UNC trustees take delayed votes on tenure, but faculty concerns remain
I hesitate to admit this as a higher education reporter, but I’m not sure I’ve ever paid much attention to who is, or isn’t, granted tenure at the universities I cover — aside from the high-profile tenure case involving Nikole Hannah-Jones four years ago, of course.
As UNC-Chapel Hill Faculty Chair Beth Moracco described it to me Monday, the tenure approval process — once it reaches the last sign-offs, at least — is typically “pretty pro forma.” That only comes after an “extensive process” that involves months of work, lots of documentation and approvals at lower levels, Moracco noted.
But many UNC faculty seeking tenure had a much different experience this spring.
The university’s Board of Trustees at its March and May meetings did not approve tenure for any faculty outside of disciplines in the health sciences, as first reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education. At the board’s January meeting, just two faculty members outside of the health sciences were conferred tenure: a social work professor and Jed Atkins, dean of the School of Civic Life and Leadership, which the trustees played a key role in establishing two years ago.
The inaction raised red flags for Moracco, who also fielded concerns from faculty. In a letter to Chancellor Lee Roberts and interim Provost Jim Dean, Moracco called the lack of tenure conferrals for the College of Arts & Sciences — UNC’s largest academic unit — this year “highly unusual” and asked for “an explanation for this anomalous situation.”
Moracco didn’t receive such an explanation, she told me. But last week, the trustees voted by written ballot to approve the outstanding tenure conferrals across the university.
“The University administration and Board of Trustees moved these personnel actions forward given the impact the deferral caused on departments,” UNC spokesperson Kevin Best wrote in a statement after the votes were approved.
But confusion about the reasoning for the delayed votes remains, with official comments from the university only making vague references to financial concerns. And there is concern that more cases could be delayed in the future.
Welcome to Dean’s List, a higher education newsletter from The News & Observer and me, Korie Dean.
This week’s edition includes:
- An update on the deferred tenure cases at UNC;
- The latest update on workforce cuts at Duke University;
- Another UNC System administrator out of a job after an undercover video;
- and more.
Here we go.
Faculty still unsure why UNC trustees delayed tenure votes
Best added in his statement: “The University will continue to weigh all factors when considering the timing of expenditures given the current fiscal environment.”
Such financial issues were also a key theme in Board of Trustees Chair John Preyer’s statement to The N&O, which specifically referenced the state budget as a concern.
“Deferring the tenure vote was the responsible thing to do given the lack of clarity at that time on the state budget,” Preyer said. “Our concern was to wait and see what amount of money is coming from the state of North Carolina before we act on tenure, and it would be reasonable and responsible to get that information. The board will always try to be a good steward of state dollars provided to the University.”
It’s unclear what information members may have received that offered more clarity on the issue between their March and May meetings and the written votes they took last week, as the General Assembly remains in budget discussions, with a resolution likely weeks — if not months — away.
State officials released a revenue forecast in February, though they provided an update in late May that anticipates $180 million less surplus revenue than the initial prediction.
Regardless, those financial concerns weren’t relayed to the faculty, Moracco told me — when the votes were first deferred, nor after they had finally been taken.
“We have not received official communication from the Board of Trustees that explains the rationale for deferring these cases and whether we can expect any similar actions in the future. We haven’t received that information from the university administration either, despite the fact that we requested it,” Moracco said Monday. “And that’s troubling, because this is a matter of great concern to the faculty, and if there is an issue, we would like the opportunity to discuss it and to be able to provide any information that would be helpful for that discussion.”
Records obtained by Inside Higher Ed and the Daily Tar Heel provided additional context for some members’ concerns about the possible financial implications of granting tenure.
“Regardless of my philosophical opposition to the outdated tenure model, I think we should proceed very cautiously and with full information before adding that kind of long-term, fixed cost in our present fiscal and budgetary environment,” trustee Jim Blaine wrote to his fellow board members.
But not all trustees agreed with, or understood, the decision to delay the votes.
