WILMINGTON — The UNCW Gender Studies and Research Center and its director have become collateral damage in the restructuring of a degree program under the College of Humanities, Social Sciences and the Arts. The result will eliminate the position of one of the college’s only trans faculty members and could impair the center’s capacity at a university that already struggles with diversity.
For those involved in the shuffle, the trouble is how the dean of the College of Humanities, Social Sciences and the Arts, Stephanie Caulder, has handled the restructuring without transparency, starting with the job posting for a new position, a director of interdisciplinary studies.
READ MORE: UNCW details more actions taken to root out DEI at university
In February, the university posted a job listing for a director of interdisciplinary studies programs. Starting July 1, the position would report to Dean Caulder and oversee the interdisciplinary studies bachelor’s and master’s degree programs. Though any student can choose the interdisciplinary path, it’s also marketed toward people who did not complete their degree or struggle to do so.
Per the job description, the new director would not only oversee the interdisciplinary studies components of the college, but also all of the college’s minors and certificate programs. Also under the new director’s purview is the Gender Studies and Research Center.
Officially formed in 2020 under the name Gender Studies and Resource Center, it oversees a minor and post-baccalaureate certificate in women’s, gender and sexuality studies along with community outreach, workshops, lecture and scholarly panels.
Essentially, the new structure of interdisciplinary studies puts the college’s disparate parts under one roof.
However, there’s a major point of conflict: the Gender Studies and Research Center already has a dedicated director — Dana Stachowiak. Under the restructuring, Stachowiak’s position would no longer exist.
“I was shocked that there was an abrupt decision with no true transparency, but also unsurprised because programs that support women and trans people have long been under attack and right now they’re a really easy target,” Stachowiak told Port City Daily.
Port City Daily spoke with several other sources with direct knowledge of the new set-up; they asked to remain anonymous out of fear for their job security.
Outcomes for faculty critical of the university’s leadership have historically been negative; the former dean of Watson College of Education, Van Dempsey, reverted to a faculty position in 2023 after revealing details about how the college’s Razor Walker Award was given to Sen. Michael Lee, even though, as first reported by Port City Daily, the senator ranked second to last in the numerical assessment of contenders. Dempsey hired legal representation, though the matter was ultimately settled; Dempsey left the college in 2023.
Sources that spoke with Port City Daily on the interdisciplinary studies restructuring all confirmed they were notified about the reorganization only after it was in motion.
One source told Port City Daily they were “shocked” to learn of the change because it would result in their “long-term, committed, accomplished” trans colleague losing a leadership position. The source added eliminating a dedicated director for the research center looked like kowtowing to Republican state pressures.
In May 2025, the UNC System voted to repeal its DEI policy enacted in 2019 and require all 17 institutions to get rid of their chief diversity officers and reallocate funds spent on DEI initiatives and departments to other areas. Adding to its compliance efforts, UNCW eliminated the director positions at three of its cultural centers — Upperman African American Cultural Center, Centro Hispano and the LGBTQIA Resource Center. The directors were replaced with coordinators with lower salaries.
UNCW justified the change by claiming operational needs at the centers had shifted in the wake of the DEI repeal, which emphasizes that diversity programming should be student-led. UNCW also stated the centers went from being part of a small office with 16 permanent employees to being part of Student Affairs at large with 188 permanent employees dedicated to serving students.
According to reports, Dean Caulder didn’t make any connections between state policy decisions and the interdisciplinary studies restructuring at the college’s leadership meeting on Feb. 11, when the changes were first discussed openly.
Sources told Port City Daily only a handful of leadership team members — consisting of college administrators and department chairs — brought up concerns about the interdisciplinary studies transition in the meeting. Even these responses were “guarded,” one source described; sources said they were nervous to put their career on the line by speaking critically of the changes.
While not necessarily opposed to the interdisciplinary studies restructuring, they added the program was growing and therefore a director position made sense. One source said they thought nurturing the growth of interdisciplinary studies would be an achievement for the dean’s résumé.
Despite the overall arrangement making sense, they didn’t think the removal of the Gender Studies and Research Center’s director position was the right move, especially after the erosion of the cultural centers on the Student Affairs side of the university.
Port City Daily asked the dean for an interview on the interdisciplinary studies restructuring twice; both times it was declined.
The university provided the following statement instead: “Decisions regarding program structure and staffing are based on institutional needs, strategic priorities and operational effectiveness. As a result of the operational restructuring within the College of Humanities, Social Sciences & the Arts, qualified applicants across the university were invited to apply for the position of Interdisciplinary Studies Director. A candidate was selected to fill the role effective July 1. There were no demotions as a result of this restructuring.”
The GSRC director responds
Like their colleagues, Stachowiak told Port City Daily they believed it was smart to seek out an interdisciplinary studies director, though not at the expense of a dedicated position for the Gender Studies and Research Center.
Stachowiak has been in the director position for seven years; they emphasized the UNCW’s Gender Research Center is the only one dedicated to research outside of an academic major in the state and they get many calls from other universities about its work.
On the placement of the research center under the new interdisciplinary studies director, Stachowiak thought it was treated as a “throwaway.”
