Amiya NealThis story is a part of a collaborative Black History Month print and digital edition with The Nubian Message on Feb. 26, 2026.
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N.C. Central University faculty will now be required to disclose their course syllabi publicly following the University of North Carolina System’s policy change that took effect on Jan. 15.
The UNC System’s new policy under Regulation 400.1.6[R] states that “… institutions shall publish academic calendars, grading policies, and other related materials in a manner publicly available to students and the public and ensure that they are widely distributed.”
The policy also requires UNC System universities to create online platforms to host syllabi for students and faculty. The policy will be enforced in the 2026-2027 academic year.
Syllabi and their contents have been under fire in the last year after the Trump administration and its rollback of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies, with some right-wing groups believing that syllabi should be made public to prevent the teaching of “DEI content.”
NCCU released a statement to the Campus Echo concerning the UNC System changes.
“North Carolina Central University respects the intellectual and academic freedom of faculty members, and all community members’ right to free expression. The university is preparing to implement the UNC System policy on syllabi,” NCCU Chief Brand Officer, Stephen Fusi, said.
Several NCCU faculty have expressed concerns about the policy, especially considering NCCU’s status as a Historically Black University. NCCU offers many courses dedicated to Black history, arts and other courses centered on the Black experience in various fields.
“I cannot speak for all faculty members, but I think many question this approach … and [want] to get some clarifications on why syllabi had to be placed into the public domain,” said NCCU history professor Carlton Wilson, who has served as chair of the Department of History and Dean of the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities during his 45 years at NCCU.
Wilson also expressed concerns about the looming threat of anti-DEI policies and how college courses could be affected by the new syllabi policy.
“People want to be able to teach their discipline and do the work that they think is important at the university. And they become very weary of anything that may even come close to preventing that,” Wilson said. “When you consider that, issues of individuals or [whoever] is monitoring syllabi naturally comes to mind.”
NCCU’s Faculty Senate polled faculty members concerning the new policy, according to Faculty Senate Vice-Chair, Joshua Nadel.
“Roughly 70% of the faculty who responded to the poll felt that syllabi should not be made public,” Nadel said. Some faculty members shared their reactions to the policy anonymously in the poll.
“Syllabi are living documents that evolve across the semester and publishing them can invite misinterpretation or politicized critique from people without the pedagogical context to understand instructional choices,” one faculty member said.
Another respondent shared similar thoughts.
“It is not the responsibility of non-academics or lay citizens to evaluate whether they approve of the topics and readings to be examined in the syllabus … if there is some concern that universities are not being accountable to taxpayers, a syllabus will not disclose much pertinent information,” they said.
Not all professors are against the new policy, though. NCCU architecture professor, Scott Singeisen, was open to the idea of syllabi becoming public record.
“I’m comfortable with syllabi being publicly available,” Singeisen said. “When transparency supports clarity for students without reducing teaching to a static document, it can be a constructive tool.”
One faculty member agreed in an anonymous response to the faculty poll.
“Public access ensures greater transparency and accountability among faculty while providing students and other stakeholders with essential course information before enrollment,” an anonymous respondent said.
Regardless of their position on the issue, many NCCU faculty have seemed apprehensive at best about openly discussing the UNC System’s new syllabi policy with the Campus Echo.
The Campus Echo reached out to more than 25 professors for comment about the new policy and received responses for two interviews. One professor passed on the interview because he felt that it would be “premature” to talk about a policy that has “yet to be fully implemented.”
