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App State Faculty Vote 'No Confidence' In Chancellor

Image courtesy of Appalachian State University.

The fall semester at Appalachian State University has started amid fears about the potential threat of COVID-19, and the university's administration is working to reassure students and faculty after UNC-Chapel Hill begins its move to shut down in-person classes.

Appalachian State's faculty this week made a rare vote of no confidence in Chancellor Sheri Everts, in part because of the decision to re-open the Boone campus during the pandemic. The move doesn't change her status as chancellor and is largely symbolic.

It comes, though, at a time when schools are struggling with how and if to bring college students back. The no-confidence vote occurred as UNC-Chapel Hill's reopening plans collapsed. Officials there decided to shift to remote learning after a cluster of outbreaks hit the campus community.

Everts addressed concerns in a message to students, faculty, and staff in response to UNC's decision. She says Appalachian officials are meeting regularly with health experts and there are no immediate plans to change course.

Student health has tested more than 2,000 students, with about 1 percent testing positive.

Everts says a fraternity has been suspended for violating rules for off-campus gatherings.

For the most up-to-date information on coronavirus in North Carolina, visit our Live Updates blog here. WFDD wants to hear your stories — connect with us and let us know what you're experiencing.

Paul Garber is a Winston-Salem native and an award-winning reporter who began his journalism career with an internship at The High Point Enterprise in 1993. He has previously worked at The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The News and Record of Greensboro and the Winston-Salem Journal, where he was the newspaper's first full-time multimedia reporter. He won the statewide Media and the Law award in 2000 and has also been recognized for his business, investigative and multimedia reporting. Paul earned a BA from Wake Forest University and has a Master's of Liberal Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Master's of Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives in Lewisville.

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