ASG grants $4,500 to five UNC-system schools
RALEIGH — Student leaders from across the state awarded funds on Saturday to UNC-system schools for projects to help improve their campuses.
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RALEIGH — Student leaders from across the state awarded funds on Saturday to UNC-system schools for projects to help improve their campuses.
If a recommendation for simplifying the state’s financial-aid system is followed, students from similar economic circumstances in the UNC system would be receiving the same amount of aid, regardless of the tuition costs they pay.
Fluctuating tuition from UNC-CH’s peer institutions might soon have a bigger impact on the University.
Because so many students chose the new insurance plan offered by the UNC system, the cost of the plan is likely to stay constant.
With extensive budget cuts looming, members of the UNC-system Board of Governors want universities to move toward a less traditional form of education.
The UNC system’s top administrators are paid less than their colleagues at peer institutions, making them the targets of poaching attempts by rival institutions looking to lure away the universities’ chancellors.
Adjusting to college life is never easy for incoming students — especially if they are transferring from a foreign battlefield.
The UNC-system Board of Governors met with UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp and Athletic Director Dick Baddour Thursday at their meeting to discuss the NCAA investigation into academic infractions. “We are very near the end,” Thorp said about the investigation into the individual players. The University is still looking into academic sports services and how to ensure this doesn’t happen again. UNC-system President Erskine Bowles said that the investigation was being handled well. “I think you can be very, very proud of the way they are handling this,” Bowles said. Baddour said the investigation could go back further than the last academic year but wouldn’t comment further. We will go where the information takes us,” Baddour said to the board.
A sweeping study of North Carolina’s K-12 teachers concluded that those who come to the classroom from Teach for America consistently outperform the rest of the state’s newer educators.It also reflected a growing number in N.C. classrooms of inexperienced teachers, which study leaders cited as the biggest obstacle to K-12 student success.The state needs to determine how to take TFA’s teacher preparation program and expand it to all the UNC system’s education degree programs, the study leaders said Thursday at a presentation of the study’s findings.“TFA is a boutique operation. We need an industrial model,” said Gary Henry, a UNC-Chapel Hill public policy professor and one of the leaders of the study.TFA teachers make up only 0.3 percent of North Carolina’s K-12 public school teachers, but middle school math students taught by TFA members gained the equivalent of 91 days of learning over their peers, Henry said.Researchers analyzed about 2.3 million test scores, 770,000 students and 18,500 teachers, all in North Carolina, to reach those conclusions.Proposed by the UNC system and directed by system administrators and professors, the study evaluated which teacher preparation programs were most successful, using student performance as the benchmark.“We’re responsible for producing and educating so many teachers across the system,” said UNC-system Board of Governors Chairwoman Hannah Gage.“(The findings) shatter a lot of preconceived ideas.”Results will be used to tailor UNC system schools of education to include “best practices” and improve the performance of UNC-system-educated teachers.The study also found that teachers from outside the state were less successful than those from North Carolina and that the number of teachers who entered the classroom before obtaining a formal teaching license, a process known as lateral entry, is on the rise.About 32 percent of the state’s K-12 teachers come from UNC system undergraduate education schools. The next largest source of teachers is undergraduate out-of-state education schools at 23 percent. Lateral entry teachers make up 15 percent of the group.Half of new teachers leave within five years — but it often takes until a teacher’s fifth year in the classroom to see dramatic improvements, Henry said.The key is to understand how TFA turns its inexperienced teachers into success stories and to figure out how to “scale up” those methods to the UNC system, he said, citing intensive summer programs that immerse TFA members in teaching.“They’re living and breathing teaching,” he said. “It’s hard to reproduce. It’s hard to scale that.”Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
UNC-system President Erskine Bowles announced Friday that he had chosen who would replace the system's outgoing chief financial officer.
