Opinion: Be careful with cuts

The Board of Governors held its first meeting of the new academic year with public comments and a press conference with UNC system president Margaret Spellings.

The Friday meeting looked toward the future, and affordability and accessibility were two emerging themes of these conversations.

This editorial board agrees with sentiments expressed at the meeting that affordability should be a priority — financial barriers can keep the university system from attracting the best talent. Yet it is important to keep in mind how those dollars are being saved.

One person at the meeting was concerned about important majors, like Women’s and Gender Studies, being defunded across the system.

Back in the spring of 2015, 46 programs were defunded across UNC campuses leaving many questioning the motives of board members.

We understand money is tight and something has to give. But cutting education is not the path forward for improving and expanding opportunities at UNC schools.

Ultimately these institutions are places to learn, and limiting the diversity of schools students can enroll in dilutes the purpose of a liberal education.

Money can be saved elsewhere, maybe by limiting the salaries of administrators, which saw increases this past year. The 46 programs are bad enough — we cannot cut education further. Moving forward, any plans for how to make college cheaper for students should keep educational quality as a top priority.

Spellings said she’s working to improve college accessibility for the system. We agree with her that this should not be a top-down approach, and we look forward to seeing how conversations with chancellors, faculty and students go.

These conversations need to include a diverse group of students from across all campuses and should include non-academic staff as well.

All members of the UNC community ought to care about making our schools more open, and seemingly this is our time to be heard.

We hope Spellings and the board will keep all of us updated on the policy drafting process and avoid the lack of transparency that has riddled previous board activities.

Only two community members spoke at the meeting, which is a shame. These forums are a great way to engage with board members and ought to be better utilized, given how much work activists put in to bring them about.

These earnest conversations could become more fruitful than protests, but only if everyone is willing to participate.