UNC Board of Trustees meets, adjourns without any announcement following retirement of Chancellor Carol Folt
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WTVD) -- UNC's Board of Trustees met in private for more than three hours Friday but did not make any public announcement.
The governing body of UNC-Chapel Hill scheduled an emergency meeting about what it called a "confidential personnel issue."
Sources say that personnel issue is about appointing a new chancellor to replace Carol Folt, who announced she'd be retiring at the end of the school year. UNC's Board of Governors retaliated to that announcement by forcing her to leave her post by Jan. 31.
On her way out the door, Folt ordered the removal of Silent Sam's pedestal. After protesters knocked Silent Sam down in August, the pedestal was the only remaining marker of the Confederate monument that stood on UNC's campus since being built in 1913--48 years after the Civil War.
UNC System Interim President Bill Roper has called on eight individuals to serve as members of his transition team.
The UNC System office is in the process of executing contracts, totaling a combined $70,000 per month, with five of these individuals on a monthly basis. These include:
- Chris McClure, government relations advisor, Brooks Pierce Law Firm (transition team co-chair)
- Sen. Pete Brunstetter, former state senator and general counsel for Novant Health Systems (transition team co-chair)
- Jim Blaine, principal, The Differentiator Group
- Bernadette Gray-Little, 17th chancellor of the University of Kansas and former provost at UNC-Chapel Hill
- Charles Leffler, former vice chancellor for finance and administration at NC State University
Three people will serve in an executive capacity, on loan from their respective agencies:
- Carol Lewis, executive director, UNC Center for Health Innovation
- Andy Willis, chief of staff, UNC Health Care
- Dan Gerlach, executive director, Golden LEAF Foundation
"I am extremely grateful to these well-qualified professionals who have agreed to temporarily step in and assist me during the transition period," Roper said. "I am hopeful and optimistic that this transition period will be a smooth process and am proud to have their knowledge and experience while I have the opportunity."
