House, Senate to Collaborate on Study Bill

The bill, which was voted down in the N.C. House on Wednesday, will be heard in a closed conference committee meeting. The committee will be composed of four members of the House and three members of the N.C. Senate.

The committee has been charged with finding a compromise suitable to both chambers.

The amended legislation probably will be voted on by members of the Senate and House today, on what is expected to be the last day of the session.

Rep. Bill Culpepper, D-Chowan, encouraged House members to vote down the bill late Wednesday night.

Culpepper recommended that the study -- which has spurred debate among legislators and higher education advocates -- be implemented through another bill, which is annually passed by the General Assembly and authorizes funding for several studies. The House obliged, and the bill failed 102-2.

As it stands, the bill would eliminate quotas requiring BOG seats for racial and political minorities and women. Under current law, 12 seats go to members of these groups.

Former BOG member Walter Davis and others filed a lawsuit in May, asserting that the requirement is unconstitutional.

On Oct. 4, the Senate added a provision to the House bill forming a 10-member committee to examine the BOG's structure. The committee will investigate "the length of members' terms, the number of terms a member may serve, the size of the BOG, the scope of the BOG's governance powers and the effectiveness of the current structure of the BOG."

But legislators have received letters from education officials, former governors and others opposing the study.

A Nov. 9 letter signed by the chancellors of all 16 UNC-system schools stated, "We fear that a hurried study of this type could do unintended harm to public higher education in this state."

But Sen. Howard Lee, D-Orange, said he thinks the study is a good idea. "I feel that it is timely to remove the quotas, and I feel that it is timely to conduct the study," Lee said.

Lee also disagreed with those who feel the study is not necessary.

"The study is relative," he said. "If we are changing the Board of Governors and the system, then it is germane that we study the system we're changing."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.