BOG, ASG to Focus Lobbying Efforts On New Legislators

Jim Babb, chairman of the Board of Governors Public Affairs Committee, said BOG members will work to build relationships with newly elected members of the General Assembly -- preferably by getting them to visit UNC-system campuses.

"We're going to make sure that we get to the newly elected legislators early on," Babb said. "It's hard to reach 170 people at one time, but (returning legislators) have already had a lot of exposure to the university (system)."

Jonathan Ducote, president of the UNC-system Association of Student Governments and a nonvoting BOG member, said the ASG and the board have similar goals when lobbying legislators. Both groups will continue to encourage legislators to secure permanent funding for campus enrollment growth, Ducote said.

Both the ASG and the BOG will try to form consistent professional relationships with legislators, he said. "I don't think the Board of Governors in the past has had good conversations with the General Assembly. The only time in the past when members of the BOG talked to members of the General Assembly was when (legislators were) elected and when they're up for re-election."

But Ducote said some BOG members already have personal relationships with legislators, which could be beneficial for lobbying efforts. "The inroads are there for many of the members. (We're) building on the small things so that when the big things come up we'll be a force."

Ducote said he and other ASG members started forming relationships with legislators last summer, something he said he hopes will continue.

J.B. Milliken, UNC-system vice president for public affairs and university advancement, said the board will provide key talking points and data on legislators to make lobbying efforts -- for those in and out of the BOG -- more cohesive.

The BOG's advocacy notebook outlines talking points on issues the system is facing that individual universities, campus groups and individuals might be able to address effectively. "The board ... assumes that there are a great deal of resources throughout the university system and we are certainly looking to take advantage of the strengths," Milliken said.

He said the notebook is designed to unify what otherwise would be scattered advocacy efforts by organizations or people not directly related to the BOG.

UNC-Chapel Hill Student Body President Jen Daum said UNC-CH student leaders are focusing on lobbying board members themselves -- allowing the ASG to lead legislative lobbying efforts.

"Because ASG now has so many more resources, we are moving ... into more system-based lobbying because that is the form that our elected representatives are more receptive to," Daum said.

She said that her administration also is working with the ASG to get students to the legislative building and that there could be a lecture series or a class on lobbying next semester to help students better approach legislators. A similar class was offered last spring.

"It's a combination of finding a way to connect with (legislators) and connect what you want to do with your school with the good of the state," Daum said.

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