This is a living document and will be updated as needed.
We are in the midst of a global pandemic, the fallout of which has been devastating to public health, the job market and food security. The worldwide resort to a “full stop” on all but essential businesses and subsequent challenges of reopening reveal the magnitude of the threat. The economic implications are still unfolding. And with the latest civil unrest we hope comes a new and bold scrutiny of injustices to marginalized peoples. The University is grappling with renewed questions of equality and inclusion on our campus.
As a College, we need to recognize the complexity of our new circumstances — addressing both the immediate risks posed by a virus and the long-term challenges of systemic and structural racism. The blunt public health measures that have safeguarded lives have exposed—through putting it at risk — the enduring commitment of our institution. Students do not simply take classes. They belong to a university. Dedicated to their scholarship, the faculty build majors, design classes and develop graduate programs that fully integrate the research and education mission of the University. We are responsible for the educational progress and professional development of all our students, both undergraduate and graduate, and we are being called upon to serve the state, nation and world through our teaching and research, and to preserve the institution for which we care so deeply.
Our mission has a new precision: Learn well, create understanding and stay healthy.
Priorities to Guide the College’s Preparation for the 2020-2021 Year
- Support faculty and students in their joint accomplishment of successful courses, ones that animate their subject and promote achievement, both online and in-person.
- Teach, live and learn in an ethos of care. As a general practice, our health promotion must enable learning; our learning must strengthen health promotion. In all of our undertakings, faculty and students must look out for one another.
- Preserve the faculty’s capacity for future inquiry, creativity and research. We will modify, not abandon, our calling to make sense, create knowledge and advance our fields. Senior faculty and College leadership will work together to recognize for promotion the new range of practices that all faculty employ to enable their research.
- Build opportunity for all students, undergraduates and graduates. We will help students make progress to their degree, earn credit hours and apply skills beyond the classroom.
- Attend to the equity of student learning and professional prospects of colleagues. Remote settings require deeper dedication to include diverse voices and to ensure equal access to the opportunities and assets of belonging in the Carolina community. We will be alert to infringement on ability to participate in the learning and life of the university and adapt to restore equity.
Values: care, dedication, flexibility
- Care means the application of one’s experience to improve the welfare of others, a setting aside of self-interest and competition to enable others’ success. It encompasses the etiquette of physical distancing and a respectful attitude in encounters with others.
- Dedication refers to not only single-minded rigor toward anti-coronavirus hygiene but also to our teaching and studies. Our scholarly world will be that much more central to our lives and our engagement in it more complete.
- Flexibility—creativity, patience, adaptability and forgiveness will enable our community to mutually adjust both to shifts in the course of the pandemic and personal setbacks.