Former chancellor Holden Thorp left the position amid accusations of academic fraud, special treatment for athletes and administrative mishandling of sexual assault cases.
Four days after Folt took office, The News and Observer, a Raleigh, N.C., newspaper, reported that the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights will investigate a third complaint related to sexual assault. The other complaint, filed earlier this year, pertains to the university's handling of sexual assault cases. Chapel Hill is also being investigated for potential violations of the Clery Act, which requires institutions of higher education to disclose information regarding campus crime.
Folt told trustees she must stay informed about NCAA issues related to the university and emphasized the need for high institutional standards during a meeting on July 25, Raleigh area news affiliate WRAL reported.
Students, administrators and faculty at the university said arriving on campus during this controversy will create a steep learning curve for Folt, but expressed hope that she will navigate it effectively.
"I think it will test her mettle," Chapel Hill biology professor Kerry Bloom said. "When times are good, it's easier to be a chancellor. I think she has hard decisions looming ahead of her."
Folt must balance Chapel Hill's strong Division I program with academics. In many Division I institutions, academics take a back seat to athletics, Bloom said.
"I would say a concern is that she doesn't have experience with it," he said. "Athletics is a business proposition, and chancellor is an academic position."
Chapel Hill student body president and rising senior Christy Lambden said that while it can be difficult for new leaders to transition, Folt's enthusiasm will help her better understand the institution.
"She's extroverted, which engages people around campus," he said.
Amy Kalinowski, a Chapel Hill rising junior, said she expects Folt to focus on administrative handling of sexual assault.
"I feel really bad for her," she said. "It was very difficult for Thorp to deal with the chaos during his period, and for Carol going in, it's not easy."
Folt referenced campus "disruptions" in a YouTube video released in early July, saying that innovators find opportunity in uncertain times.
"We have to confront those head-on, identify our problems and find solutions to deal with them," she said. "But more than that, we need to look for creative ways to turn these challenges into opportunities, to re-imagine, take advantage of change."
This video release accompanied an email request for community members to submit two things they like most about Chapel Hill and two they would like to improve.
Chapel Hill's vice provost for enrollment and undergraduate admissions Stephen Farmer praised Folt for hiring former Chapel Hill business school dean Jim Dean as executive vice chancellor and provost.
Farmer saw the two interact at a cabinet meeting earlier this month, and said that it was clear they had spent time with each other already.
Institutional leaders taking new roles in times of flux has become commonplace, Farmer said.
"One of the things I've liked about what Chancellor Folt has said about the university today is that we have the opportunity to be honest with ourselves about where we are, to figure out where we want to go and need to go for the benefit of the people we're trying to serve," Farmer said.
Bloom, who has worked at the university since 1982, stressed that Folt must improve administrative transparency.
"I think the previous chancellor was trying to please too many people, the athletics and the academics," he said. "The new chancellor has to say no to athletic supporters or say no to faculty. You can't please both of those camps."
Bloom said he would like Folt to articulate a vision for Chapel Hill in the fall.
Thorp's prior ties to Chapel Hill eased his transition into the chancellorship, Bloom said. Thorp graduated from the university in 1986, and began teaching at the university in 1993.
"He was a member of the community," Bloom said. "Folt doesn't know us yet."
Some College colleagues and administrators expressed confidence in Folt's ability as chancellor but had not followed Folt's first few months at Chapel Hill.
Former College President James Wright said that Folt's day-to-day work of keeping the quality of the academic institution and faculty strong applies at both public and private institutions, but she must adjust to a new political context.
"The scale is different, but the basic challenge and charge is the same," Wright said.
Biology professor Edward Berger, who has not followed Folt's work at Chapel Hill, worked on the same floor as Folt in the biology department and said her cooperative nature eased the transition from an academic to an administrative one.
"I was sorry she didn't apply for the presidency here," he said. "She's going to do a terrific job as chancellor."
Taylor Malmsheimer contributed reporting.
