Money woes will force UNC to set priorities

When UNC administrators write a new academic plan this year, they will determine the University’s priorities and how millions of dollars will be allocated during the next few years — money that might not be as abundant as it was during the last decade.

It will take existing issues such as globalization and entrepreneurial education and turn them into official policy. These priorities could see a boost in funding for their departments and initiatives.

But it could also shift money and focus away from some areas of campus that administrators deem less essential to the University’s mission.

And the plan — a concise examination of the University’s strengths and weaknesses that sets the course of administrative initiatives for the next five years — will have to temper forward-looking rhetoric with current financial difficulties.

“I don’t think that you’re going to see a lot of bold, expensive initiatives in there,” said Chancellor Holden Thorp.

“The thing to do is to figure out how to use the assets that we have within the vision of a plan.”

Financial constraints

The original plan, created in 2003, was meant to expire after five or six years, but last fall’s economic crisis prevented campus leaders from revising the plan, an issue that persists now.

“Going ahead with the academic plan at this point might come as a shock to a lot of people,” said Ron Strauss, executive associate provost.

“But in a time of economic stress, it is especially important for us to re-examine our core mission and come up with answers for the future.”

The new plan will be influenced by factors similar to those six years ago.

“You could transpose the current economic downturn with the dire economy of 2002-03,” said Interim Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Bruce Carney, whose office is primarily responsible for the development of the plan.

“The 2003 plan reflects that, I think.”

The current process could also take to heart administrative reorganization recommendations outlined in the Bain & Company report published this fall, which suggested that the University’s complex organizational structure hinders its ability to efficiently complete most tasks.

“The report was very thoughtful, very public,” said professor Darryl Gless, former senior associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and co-chairman of the last academic plan committee. “To ignore it would be a mistake, I feel.”

But not all administrators agree with Gless.

“Budget was not really a part of the previous exercise,” Carney said. “The Bain report is about institutional efficiency, not academic planning.”

What the University wants

Numerous recent reports and discussions have helped illuminate what could become components of the new academic plan.

In the past few years, the University has made a concerted push toward globalization, an issue central to the last plan and still an active concern. The Board of Trustees heard a report last year from a group of alumni and faculty members about how to increase UNC’s global presence. These priorities could be incorporated into the plan.

For Strauss, an ideal plan would include a greater exploration of the ways the University is growing.

The last plan called for continued development of the satellite research campus Carolina North. In June, UNC and the town of Chapel Hill finalized a development agreement. Construction could begin as early as 2011.

“How can we bridge Carolina North and the main campus to ensure that the ideal environment results?” Strauss said.

With a rising number of fixed-term faculty members in all academic fields, Strauss hopes to craft a viable way to include this growing population within the larger campus promotion structure.

Controversial parts of the last plan, such as the call to explore revising the 18 percent cap on out-of-state student admissions, will not be considered, administrators said.

In recent speeches, Thorp has stressed the value of entrepreneurial initiatives as an important component of higher education, and administrators said this is likely to be a big focus of the plan.

Crafting the plan

Carney’s status as an interim provost will make this year’s writing process a little different. As the chief academic officer, Carney should have a significant voice in shaping the plan, but he said he wants to make sure the new provost is included.

“What I say might not be a part of the implementation,” Carney said. “I have my own ideas, but my plan is to identify the right people to lead the process.”

Administrators do not expect to finish the current plan until next fall, when a permanent provost is in place to give input.

Bill Andrews, senior associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, has been tapped as one of two co-chairmen for the academic plan.

In the coming weeks, it will be his job to appoint roughly 200 members to the committee from all areas of the University.

But Andrews understands that the economic situation, a changing administration and the University’s vision of itself might affect the language of the plan.

“An academic plan is a set of desired priorities,” Andrews said. “It’s not a prediction.”



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.