H259 - 2023 Appropriations Act. (SL 2023-134)

Overview: Section 8.5 of S.L. 2023-134 as amended by Section 3.10 of S.L. 2023-132 directs the Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in consultation with the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina (BOG), the Provost of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Provost), and faculty and administration officials at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH), to establish the School of Civic Life and Leadership at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (School). The School must meet the following requirements:

• Provide course opportunities for students that can focus on the development of democratic competencies informed by American history and the American political tradition, with the purpose of fostering public discourse and civil engagement necessary to promote democracy and benefit society as well as develop programming on these topics and provide resources to students, faculty, and the general public.
• Subject to approval of the Provost and the inaugural dean of the School, house the Program on Public Discourse.
• Hire at least 10 and no more than 20 faculty members from outside UNC-CH. These faculty members must be hired with permanent tenure or be eligible to receive permanent tenure in accordance with policies adopted by the BOG and UNC-CH. All faculty hired by or appointed to the School must be subject to the approval of the dean of the School. Faculty members can hold joint or courtesy appointments with other existing units of UNC-CH.

The section specifies that if the nonrecurring funds appropriated to the BOG for the 2023-2025 fiscal biennium to be allocated to UNC-CH for the School are insufficient to establish the School, UNC-CH must expend sufficient additional funds to achieve that purpose. The Provost must name the inaugural dean of the School by December 31, 2023, subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill must report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee and the Fiscal Research Division by March 15, 2024, on progress made toward establishing the School and factors affecting the long-term sustainability of the School.

This section became effective July 1, 2023.