Formation of Tuition Committees Stagnates

In January, the UNC-system Board of Governors approved a proposal asking system schools to develop collaborative five-year tuition plans. The BOG asked schools to have plans ready by the October board meeting.

But since then, administrators have made little planning progress.

UNC-CH administrators said in March that they planned to have a tuition planning committee in place by early April, although officials now say it will be in place before the end of the semester.

UNC-CH Provost Robert Shelton met with UNC-CH Student Body President Jen Daum Wednesday to discuss the committee's future.

"We've been waiting until she set up her administration and Cabinet before proceeding with plans to establish a tuition planning committee," Shelton said.

He said the committee will likely have 11 or 12 members drawn from the student body, faculty, administrators and UNC-CH Board of Trustees members. Shelton said the biggest difficulty will be finding representatives who can meet during the summer.

Shelton said he wants to make the body a permanent standing committee to deal with tuition issues on a month-by-month basis.

Daum said the organization of the planning committee likely will be similar to the tuition discussion panels organized early this year with some changes.

"Naturally we want as much student representation as possible," she said. "We're making modifications to make sure the committee is as fair as possible."

Shelton said he is looking for people who will be able to meet once or twice a month during the summer.

"What a lot of people don't realize is that it can be just as hard to find available faculty members in the summer as it can be to find available students," he said. "A lot of professors have projects or research they conduct during the summer months."

Daum said she will try to get as much feedback on tuition as possible from the student body before the end of the semester. During the summer, she said, she will use students on campus to voice concerns about tuition planning.

Daum added that the committee will have to wait to establish solid long-range financial plans until the N.C. General Assembly votes on tuition increases this year. "The sooner we start discussing long-range planning, though, the better," she said.

In March, the BOG approved one-year increases that would raise tuition at UNC-CH for in-state undergraduate students by $486 and $1,778 for out-of-state students. The hikes must now be approved by the General Assembly.

Plans to create long-range tuition plans at N.C. State have also progressed slowly. N.C. State Chancellor Marye Anne Fox appointed Provost Stuart Cooper head of the school's tuition-planning committee.

Tom Stafford, N.C. State vice chancellor for student affairs, said Cooper has discussed ideas for who might be on the committee but little progress has otherwise been made.

"If these plans are going to be due in early fall, we're not going to have much time to study different ideas."

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