UNC System Board Meeting As Interim Chancellor Needed for Flagship Campus

The UNC System Board of Governors is scheduled to meet in regular session for the first time Friday after a tumultuous few weeks.

2019 is barely three weeks old, but there has already been enough action with the UNC System and, in particular, the flagship campus in Chapel Hill to seemingly fill out a calendar year.

UNC – Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol Folt announced last week that she would be resigning at the end of the academic year. Her announcement was coupled with a directive to remove the remaining base of the Confederate monument on the campus known as Silent Sam. The UNC System Board of Governors spent hours in closed session last week before accepting Folt’s resignation on an accelerated timeline, the end on January.

Chair of the UNC System Board of Governors Harry Smith said last week that interim system president Dr. Bill Roper was already speaking to potential candidates to lead the campus on an interim basis. Roper discussed confidential personnel matters, presumed to be related to Folt’s replacement, during two closed session meetings of the campus Board of Trustees spanning more than five hours over the last week.

The system board held a closed session discussion on Thursday with “executive personnel matters” as the only agenda item.

Friday’s agenda also has some closed session items for discussion, although it is unclear if an interim chancellor will be named on Friday.

The UNC – Chapel Hill Board of Trustees are scheduled to hold a regular meeting next week, which happens to align with the final days of Folt’s tenure leading the university.

Photo: Harry Smith speaking with reporters after Chancellor Carol Folt’s resignation

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