Outgoing UNC-system President Erskine Bowles manages 16 more schools than UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp — and only makes about $60,000 more a year.But members of one of the committees helping to find Bowles’ replacement said the next system president needs to make substantially more than any of the system chancellors.At a meeting Thursday, the committee discussed factors it will consider when setting the compensation and benefits package for the next system president, — particularly how it compares to the packages for presidents at peer institutions.Before the search for candidates can really begin, the search committees must decide what they plan to pay the UNC system’s future leader. In 2008-09, Bowles made $494,023 and Thorp made $433,882 in total compensation, which includes benefits. Both were also provided with homes.According to data the committee discussed, many public universities and university systems pay their presidents substantially more than the UNC system pays Bowles.Despite the compensation discrepancies with other states, committee members were more focused on how the president’s salary compared to the salaries of system chancellors. “I can’t conceive us considering compensation that would be less than a chancellor makes,” said Board of Governors member Frank Daniels, Jr.Hannah Gage, board chairwoman and a member of the search committee, said university presidents typically make 18 percent to 20 percent more than the chancellors of individual universities.The committee will not set compensation and benefits for the next UNC-system president until after they have selected a search consultant, which they hope to do by late April.Candidate pool is still wide openGage also reminded the search committee that there is not yet a preliminary set of candidates.That won’t happen until the consultant firm is hired.Gage urged search members to keep an open mind about who could be a potential candidate.There is already widespread speculation about who might take Bowles’ place.“There is not a presumed candidate,” Gage said. “We are casting a wide, wide net, and it is my hope that we will have a vibrant pool.”Can costs be kept down?Gage said she hopes to keep the cost of the search at or less than $100,000, much of which will go toward hiring a consulting firm.But the high prices of recent searches at UNC-CH make her think it might be more costly, she said. The search that netted Thorp cost $213,581.If the search costs more, the board will have to find the money because the search is a top priority, she said.Emphasizing transparencyAlthough candidates will be kept secret, keeping the search process within N.C. open meetings laws is a major priority, board members said Thursday.They hope to make the search process as inclusive as possible, said Laura Luger, general counsel for the UNC system.Most meetings will be open to the public. Committees must announce their meetings 48 hours in advance. Still, nearly all substantial discussion will be held behind closed doors.If committee members discuss search matters with a majority of members outside an official meeting, their conversations are still legally public record, she said.“If a majority of the committee is on the 12th hole and talks business … that’s out of order,” Luger said.Members are also not permitted to discuss closed meeting business with anyone outside the session, including members on the other two committees that are involved in the search process.Every member must sign a confidentiality agreement with repercussions for members who disclose confidential information.Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
The UNC system is taking another step to strengthen its ties with the military. UNC-system President Erskine Bowles will sign an agreement with the U.S. Marines Corps Forces Special Operations Command and Marine Corps Installations East today to cement a partnership between the two groups. This partnership is similar to the one launched in November 2009 between the UNC system and the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.That partnership allowed the Army to use UNC-system resources to train and teach military personnel.The partnership will be signed at the Marine Corps base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C., according to a press release from the Marines Special Operations Command.This agreement will allow the Marine Corps to use UNC-system resources to enhance its training programs.They are placing a particular emphasis on the Performance and Resiliency program, which will help deployed Marines handle harsh combat conditions.UNC-system officials are hopeful that the new partnership will be as successful as the one with the Army.One of the premier collaborations with the Army is the combat medic training program, which allows trained military personnel to come to UNC-Chapel Hill and work in specialized areas such as burns and surgery that benefit troops stationed in remote settings, said Charles Cairns, professor and chair of the department of emergency medicine at UNC-CH. “Ideally, special operations’ medics would provide health care provisions in foreign nations,” Cairns said. “We hope to provide unique educational resources for them and develop this brand new area of medicine that they created, which I call situational medicine.”So far, the response to the Army partnership has been positive, said Kimrey Rhinehardt, vice president of federal relations for the UNC system and the one overseeing both partnerships on the UNC system side.“They have been asked to do more than they ever have, for less,” she said. “But no one has complained. They are trying to make a difference in their own world and try to keep as many Americans safe as possible.”Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
