Vice Provost Kami Chavis heading to William & Mary
Vice Provost Kami Chavis, a nationally known criminal justice expert and a professor on the School of Law faculty, has been named the R. Hugh and Nolie Haynes Professor of Law at William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Chavis, who has worked at Wake Forest for 15 years, will serve as the founder and director of the Center for Criminal Justice Policy and Reform. The Center will focus on issues including democratic policing, prosecutorial ethics, and law enforcement and technology.
She will remain at Wake Forest until July 1, when she begins working at William & Mary.
“I have enjoyed working at Wake Forest, unequivocally one of the best institutions in the nation,” Chavis said. “During my tenure at Wake, I have had the joy of teaching alongside distinguished colleagues in the law school, developing initiatives for the criminal justice program and, as vice provost, working with other leaders across campus on important issues.
“Yet what will remain most dear to me about my career at Wake Forest are the wonderful friendships I have made,” Chavis continued. “While I am excited about what lies ahead at William & Mary, I will carry in my heart a deep affinity for Wake Forest University.”
Categories: Inside WFU, University Announcement
Updates from HR: Wente named WFU President, employee survey, events and Zoom accessibility
Welcome to Wake, Dr. Wente!
After an international search, Dr. Susan R. Wente has been named the 14th President of Wake Forest. 
Visit the Wake Forest News website to learn more.
COVID-19 vaccine employee survey
All active full- and part-time faculty and staff should check their email for the “COVID-19 Vaccination Planning – Employee Survey.” Please complete the survey by Friday, Feb. 12.
View the message from Wake Forest University Human Resources on Inside WFU.
Flexible Spending Account (FSA) relief
In December, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, which provides relief for employer-sponsored Health Care and Dependent Care FSAs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Wake Forest has elected to move forward with select special provisions and is working to amend current plan documents. Impacted faculty and staff will receive an email with additional information in the coming week.
Learn more about FSAs on the HR website.
Live transcriptions in Zoom
Live transcription, which allows attendees to enable on-screen machine-generated subtitles/captions, is now available within Zoom meetings for WFU accounts.
Visit the Information Systems (IS) website to learn more and register for an upcoming training session with the IS Technology Accessibility Team.
Black History Month
Faculty and staff are invited to take part in upcoming Black History Month programs, coordinated by the Intercultural Center, throughout February.
View the calendar of events on the Intercultural Center website.
“Guns, Democracy, and the Insurrectionist Idea”: Feb. 4
Join Joshua Horwitz, J.D., executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, for a conversation on guns, militia groups and the violence that took place on the United States Capitol on Jan. 6. The event will be moderated by Kami Chavis, vice provost, professor of law and director of the Criminal Justice Program.
Use this link to register for the webinar.
The Workload Dilemma
ICYMI: Betsy Barre, executive director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching (CAT), shares her thoughts on managing workload expectations for our students.
Read Barre’s article on the CAT website.
Categories: Faculty News, Inside WFU, Staff News
Important Title IX updates for faculty and staff
The following message was emailed to faculty and staff on behalf of Penny Rue, vice president for Campus Life, Kami Chavis, associate provost for academic initiatives and Aishah Casseus, director, Title IX Office:
Dear faculty and staff colleagues:
Recently, the U.S. Department of Education made substantial changes to Title IX regulations, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex or gender in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance. Such programs and activities must respond promptly to allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination. As a result, Wake Forest University updated its Title IX policy effective August 14, 2020.
Please understand that the University’s number one priority remains the same: equity, fairness, access, safety and respect for the entire Wake Forest community. Outlined below are some updates and key information to help you better understand the changes.
Categories: Faculty News, Staff News, University Announcement
Criminal justice reform expert promoted to Vice Provost
Provost Rogan Kersh announced this week that Kami Chavis has been appointed vice provost. Chavis, who currently serves as associate provost of academic affairs, has been appointed to a second three-year term in the provost’s office. 
Chavis is also a professor of law, having joined the School of Law faculty in 2006, where she continues to direct the criminal justice program. Before joining the provost’s office in 2017, she served as associate dean of research and public engagement.
During Chavis’ time as associate provost, she led a group that reviewed and reorganized online education at Wake Forest University and chaired the Slavery, Race and Memory Project, through which she was instrumental in the University’s co-hosting of this year’s national Universities Studying Slavery conference. Chavis also helped sustain the Title IX Office during a leadership transition and led the successful search for a new director of the renamed and expanded Center for the Advancement of Teaching, which she supervises.
“Professor Chavis has been a dynamic and incisive partner on a wide range of academic initiatives,” said Kersh. “Her ability to encourage collaboration across several of our most complex University matters and achieve widely beneficial outcomes, to sustain essential learning and discovery programs even during a pandemic, and to do all this while serving as a leading national expert on a central policy issue of our time—race and policing—is a testament to her exemplary vision and commitment.”
Chavis remains a much-beloved law faculty member, teaching courses in criminal law and criminal procedure, as well as a signature seminar in policing and prosecution. She is also a frequent contributor to national and international media outlets and has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, CTV and NPR. She has written opinion pieces for the New York Times, the Nation, and the Huffington Post, and been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, BBC News, U.S. News, CBS News, International Business Times, Deutsche Welle, and other outlets regarding police accountability and the structural reform of law enforcement agencies.
Before arriving at Wake Forest, Chavis was an assistant U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., and prior to that practiced law at two of Washington’s largest law firms. She received her BA from UNC-Chapel Hill and her J.D. from Harvard University. She is active in civic organizations in Winston-Salem, as well as serving on the Board of Visitors at UNC School of the Arts and Summit School. Chavis is a board member of the prestigious Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights.
Categories: Faculty News, Inside WFU, Staff News, University Announcement
Listening sessions to be held Jan. 27 as part of search for new Title IX director
Students, faculty and staff are invited to attend the first listening sessions that are part of a University search for a new director of the Title IX Office.
The sessions are as follows:
Jan. 27, 9-9:45 a.m., Benson University Center, Room 410
Jan. 27, 4:15-5 p.m., Reynolda Hall, Room 301
More listening sessions will be scheduled at a later time.
A University committee is leading the search for the director. Additional information about the position and the search is available in an announcement made earlier this week by the committee chair Kami Chavis, who is associate vice provost for academic initiatives, associate vice president and professor of law.
Categories: Events, Inside WFU, University Announcement
