenure reviews or productivity requirements, and lawmakers in Texas and Nebraska have even introduced legislation to outright ban tenure.

Delaying tenure bids has unique resonance in Chapel Hill. In 2021, the university was embroiled in controversy after it removed tenure from a job offer to Nikole Hannah-Jones, the investigative journalist behind The New York Times’ 1619 Project. That decision came after a trustee raised questions about her qualifications. Following a nationwide uproar, the board voted to offer Hannah-Jones tenure, but she declined to accept the UNC professorship.

While the Hannah-Jones case was specific to one faculty member, Moracco said that the controversy and the board’s recent lack of action on tenure cases are both examples of overreach: “The principle that’s being violated here is the allowing of the rigorous processes that are in place to go forward.”

The board’s next full meeting is scheduled for July 31.

This meeting will be watched closely by the higher education community.

Tony

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