Project Components

Committee on the Future of the Faculty (CFF)

The committee’s purpose is to review policies, processes, and practices at UNC Charlotte that might impede the recruitment, retention, and full professional development of women faculty members, particularly those in the STEM areas. The CFF will examine data, recommend policy change, review evaluation reports on ADVANCE programs and recommend program changes, monitor institutional progress towards ADVANCE goals, and advise the administration on the general adoption of successful practices. The CFF will seek to remove any policy barriers that are judged to prohibit the implementation of effective recruiting and retention practices.

The CFF will review key institutional documents such as the Academic Affairs Personnel Handbook; college and department recruitment practices; evaluation mechanisms for chairs at the time of reappointment; annual data on equity by gender and race/ethnicity (hiring, promotion, start-up packages) and ADVANCE program progress; the effectiveness of current family leave policies; and the outcomes of ADVANCE initiatives.

The review process will inform committee efforts to recommend policy changes; seek creative mechanisms to meet the childcare/eldercare needs of faculty; explore mechanisms to retain STEM women through flexibility in appointments and re-entry programs; and examine and make recommendations concerning increased flexibility in the tenure clock.

The Committee on the Future of the Faculty (CFF) members include:

  • Dr. Karen Schmaling, Chair, Dean, College of Health and Human Services
  • Dr. Yvette Huet, ex officio, Department of Biology
  • Dr. Michael Hudson, Chair, Department of Biology
  • Ms. Krista Newkirk, Office of the General Counsel
  • Dr. Susan Sell, Associate Dean, Graduate School
  • Dr. Heather Smith, Department of Geography and Earth Sciences
  • Dr. Melba Spoone, Chair, Department of Middle Secondary & K-12 Education
  • Dr. Robert E. Johnson, Dean, William States Lee College of Engineering