Nailing theses to UNC's door

The Charlotte Observer
January 15, 2012
By Taylor Batten

Bosses don't usually appreciate the previous boss hanging around, telling them what to do. This time, though, was different - up to a point.

New UNC President Tom Ross is more than equipped to handle the job of overseeing the 16-campus system. But he has moved into the president's Chapel Hill office at an historic time, when the very mission of the university system is threatened by hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts brought on by an enduring economic slowdown.

So when his predecessors were asked to give Ross some advice, he was happy to listen. He got an earful, especially from Charlotte's Dick Spangler, whose love for the university prevents him from politely holding his tongue.

Spangler, Ross and the only other three UNC presidents of the modern era - Bill Friday, Molly Broad and Erskine Bowles - came together in November for a panel discussion. Their talk aired on public television last week.

After 40 minutes or so of mostly niceties, moderator Jim Holshouser, the former governor, asked the former presidents what advice they would give Ross....

Spangler, president from 1986 to 1997, fired off 10 specific things the UNC system should do during the next two years to cut costs. He went after some sacred cows. Ross, responding to Spangler's ideas in a memo to the Board of Governors last week, was gracious but made clear he doesn't see Spangler's proposals as being particularly helpful.

Here are Spangler's 10, which he proposes be in effect for the next two years, with a very brief summary of Ross's response. Ross's full response is available with this column at www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion.

1. Stop sabbaticals. Ross: Many campuses offer few or none, and this would save less than $1 million.

2. Freeze salaries for employees making more than $100,000. Ross: They haven't gotten raises in four years and probably won't anytime soon.

3. Cut administrative expenses at all campuses and within system administration by 10 percent. Ross: We'll always look for efficiencies, but we've cut these expenses for six years and are now "dangerously thin."

4. Stop all out-of-state travel not explicitly approved by Ross and the Board of Governors. Ross: We'll review it, but faculty travel is frequently required to do important work.

5. Restrict scholarship funds to in-state students. Ross: The little bit of this that exists is needed for our graduate programs to be competitive.

6. Postpone all athletic facility expansion. Ross: Worth considering, but would help only students with lower fees and wouldn't save any state money.

7. Raise tuition on out-of-state students to the full cost of their education. Ross: This is already in place.

8. Get the 1,000 richest North Carolinians to give gifts supporting 10 in-state students each. Ross: I support this, and all our campuses continuously seek gifts from potential donors.

9. Transfer all registered nursing programs to the community colleges. Ross: A huge nursing shortage looms, and we need all the nursing schools we have.

10. Delay all new degree/program expansions. Ross: UNC already has a strong system for considering requests for new academic degree programs, and a task force is looking at how to make it even stronger.

Both Ross and Spangler are intelligent, well-intentioned men who deeply love the University of North Carolina system and want to keep quality and accessibility high. Their exchange helps show just how challenging a problem UNC faces.

All of this was in the background last week as the Board of Governors contemplated an issue that helps define the system's very character: Tuition hikes. Faced with close to $500 million in cuts mandated by the legislature, chancellors are asking the board to approve sizable tuition increases. UNC Asheville seeks a 13.5 percent hike this year; UNC Chapel Hill, 11.4 percent; UNC Charlotte, 7.8 percent.

Article IX, Section 9 of the N.C. Constitution specifies that the UNC system must "as far as practicable, be extended to the people of the State free of expense."

That's in increasing danger. The UNC system is one of the most important institutions to this state's future. It's where 220,000 students are educated each year, where they become leaders, where they gain the tools necessary to earn an income and improve the state. As students are priced out by higher tuition, North Carolina's future is diminished....

Ross said last week that he'll recommend single-digit tuition hikes this year. Each of the four prongs in his approach is essential: Cut costs, bring in more private donations, raise tuition slowly and maintain taxpayer support as the primary source of funding.

That last piece is crucial. As the economy rebounds in coming years, North Carolinians must remind the legislature that the UNC system is a national gem, and should be treated as such.  Click here to read more.