Student health insurance premiums in 2010 would be about one-third the current rate at UNC-Chapel Hill under projections presented Monday for a plan to be offered on all UNC-system campuses.All students in the system will be required to have health insurance by the next school year, as mandated by the Board of Governors.BlueCross and BlueShield of North Carolina and Pearce & Pearce, the two finalists to provide the plan, gave presentations Monday before representatives of the system’s general administration and campus health services.Student leaders said projected premiums were roughly comparable to officials’ early estimates, which set rates between $549 and $679 per year. The estimates were determined based on a set of benefits stipulated by system officials.Premiums at UNC-Chapel Hill were $1,565 for the 2008-09 school year.BCBS and Pearce & Pearce also took questions from participants in the room and via video conference.“This is unscripted. It’s kind of like ‘Saturday Night Live,’” Bruce Mallette, UNC-system senior associate vice president for academic and student affairs, said during the afternoon session, prompting laughs around the room.“There will be no singing in the introduction though.”Participants quizzed representatives from the companies on how they guard against security breaches, what Web services would be available to students and whether they could handle the high volume of students enrolling in or waiving out of the new plan next fall.The plan will serve students who do not demonstrate creditable coverage from another source, such as a parent or employer. Students who already have coverage can choose not to switch to the campus plan.Representatives from both companies said their organizations have experience working with schools that require students to have insurance.Pearce & Pearce, which specializes in student insurance, provides the plans at 13 UNC-system schools.Eleven of those schools require students to demonstrate coverage.“There will be no system change because the system works,” said Carolyn Pearce, chief operating officer at Pearce & Pearce.BCBS, the largest insurance company in North Carolina, provides the plans offered at UNC-Chapel Hill, N.C. State University and Appalachian State University. Those schools don’t require students to have insurance.But Dan Hill, BCBS director of service and administration, said his company worked with Duke University when the school began requiring insurance in 1979.Hill also said he has a team that is separate from the rest of BCBS that manages student insurance plans.Five insurance companies submitted bids to provide the new campus plan, said Joe Rippard, risk manager for the N.C. Department of Insurance.Aetna, United Healthcare and University Health Plans vied with the two finalists for the contract, Rippard said.Officials plan to choose a provider for the campus plan by mid-January.Rippard said seven companies submitted bids for a voluntary dental plan. The group will hear from finalists for that plan today.Contact the State & National editor at stntdesk@unc.edu
A controversial policy governing salaries and paid leave for administrators took a step forward Thursday after months of stalls.The personnel and tenure committee of the UNC-system Board of Governors passed the “retreat rights” policy for chancellors and presidents, which means the full board can discuss it at its next meeting in January.The policy dictates leave time and pay for chancellors and presidents when they resign from their administrative positions and opt to return to their university’s faculty.Committee Chairwoman Gladys Robinson said it was imperative that the policy pass the committee Thursday because it is likely that N.C. State University and UNC-Pembroke will be hiring new chancellors in the next year, and the policy needs to be in place before then.Board members agreed to pass the policy with UNC-system President Erskine Bowles’ recommended changes: cutting paid leave time from one year to six months and awarding a salary comparable to faculty salary, rather than 60 percent of their administrative salary.Committee members also added a provision that would allow Bowles to negotiate a payback of salary if the administrator goes on paid leave then chooses not to return to a faculty position at the university.New programs approvedThe educational planning, policies and programs committee approved a set of programs at several campuses knowing that they might not have funds to implement them. The board approved bachelor’s degree programs in intelligence studies at Fayetteville State University, genetics at N.C. State University and entrepreneurship at UNC-Greensboro — if the funds are there to support them.Bowles said the best option was to approve the programs contingent on the availability of funds, given the economic climate.“The days of absolutely being sure we’re gonna have the enrollment money are over,” Bowles said. “There is a dollar amount attached to each one of them.”The programs comply with the UNC Tomorrow initiative, which focuses on creating programs that address the demands of the state. The committee also approved a motion to begin planning doctoral programs in physical therapy at Western Carolina University and Winston-Salem State University. Elizabeth McDuffie, director of grants, training, and outreach for the UNC system, reported that the N.C. General Assembly has voted to repeal the Future Teachers of N.C. Scholarship Loan Program due to a lack of student interest.Two students at UNC-Chapel Hill were on the scholarship in 2008-09.The scholarship provides loans to students working to become math, science, special education, or English as a second language teachers.Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
