The Budget and Finance Committee proposal would allow each campus to come up with its own long-range tuition plan but seeks to prevent wide disparities in tuition between similar institutions by promoting correlation between campuses as officials craft different plans.
The proposal, which has yet to be drafted and was not on the agenda Thursday, aims to make tuition increases more predictable. But the five-year plans would serve only as a nonbinding guide for campus administrators.
The proposal was the result of a motion by Addison Bell, BOG Budget and Finance Committee chairman, who called for the plan at the committee's Thursday meeting.
Bell said he proposed the plan because it would create predictability in tuition and fees for students entering college and help generate a systemwide approach toward tuition. "The truth is if one institution has a campus-initiated (tuition) increase, that triggers other tuition increases," Bell said. "We're putting out a fire every year."
Bell did not cite a timeline for when campuses' long-range plans might be crafted. He said it was impossible to predict how long such a process would take.
Bell also said a key component of the plan would be for all the campuses to work with each other and with the Office of the President to create the five- year plans. "I want to look at the total picture, not just pieces," he said. "This way we can avoid a snowball effect. Basically, one school -- (UNC-)Chapel Hill to be honest -- comes in and triggers (tuition) increases at other campuses."
The proposal comes as about a half-dozen UNC campuses are in the process of crafting tuition increases.
If the proposal passes the BOG today, Bell said he expects campus-level administrators to take it into consideration when forming tuition requests this year.
Ideally, Bell said he would prefer a moratorium on tuition increases this year while all the campuses generate their five-year plans but added that it was unlikely the BOG would approve such a move.
