UNC system to formally install Ross

The News & Observer
October 4, 2011
BY JANE STANCILL

Tom Ross has been on the job for nine months as president of the UNC system, but the formal celebration of the Ross era happens Thursday in his hometown of Greensboro.  In January, Ross took the helm of the university system at an unenviable time. Talk of budget cuts consumed the new president from the minute he was handed the keys.  By summer, a battered economy and a budget crisis led lawmakers to slash state funding by $414 million for the system's campuses, an overall reduction of 15.6 percent. The cuts varied by campus, with UNC-Chapel Hill taking the biggest hit at 17.9 percent. A recent report detailed the impact of the reductions, from larger classes to reduced course offerings to trimmed library services. The system has let go just over 3,000 employees, mostly part-time workers. Nearly 1,500 vacant jobs also were eliminated. Last year, the total UNC workforce was 47,000.  Despite the bloodletting, Ross has repeatedly said he won't whine about the cuts. It is the university system's duty to provide quality education to the sons and daughters of North Carolina, he said, no matter the economic situation.  Click here to read more.