Mental health the focus of BOT presentation

With recent student suicides and feelings of isolation spurred by the pandemic, mental health was top of mind at the University’s Board of Trustees meeting Nov. 4.

“It’s been a semester in which our students have dealt with extreme sorrow and some tough life and death issues,” said Chair David L. Boliek Jr. in his opening remarks. “As a University, we are addressing the terrific mental health challenges on campus.”

In introducing a presentation to the trustees on student mental health, Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz reiterated the University’s commitment to support its students. “We’ve invested more resources into counseling and crisis intervention. We’ve encouraged our students to look out for one another and build a cultural support system. We’re convening a mental health summit on Nov. 15 to hear from our community and find a campus-wide response to this shared challenge.”

Psychiatrist Dr. Samantha Meltzer-Brody led off the presentation with a description of the scope of the problem when she became chair of the School of Medicine’s psychiatry department in 2019.

“I knew the needs were great across North Carolina. What I didn’t know is that we would have a global pandemic, which would take the mental health crisis and put it on steroids,” said Meltzer-Brody, Assad Meymandi Distinguished Professor and director of the UNC Center for Women’s Mood Disorders.

Dr. Samantha Meltzer-Brody, at podium, and Amy Johnson, seated right, co-presented an update on student mental health to the Board of Trustees.  (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

“We are microcosms of the larger society. Suicides are happening globally and certainly across the country. We are no different from anywhere else. What I hope will be different is the response that UNC makes,” Meltzer-Brody said.

One new resource for students is telehealth counseling available in late night and early morning hours through a contract signed Oct. 25 with Uwill, said Amy Johnson, vice chancellor for student affairs. The service responds to students’ request for more “accessible anywhere” counseling.

But the University’s highest profile response to the crisis will be the Nov. 15 summit, a daylong webinar filled with educational presentations, sessions featuring the voices of students, faculty, staff and parents, and discussions about how to improve crisis prevention and intervention as well as campus culture.

“It’s been a real privilege and a pleasure to think about how Carolina can lead the way and serve as a national model for how we will address the mental health crisis,” Meltzer-Brody said.

The board also heard a presentation about the North Carolina Study Center, a center for Christian life and thought, from its executive director, Madison Perry ’06, ’13 (JD).

“Our mission as a Christian study center is to cultivate Christian life and thought at UNC, which means for us we consolidate the best in Christian community, theological resources and personal development tools and make them generally accessible,” he said.

The center is temporarily housed in the former Tri Sigma Sorority house at 307 E. Franklin St. but will relocate to the historic home of former University President Kemp Plummer Battle at 203 Battle Lane when renovations are complete.

Resilience of study abroad

In committee meeting presentations on Nov. 3, the trustees applauded a University Affairs update on Carolina’s globalization initiatives by Barbara J. Stephenson, vice provost for global affairs and chief global officer. Stephenson described adjusting to the pandemic through programs such as Collaborative Online International Learning, in which Carolina faculty led 19 COIL courses in partnership with universities in 13 countries. Her office is also launching an interdisciplinary partnership with Japan, which will include studying issues common to both cultures.

After an initial pause in study abroad because of the pandemic, the number of students has steadily increased, reaching 199 in fall 2021, 60% of the pre-pandemic level. “What we didn’t do was abandon study abroad,” Stephenson said. “Instead, UNC led the way, taking its place among the top 10% of U.S. universities, showing how to safely resume study abroad. Step by step, we’re learning and, crucially, we’re modeling the resilient approach to global challenges that we hope our students learn while they’re at Carolina.”

Delegation of authority and other action

In a follow-up to the special meeting held Oct. 7 to discuss changes in the board’s delegation of authority, the board voted on a version approved by UNC System President Peter Hans that had one significant change.

At the Oct. 7 meeting, the trustees voted to keep the powers that they had delegated to campus administrators intact with four key exceptions:

• Giving final authority to the chancellor, subdelegated to the provost, for new fixed-term faculty appointments of more than three years with an annual salary greater than $100,000.
• Having more oversight of athletic assistant coach hires, including salary ranges and raises.
• Overseeing the initial hiring of Tier II positions but not being involved in retention or salary changes for current employees.
• Adding a final appeal to the Board of Trustees in the admissions decisions process.

After reviewing the proposal, Hans approved all but one of the changes, instructing the board to delete the last item, keeping the provost as the final authority for appeals on admissions decisions. The revised version was approved by the trustees at the Nov. 4 meeting.

In other action, the trustees:

• Announced the six recipients of the 2021 William Richardson Davie Award, the board’s highest honor.
• Voted down a resolution that “the University shall not discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to an individual, group or company on the basis of race, sex, color or ethnicity” introduced by trustee Marty Kotis in the closing minutes of the meeting.
• Approved a 2% increase in undergraduate nonresident tuition, a 2% increase in housing rates and a 4.75% increase for annual meal plans.
• Held the first meeting of the Strategic Initiatives Committee, chaired by trustee Dr. Perrin W. Jones.