A formal partnership between the UNC system and U.S. Army Special Operations Command made so much sense to both parties that it seemed silly to delay it.Only a year after Special Operations Command first approached the UNC system, the two institutions signed an agreement that established the partnership.“This is an event that I personally thought would take much longer to pass,” said Lt. Gen. John Mulholland Jr., commanding general of Special Operations Command,, who brought the idea to the UNC-system after observing a class at the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School on military logistics. “Our staff and leaders have slashed through things.”The two have worked together for years, but the system’s administration will now direct Special Operations Command to the campuses with the resources to help them the most.As the state with the fourth-largest military population, meeting the needs of the military means meeting the needs of the state — the mandate of UNC Tomorrow, UNC-system President Erskine Bowles said.The UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine and Special Operations Command partnership, which provides civilian training to combat medics, was continually held up by speakers as an example of the idea’s potential.“We have only scratched the surface of what is possible,” Bowles said.The partnership will come at no additional cost to central administration, and Special Operations Command will reimburse schools for expenditures on classes, programs and resources.A top priority is collaborating on language instruction. Through the command’s program, soldiers only learn basic comprehension, not the technical competence that comes with an academic course, Mulholland said.“Generals come and go, and chancellors and presidents and boards come and go,” said board Chairwoman Hannah Gage.“This process and relationship will continue. You have the stability so this can become larger.”Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
The UNC system and the U.S. Army will launch a new chapter in their already-extensive collaboration today.The two institutions will centralize the interaction between the military and the academic communities when UNC-system President Erskine Bowles and Lt. Gen. John Mulholland Jr., commanding general of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, sign an agreement before today’s Board of Governors meeting.The top three priorities for collaboration are language instruction, particularly for in-demand Asian languages, research and programs that foster negotiation, communication and leadership skills.The command has collaborated with individual campuses for years, but it will now come first to the system’s central administration so administrators can point them to the campuses and programs that best meet their needs, said Kimrey Rhinehardt, UNC-system vice president for federal relations and the system’s point person on the partnership.“It’s my job to go out and say, ‘We’re really good at this discipline at this campus,’” Rhinehardt said. “It’s enabling them to have a better understanding of where our strength and expertise lie.” The command is likely to turn to UNC-Chapel Hill for research and language instruction, she said.One collaborative project already exists between the UNC School of Medicine in Chapel Hill and the command’s combat medic training program.“We bring to bear all the best that the army and special forces has to offer to teach combat medics,” said Sgt. 1st Class Eric Hendrix of the command’s public affairs.Meanwhile, combat medics benefit from the School of Medicine’s ability to provide civilian training and experience, Rhinehardt said.Plans are underway for the medical school to take on instructors from the command’s medic program to work alongside UNC doctors and to count battlefield experience for course credit to fast-track combat medics’ transition to civilian medicine, she said.General administration will back out after subpartnerships between schools and the command are cemented, Rhinehardt said.No new positions have been created. Rhinehardt will serve as the point person for the system, and Mulholland will be her counterpart. Schools and the command will be responsible for covering any costs that arise from collaborative projects.Retired Gen. James Lindsay first thought of the idea many years ago, but the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan pushed it to the backburner, Hendrix said.Mulholland, who assumed command in November 2008, put it back on the agenda and arranged meetings with Bowles and the Board of Governors.“Gen. Mulholland saw it as something that was of top importance. He didn’t want to wait anymore,” Hendrix said.“We have a home school now — a school that we can call USASOC’s home.”Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
When the 17 UNC-system campuses were asked to respond by May with their plans to complete the goal that system President Erskine Bowles gave them in December, some campus task forces didn't think it would be possible to complete that goal.