System appointees to bring experience

Three new members will step up to join the UNC system’s governing body this year, placing themselves in the midst of issues such as decreasing funding and rising tuition costs.

Peaches Blank, a health care consultant from Nashville, Tenn.; Phillip Dixon, a Greenville, N.C., attorney; and William Smith, president and CEO of Mutual Community Savings Bank in Durham begin their terms on the Board of Governors in July.

Each member brings unique qualities to the post, and all have served on boards of trustees at various state universities.

Having served as chairman of the N.C. Council of School Attorneys and chairman of the Education Law Section of the N.C. Bar Association, Dixon said he thinks his background in education law could bring a new outlook to the board.

“They’re really looking for the viewpoint, ‘How is this going to affect public schools and community colleges?’” he said. “And I can bring this perspective.”

Dixon spent eight years on the Board of Trustees at East Carolina University, is a lawyer for three N.C. community colleges and serves on the School of Government Foundation at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Sen. John Kerr, D-Wayne, one of his three Senate sponsors, said Dixon’s interest in the state’s education made him a desirable candidate.

“He’s always been pushing and concerned with public education, and I think that’s what you need,” Kerr said.

Smith, who spent eight years on the Board of Trustees at N.C. Central University, said one of the highlights of working with a university is the enthusiasm of its students. “It’s so exciting to see young people embrace education at that level,” he said.

Smith served five of those eight years as chairman of the trustees.

He grew up in rural eastern North Carolina and credits his state education for getting him to where he is today. Smith said he hopes his appointment to the board will be a way for him to give back to a system that gave him so much.

“It’s an opportunity for me to serve the state,” he said. “We have a great university system, and I want to do my part to keep it that way.”

All of the new members said their elections place them in charge of one of the country’s best college systems.

“I think that North Carolinians enjoy a strong system of higher education,” Blank said.

Blank is the outgoing chairwoman of N.C. State University’s Board of Trustees. She has been a trustee for 10 years.

“She’s got a great goodness of giving and a great reputation for asking questions,” said Sen. David Hoyle, D-Gaston, Blank’s sponsor. “She’s a real good example of what the Board of Governors ought to be.”

The three new members will take their place as the system faces a host of tuition and salary issues. The board has faced decisions to raise tuition at rapid rates in the last several years and likely will face a similar decision next year.

Smith said that with his banking background, he will bring financial expertise and a distinct leadership style to the board. “I bring a sense of decisiveness,” he said. “I’m very good at listening to details.”

Blank said she is concerned with faculty salaries, and Dixon said the system has to focus on maintaining affordable higher education.

Although the new members do not have specific plans for their terms, they all said they hope to contribute significantly to the system.

“I’m excited to sit at the table with great leaders in our education and to learn from them,” Smith said. “And hopefully, they’ll learn from me.”

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.