Carolina Alumni Review - November/December 2011

FrOM THe HIll

UNC Tweaks
Warning System
After Student Complaints

Wailing sirens drowned out the hum of normal campus activi- ties shortly before noon on Sept. 6 as alert Carolina responded to tornado warnings issued for Orange County.

Winston Crisp ’ 92 (JD), vice chancellor for student affairs, said the threat posed a perfect test of recent revisions to the campus security warning system.

Senior administrators, public safety officers and student representatives began meeting in april to discuss how to improve the system and address student complaints about insufficient notification regarding an armed robbery in Morrison residence

Hall in april.at the time, alert Carolina
had two tiers of notices: one for emergen-
cies announced by
sirens, text messages
and emails, and
another for “no
threat” situations,
which were posted
on the alert Car-
olina website.

Dan SearS ’ 74

The revised sys-
tem, implemented
Sept. 1, was mod-
eled on protocols
developed by Vir-
ginia Tech after
slayings there in
2007 and on stu-
dents’ suggestions,
said Jeff McCracken
’05, director of pub-
lic safety. The revisions include a new
Timely Warning notification tier that uses
text messages and email notifications to
inform the campus of situations without
using a siren, such as robberies or assaults.

McCracken said he hopes the additional information tier will address student concerns about campus safety. “Without official information about a campus crime or emergency incident, rumors circulate and fear grows, even if there is no continuing threat to the campus,” he said.

McCracken said he would continue analyzing and revising the system as necessary, considering feedback from test drills, warnings, and after actual emergencies.

6

November/December 2011

Coaches Get Seven-Year Contract Extensions

roy Williams ’ 72, in his ninth sea- son as head basketball coach, has been given a contract extension through 2018.

Williams’ base salary will be $333,938, he will receive an expense allowance of $30,000 in 2011-12 and $40,000 in each of the next six years, and he will receive supplemental income paid by UnC ranging from $1.35 million to $1.65 million a year.

The University also extended the contracts of women’s basketball Coach Sylvia Hatchell and baseball Coach Mike Fox ’ 78 through 2018. Chancellor Holden Thorp ’ 86 and the UnC Board of Trustees approved the new contracts.

Williams is eligible to receive standard bonuses for qualifying and advancing through the nCaa Tournament and for the men’s basketball team equaling or exceeding the nCaa’s academic Progress rate of 960, a measure of the graduation success rate of athletes.

Fox’s base salary will be $180,000 in 2011-12, $220,000 in 2012-13, $240,000 in 2013-14, $250,000 in 2014-15 and $260,000 in each of the following three seasons. He also will receive an expense allowance ranging from $25,000 to $50,000 and is eligible to receive standard bonuses for qualifying and advancing through the nCaa Tournament and for the baseball team equaling or exceeding the aPr.

Hatchell’s base salary will be $360,000. UnC will pay her supplemental compensation ranging from $70,000 to $130,000 a year and an expense allowance of $40,000. Hatchell, a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, is eligible to receive standard bonuses for qualifying and advancing through the nCaa Tournament and for the women’s basketball team equaling or exceeding the aPr.

Hatchell, in her 26th season at Carolina, is one of only four women’s basketball coaches with at least 800 wins.

Honor System
Undergoes Review

acommittee that spent the summer eviewing the University’s honor system came to three unanimous conclusions: a need for greater efficiency and better communication between the honor system and faculty and the honor system and University; a need to encourage measures that empower faculty in useful ways; and more regular and rigorous contributions to discussions of intellectual honesty.

The committee presented 12 proposals to strengthen the honor system and a collection of positive and negative reviews from faculty. One professor shared his concerns that frequent “group work” allows students to justify sharing ideas and papers. a majority agreed with the need to revise the system, including greater student participation and a uniform policy regarding academic dishonesty among faculty.

“If we don’t have a consensus, you can imagine the confusion among students,” committee Chair Jay Smith said. “Our goal is educational citizenship and intellectual honesty. We can ensure everyone is on the same page and can give this explicit attention in our courses.”

Online Digest
Read these stories and more under “News”
at alumni.unc.edu and at uncmobile.com.

■ Michael Bloomberg, who became
new York’s mayor two
months after 9/11, will
give the Commencement address in May.

ONLINE:

■ U.S. News rankings place Carolina fifth again among public universities; the report notes concerns about class size and resources for faculty.

■ An assistant profes-
sor studying the effects of
alcohol on the brain wins
top early-career honor for scientists and
engineers.

■ An artist, a songwriter, a pioneer, leaders in health care and sport science: UnC honors five with Distinguished alumna and alumnus awards on University Day.