BOT hears of size issues

The Board of Trustees expressed concerns Thursday regarding the enrollment projection of 5000 more UNC-Chapel Hill students during the next decade.

Increased enrollment could ultimately decrease the quality of a UNC education and the number of highly qualified students who enroll according to a presentation by the Art & Science Group" a higher-education consulting firm.

Board members said the discussion should weigh the benefits of growth with the possible setbacks.

Trustee Rusty Carter said the University might serve the state better by retaining quality and not growing.

""I think we're going to have to push back and say we have a higher calling than adding 600 students a year" Carter said. Somebody the board maybe is going to have to stand up and say" ‘This doesn't work for Chapel Hill. This growth thing doesn't work.'""

The presentation discussed the effect of enrollment growth on the number of accepted applicants who come to the University.

Rick Hesel" a principal with Art & Science" said enrollment growth could cause the perception of UNC's student quality to drop.

""If the perception of the quality of students slips" then enrollment declines drastically" he said.

One way to prevent a decrease in quality is to increase the amount of money the school gives out in merit aid, Hesel said.

Merit aid is the single most important tool in offsetting any negative impacts of growth"" Hesel said, noting that most highly ranked schools are giving more money to high-income students rather than low-income students.

That moves away from a culture at Chapel Hill that's very admirable" but it's a competitive fact" he said.

Trustee John Ellison chimed in to say that while he believed no one was outright rejecting the possibility of future growth, the presentation did offer an opportunity to further examine issues with legislators.

This is an opportunity to refocus the debate on what would be best for North Carolina"" Ellison said. I think we are required to have that debate.""

Other enrollment discussions at the meeting included the additional space that would be needed for growth.

 Presenters at the meeting said the University is short about 4 million more square feet to accommodate the increase.

Trustees said the growth discussion strengthens the argument for Carolina North" the planned satellite-research campus that is likely to be a future home for the law school and other graduate programs.

But the board said it would proceed with caution from this point" and view the growth discussion skeptically.

""My eyes have been opened"" Carter said. And I'm very concerned about the potential pitfalls of this.""



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