Chancellor Lee Roberts disclosed on Thursday that UNC-Chapel Hill’s chief academic officer will be resigning from their leadership post after serving for three years. This move represents one of the most significant alterations in the university’s administration. Since Roberts assumed leadership last year.
Chris Clemens has acted as the university’s provost and chief academic leader. since February 2022. Since joining the UNC faculty in 1998, Clemens has been actively involved as both the head of the physics and astronomy department and in dual capacities as a senior associate dean during his over quarter-century tenure at the institution.
After finishing his responsibilities as provost on May 16, he will resume his position as a renowned professor of physics and astronomy.
“A true astrophysicist at heart, I am aware that Chris is thrilled about coming back to our team,” Roberts stated in the announcement of the transition. “He has been both an indispensable advisor and a dear friend to me, and I am eager for him to keep excelling in education, investigation, and guidance.”
Clemens encountered his share of controversy in his role — beginning from the very moment he was hired.
The UNC Board of Trustees endorsed Clemens as provost following the suggestion of ex-Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz, who has since become the president of Michigan State University. However, the procedure employed to look for a provost and subsequently green-light Clemens' appointment sparked numerous queries from journalists and other observers.
Then-Faculty Chair Mimi Chapman critiqued the procedure for insufficient openness It was claimed that both the university trustees and UNC System leadership exerted "substantial pressure" on Guskiewicz to reach a specific decision.
Next, once the trustees approved Clemens' hiring with their decision-making process, this sparked further inquiries. regarding if the voting breached state laws concerning open meetings , according to The News & Observer at the time. These questions compelled the board to revisit and vote on the issue at a future meeting “To swiftly cease all additional efforts aimed at disputing the legitimacy” of Clemens' appointment, according to The N&O.
Soon after assuming his position as provost, Clemens outlined his responsibilities. in a university interview As serving as the "chief advocate" for the university's faculty.
Positions involving dialogue, community engagement initiatives
Of all the various roles he has undertaken at the institution, Clemens has likely gained the most recognition for his contributions to developing The Program for Public Discourse And the School of Civic Life and Leadership — distinct yet related initiatives at the university level aimed at promoting civil discourse and debates on campus. However, these programs have faced criticism due to their alleged conservative biases and influences.
As far back as 2017, Clemens played a role in shaping the Program for Public Discourse. During this time, he reached out to Robert George, who is a well-known conservative law professor at Princeton University. looking for George’s thoughts on the program that was just starting out. In his communications with George, Clemens portrayed himself as "one of the most vocal conservative figures" within the UNC faculty, mentioning that he had supported the College Republicans and was involved with the Carolina Review, a platform for conservative students.
During the program’s first year, from 2019 to 2020, Clemens acted as the interim faculty director. Later, having become provost, he created a budget plan for the School of Civic Life and Leadership This caused debate after the university’s Board of Trustees instructed administrators to "speed up" their development plans for the institution in a 2023 resolution.
The intended aim of the school, which commenced operations last autumn, is "to foster critical involvement with democracy and politeness via numerous fields." However, Dave Boliek, who acted as the Chair of the Board of Trustees during the introduction of the school and currently holds the position of state auditor, mentioned in a Fox News interview that The school aimed to "address" the university's lack of "conservative perspectives."
Lately, since the school has started functioning fully again, it has become even more contentious.
Several news accounts, such as those in the Daily Tar Heel, have reported this as well. Inside Higher Ed, has outlined a gap between the school’s administration and its teaching staff, along with a currently “limited” range of course offerings compared to the institution’s original comprehensive objective. Many members of the school’s founding faculty have left due to these concerns. The Daily Tar Heel covered this story.
In January, Inside Higher Ed reported, Clemens instructed the school’s dean, Jed Atkins, to stop the current search for faculty members due to budget constraints. However, Clemens swiftly changed his stance once Roberts allocated enough funding, according to the report.
Recent shifts in UNC leadership
The announcement of Clemens stepping down as provost on Thursday signals another recent change within Roberts' administration.
The leading counsel at the university, Charles Marshall, withdrawn from the university in January To go back to the private sector. Last week, Roberts stated that ex-state Senator Paul Newton, who was the Republican majority leader, who had stepped down from the Senate merely days before would become the university’s upcoming general counsel and vice chancellor starting from April 21.
Additionally, last week, Roberts declared that he was removing the position of vice chancellor for human resources , most recently carried out by Becci Menghini, as part of broader "structural modifications" to the university’s Human Resources and Equal Opportunity and Compliance departments.
At a January Board of Trustees gathering, Roberts revealed that Vice Chancellor for Communications Kamrhan Farwell would leave the university following almost three years in her position. As university authorities ongoingly seek her successor, Farwell continues to work until they find a suitable replacement, with more search committee sessions planned over the next few weeks.
Earlier, George Battle served as the vice chancellor for institutional integrity and risk management. departed from the university during the previous summer. As part of that transformation, Roberts stated that the division will be integrated into various departments across the campus.
Roberts was appointed as the university’s 13th chancellor during the previous summer. After fulfilling the duties on an interim basis for several months, he stepped into the position permanently. As a seasoned financial executive and ex-member of the UNC System Board of Governors, he chose to resign from his seat on that board to take up the role of chancellor.
Jim Dean, who was the provost at UNC from 2013 to 2017 prior to becoming the president of the University of New Hampshire from 2018 to 2024, will come back to Chapel Hill on May 17 to take up the role of interim provost.
"Nobody else can provide the level of wisdom and extensive expertise gained over 40 years in higher education and at Carolina like he does," Roberts stated about Dean.
The institution plans to carry out a nationwide hunt to find someone for this position.