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Dear colleagues, 

Consider this Part 2 of the College-wide communication I shared on May 22 to provide an update on where we stand with the proposed School of Civic Life and Leadership. In that message, I referenced the work of three faculty committees that were exploring various aspects of the school, public discourse and the Communication Beyond Carolina course that is a required element of the new IDEAs in Action curriculum.   

One of those committees, the Cognate Units Program for Public Discourse Advisory Committee, had already finished its work and I provided the link to its report. The work of the two other committees was still underway, but they have since completed their reports. I am writing now to share these reports with you.  

The Ad Hoc Working Group for Communication Beyond Carolina, co-chaired by Meredith Petschauer and Jennifer Weinberg-Wolf, was tasked with defining the requirements for Communication Beyond Carolina (CommBeyond) with more specificity to aid faculty in proposing courses that meet the requirement for the IDEAs in Action curriculum. You can find that report and their recommendations here. 

The Ad Hoc Advisory Committee on the School of Civic Life and Leadership, requested by Provost Chris Clemens and chaired by me, met four times during May and June to examine how to go about creating a new school housed within the College. We have sent our report to Provost Clemens, who has accepted these recommendations, and you can find it here

We have proposed that the first step be to identify several tenured faculty members from our existing faculty, drawn from several departments throughout the College, who will form an initial faculty for the school. These faculty will split their appointments for at least two years with their home departments as they take on the task of launching the school. These faculty will be charged with the usual administrative activities of faculty, such as articulating a vision for the school, recommending an interim director and starting the process for hiring a permanent director, beginning the process of creating an undergraduate minor and/or certificate for civic life and leadership, and defining relationships with affiliated units such as the Program for Public Discourse. 

I will be providing additional information in the coming weeks, including issuing a call for nominations for the initial faculty. 

As I said in my earlier communication, I believe that Carolina can be a leader in this area, and it will be Carolina faculty who will be shaping the vision and substance of the new school and its curriculum. 

Sincerely, 

Jim 

James W.C. White 

Craver Family Dean 

College of Arts and Sciences  

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