Budget Makes Major Commitments to UNC
(July 31, 2007) From 5 percent raises for faculty to $119.6 million for a Genomics Building to a commitment to provide $50 million a year for cancer research, the budget that state legislators approved and Gov. Mike Easley signed today makes major investments at UNC-Chapel Hill.
“We are spending a lot on education,” declared Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, D-Cumberland. “But if there’s anything we need to do, that’s it.”
Highlights of the $20.7 billion budget for 2007-08 include:
- 5 percent raises for UNC faculty. Non-faculty employees would get 4%.
- $25 million for a unique new initiative called the University Cancer Research Fund that would grow to $50 million a year for cancer research over the next three years – the equivalent of a billion-dollar endowment that distributes 5 percent in earnings each year. University officials say it will elevate UNC to the top tier of cancer centers in the country.
- $35.6 million for need-based financial aid for 46,564 students across the UNC system. The money would come from the state’s Escheats Fund.
- $119.6 million in debt for the Genomics Science Building at UNC-Chapel Hill. The building is projected to cost a total of $160 million.
- $25 million for planning and early construction of an addition to the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Dentistry. The addition will amount to as much as 216,414 square feet and a project cost of $125 million. In a related expansion, East Carolina University will also receive $25 million for planning and early construction of a School of Dentistry.
- $8 million for planning the proposed Biomedical Research Imaging Center (BRIC). The 275,000-square-foot facility is projected to cost $135 million.
- $5 million for a system-wide reserve for UNC land acquisition.
- $3 million for a competitiveness fund for UNC President Erskine Bowles to distribute for interdisciplinary research in critical areas that include pharmacogenomics, biomedical sciences and nanosciences.
- $2 million in additional recurring operating dollars for the UNC-Chapel Hill Law School.
- $1 million for indigent care at UNC Hospitals.
- $16.5 million in operating funds for UNC programs at the N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis.
- And $750,000 for a model program to train new teachers in science and math and develop a National Board Science and Math Teacher Center.
