Autonomy struggle defeated

The UNC system's governing body might have been losing its grip.

But the Board of Governors demonstrated at its May 13 meeting that it wouldn't relinquish its jurisdiction of the system's tuition decisions without a fight.

The body unanimously approved a resolution condemning the N.C. Senate's budget passed May 5 that would delegate what has been the board's responsibility since its establishment in 1971.

The Senate's budget proposal was the crowning touch to a year full of power struggles between the board and the General Assembly. Last summer, the General Assembly passed a budget that approved funds for a massive capital projects package the system had yet to approve.

While legislators were well within their rights, the historic process had been disrupted.

And echoes of that decision could be seen in the 11th-hour provision, which would have allowed UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State University to set their own tuition rates without approval from the board.

"I believe this is a bad idea," said Jim Phillips, then chairman of the board's budget and finance committee.

"It significantly impacts in a negative way this board's ability to govern and manage this system as a whole."

The Senate provision reportedly was added after two weeks of communication between UNC-CH lobbyists and the offices of Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight and Sen. Tony Rand, D-Cumberland.

System officials first heard of the provision long after UNC-CH officials entered talks with the senators. "It certainly was disappointing," said then system President Molly Broad of UNC-CH's closed-door communication with legislative leaders.

Some board members mentioned at the meeting the possibility of differentiated tuition plans for each system school, recognizing that schools such as UNC-CH and N.C. State might have special needs.

Ultimately, the House version of the budget excluded the tuition autonomy provision, as did the final budget passed by both chambers.

Rand, an ardent supporter of UNC-CH, said the debate brought much more attention to the issue of competitiveness of faculty salaries, particularly at the state's research universities.

"We need to do a better job, and so we've called attention to it," he said. "If (tuition autonomy) is not the way to do it, then we want to know what is the plan."

But BOG Chairman Brad Wilson said the problem lies in the university's ability to explain to legislators what the BOG is doing on behalf of UNC-CH and NCSU.

The governors regularly request faculty salary hikes far higher than the assembly eventually enacts.

Wilson's goal this year is to make sure legislators are aware of BOG policies and actions from the start, he said.

"We're going to err on the side of more communication, rather than less," Wilson said. "We need to communicate more regularly with the members of the General Assembly, the leadership and the staff of the leadership to let them know ... what proposals are being considered."

In the wake of the debate, the board formed a tuition policy task force. The group is examining a long-term tuition policy that would give each system school a range of tuition increases considered acceptable by the board.

The range would be determined by a comparison of tuition rates at peer institutions.

While specific guidelines for 2006-07 tuition have been adopted, the long-term policy has yet to be approved.

 

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