“We can just throw you under here and figure it out later, which I think is hard for those of us who have worked in it,” Stachowiak said. “The women and trans folks who came before me, who have worked so hard to maintain this center and create what it is and what it has become in all of its iterations, and then to just so easily be restructured in this way with not a lot of care is hard.”
Stachowiak told Port City Daily they first learned of the restructuring from the dean last fall, though this was after a new director position was added; Stachowiak said the dean expressed uncertainty about where to house the Gender Studies and Research Center in the revised organizational unit.
“I explicitly asked if the GSRC was in jeopardy of being shut down, specifically if there were calls from, like, upper administration to dismantle it, kind of in the same way we’ve seen do with our diversity offices,” Stachowiak said.
Stachowiak said the dean assured them that wasn’t the case; nobody was asking it to be removed or changed and the center should continue to move forward with plans for the year.
Just a year earlier, the dean approved Stachowiak’s five-year strategic plan for the center, which included a goal to begin a research fellows program and institute interdisciplinary research labs across UNCW’s campus. Additionally, Stachowiak wanted to implement a program where faculty interested in women and gender studies could officially join the center through a memorandum of understanding between their department chair and the center director.
To accommodate the new programming, the strategic plan also included the eventual implementation of a coordinator position to assist the director. The director would then be shifted to focus more on mentoring and supporting students, faculty, staff, and community members with research related to gender studies.
Stachowiak said they were given no reason to worry about the progression of the gender research center nor their position until October, when the dean told Stachowiak their director position would be eliminated for budgetary reasons. Stachowiak’s contract was up on June 30, 2026, but Stachowiak will retain their lecturer position.
Stachowiak said the dean projected interdisciplinary studies would be the “cash cow” of the college, while the Gender Studies and Research Center brings in little money.
When the job was posted in February, Stachowiak said they received many confused and concerned messages about why the gender center was named a responsibility of the new interdisciplinary studies director. Stachowiak said they directed the inquiries to the dean.
Faculty members came with questions to the Feb. 11 leadership meeting, but were met defensively and with short answers, Stachowiak said. They mostly remained quiet, but spoke up to express hope for a coordinator to at least be hired for the gender center.
Some concerns revolved around the search committee for the position. The interdisciplinary studies director position was only open to candidates within the university. Sources told Port City Daily, in their experiences, search committees were formed regardless by sending out a call for volunteers and nominations. No source reported seeing an open call for committee members.
Port City Daily asked the university for its policies on hiring internal candidates and forming search committees; a UNCW spokesperson did not provide them, despite providing a statement.
The committee members, as provided to Port City Daily by sources, include:
- Michelle Scatton-Tessier, CHSSA senior associate Dean
- Florentina Andreescu, professor and chair of the Department of International Studies
- Maggie Bannon, director of academic advising in CHSSA
- John Knox, digital scholarship librarian for the UNCW Library
- Michael Messina, IDS council member and chemistry professor in the College of Science and Engineering
- Paul Townend, CHSSA associate dean
Stachowiak said neither they nor their gender studies lecturer, Julie Krueger, were asked to be on the committee to represent the interests of the Gender Studies and Research Center.
Port City Daily asked if Stachowiak was encouraged to apply for the interdisciplinary studies director position or even wanted to. They said they did not apply, as their experience and love was for gender studies and research, not management of an entire degree program where the gender research center was only a fraction of the job.
Among the candidates considered by the search committee, Stachowiak said they thought the committee picked the best option — Aaran Wilcox, department chair of the Department of Art and Art History. They called Wilcox a “fantastic” pick, as well as “social justice-minded, conscientious,” and “kind.”
Stachowiak also noted Wilcox is a cisgender white man.
“That affords him opportunities and opens doors that, frankly, were not offered or open to myself or the women directors who came before me,” Stachowiak said. “So I hope that he will use that responsibly to also get some movement with GSRC stuff.”
Port City asked for the salary information for the new director position, along with Stachowiak’s salary. UNCW provided the latter — $106,283 — but would not provide what would be Wilcox’s salary. A spokesperson said the information has not yet been made available to the public and is considered a personnel matter until the candidate assumes the role.
Port City Daily reached out to Wilcox for an interview, and though he initially agreed, he added later he didn’t think he had much to add as he doesn’t start in the position until July 1.
Despite Stachowiak lauding his good intentions, the reality, in their view, is that the gender center will receive less attention under the new setup, even if a coordinator is also hired. Stachowiak doesn’t know where the strategic plan stands under the new organizational structure either.
As for the fate of Stachowiak, they noted they are willing to help in the transition with either Wilcox or a coordinator; ultimately, though, they are excited to continue at the university in a purely faculty capacity.
“I have loved every single day of my job as director of the GSRC, even the hardest days, and I’m so proud of the programs we developed in the community that we cultivate and held — nothing can take away any of that,” Stachowiak said. “A restructuring might throw a wrench into our forward movement, but they absolutely cannot erase the strength and resiliency that women and trans people have always had … I have no doubt that we will continue to move forward and the future will be bright.”
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