For instance, the board’s newest member, Ritch Allison, wrote to his fellow trustees that the “bottom line for me is that the people on the slate did what was expected of them over an extended period of time under long-established rules. I just do not believe that we should change the rules on them at the final hour.”
Still, some faculty are concerned that the optics of the delayed votes could impact the university’s ability to recruit new faculty, or retain those who may be on the tenure track.
The situation “is not easy to come back from, and it makes people feel a lack of trust,” Faculty Executive Committee member Viji Sathy said in a meeting last week, as reported by Inside Higher Ed.
ICYMI: Catch up on these headlines
▪ Two UNC System administrators are out of jobs after an activist, undercover media organization recorded them making comments implying that their campuses were not in compliance with the UNC System’s restrictions on diversity, equity and inclusion programming.
And there are more videos coming, according to the conservative media group — which could mean more staff are in danger of losing their jobs.
Videos posted by Accuracy in Media, which describes itself as using “investigative journalism and citizen-led activism to expose government corruption, public policy failures, and radical activists,” so far have led to the ousting of UNC Asheville’s dean of students and the assistant director of UNC Charlotte’s Office of Leadership and Community Engagement.
A third video, released June 10, shows a former administrator at Western Carolina University “pushing” diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, Accuracy in Media says. The university said the undercover interviewers did not present themselves to the administrator truthfully — instead posing as “students in distress” who asked “leading questions.” But the school said it complies with state and federal DEI rules. The employee hasn’t worked at WCU since mid-April.
For more on these undercover videos and their impacts, check out these stories by me and the Charlotte Observer’s Rebecca Noel:
UNC Asheville administrator out of job after she was filmed in undercover DEI video
UNC Charlotte administrator ‘no longer employed’ after DEI video goes viral
Anti-DEI group out with new NC video. They posed as ‘students in distress,’ WCU says
▪ Duke will offer more voluntary faculty buyouts this summer, before likely turning to layoffs, as the private university continues to grapple with the impacts of funding threats and cuts under the Trump administration.
The news, announced June 5 in a video message by Duke President Vincent Price, comes after Duke previously announced an initial round of buyouts in April. Faculty at the time were told Duke sought to cut as much as 10% of its budget, or roughly $350 million.
“We will, for the foreseeable future, have to be smaller — and do our work with fewer people,” Price said in the video.
Duke is the second-largest private employer in the state.
The N&O’s Brian Gordon has more: Duke University to offer more buyouts, anticipates layoffs under funding threats
Comings and goings
I have two goings to share this week.
▪ Christoph Guttentag, dean of undergraduate admissions at Duke, retired this month after more than 30 years with the university.
“Under his leadership, Duke experienced significant and unprecedented growth in applicants for each incoming class,” read a release from the university, which also noted Duke this admissions cycle received more than 58,000 applications.
Kathy Phillips, associate dean of undergraduate admissions, will fill Guttentag’s role on an interim basis.
▪ Amy Orders, assistant vice chancellor of emergency preparedness and environmental health at NC State University, is leaving her role for a position at Virginia Tech.
Orders will be Tech’s associate vice president for public safety, effective Aug. 4, overseeing a division of the university that includes campus police, emergency management and environmental health and safety.
“I’m honored to step into this role at Virginia Tech, an institution that has a strong reputation for its dedication to public safety, service, and collaborative research that creates real impact,” Orders said in a Tech news release.
Higher ed news I’m reading
- Inside Higher Ed obtained emails that show the UNC System has been engaged in conversations about creating a new accreditor for at least a year — and the effort could be headquartered in Florida.
- The Daily Tar Heel interviewed UNC’s new general counsel, former Republican state Sen. Paul Newton, on a host of topics from DEI to lobbying to lawsuits against the university.
- “I’d be shocked if any traditional academic would want to try it at this point,” former UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp told the Tampa Bay Times after the Florida Board of Governors rejected the sole finalist for the presidency at the University of Florida, sending the search back to the drawing board.
See you next time
Thanks for reading Dean’s List. I’ll see you right back here next week.
Not a subscriber? Sign up on our website to receive Dean’s List in your inbox each week.
This story was originally published June 10, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
