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As North Carolina grows" so shall the University.
But as the University expands administrators fear the quality of the student body will decline something Chancellor Holden Thorp and other administrators are working hard to prevent.
Up to 80"000 students are expected to flood into the UNC system within the next decade.
""It wouldn't be to our advantage to say we weren't going to participate at all"" in shouldering that growth" Thorp said.
An ongoing study presented to the Board of Trustees in March shows that the University's academic quality is at risk unless it does a better job of attracting more of the best in-state students.
To prevent that decline administrators will need to juggle the many problems accompanying enrollment growth such as a need for more merit-based aid and a need for more class space.
Those challenges guarantee that enrollment will be at the forefront of the University's agenda for years to come" and Thorp has made getting the best in-state students one of his three priorities for this year.
""What you're going to see coming from me is an extraordinary emphasis" really like nothing we've seen in the past on how to recruit the undergraduate and graduate students we want to come to Carolina" Thorp said.
Getting the top N.C. students
Stephen Farmer, UNC-Chapel Hill's director of admissions, will take the leading role in finding creative new ways to recruit students.
Thorp will supplement that effort.
We want to use him as a secret weapon in those places he can make a difference"" Farmer said.
For example, Thorp said he signed a whole bunch of letters"" to prospective students"" some with personal notes at the end.
While the chancellor is an ""excellent resource"" in recruitment"" Farmer said the entire University and students in particular should get more involved.
""What I say to prospective students doesn't matter nearly as much as what (students) say"" Farmer said.
The best N.C. students are getting tougher to recruit, mainly because of increasingly generous financial aid offers from wealthy private universities.
Those institutions are now giving a free ride to students whose parents make as much as $150,000 a year, a bargaining chip that UNC does not have.
Farmer and Thorp said they are most worried the competition will lure the best in-state applicants, as opposed to those from out of state.
Traditionally UNC has been a bargain for in-state undergraduate students, charging $5,400 for tuition and fees this year. But if a school such as Harvard University waives its $36,200 cost by offering a N.C. high school graduate a free ride, UNC loses its advantage.
Given the high volume of out-of-state applicants" I don't feel threatened that we're going to lose those" Thorp said. I do feel a threat in losing our best North Carolinians.""
Merit Aid
The University will need to sweeten its merit scholarship offers.
Many administrators said the University has done a poor job of making its merit aid competitive.
Thorp said he will put new emphasis on raising money for financial aid" especially merit-based aid.
But money for merit scholarships has been difficult to raise.
Shirley Ort director of the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid said the state has promoted access to higher education and has focused on need-based aid.
Only about 7 percent of this year's incoming class received a merit scholarship from the University said Dan Thornton associate director of the student aid office.
The office's numbers for merit aid do not include students who receive endowed scholarships such as the Morehead-Cain or the Robertson scholarships.
Ort said the last significant infusion to the University's merit-aid coffers came four years ago when her office received an additional $800000 or so per year of trademark licensing revenue.
The office has only a $120 million endowment to support all its aid offerings" 90 percent of which is devoted to students who demonstrate need.
Ort said she's hopeful that Thorp's support could give merit aid a boost.
""I would be delighted to see a strong campaign for merit scholarships come out of this"" she said, adding that she would not want to see that happen at the expense of needy students.""
Space needs
University officials are estimating the student body will reach 33"000 or more students within a decade. In 2007 the student body population was 28136.
The University will need to add about 2.5 million assignable square feet to the campus to help accommodate that growth according to an ongoing study presented this summer to the Board of Trustees by Paulien & Associates Inc. a campus planning consulting firm.
Assignable square feet includes classroom research office and library space. It doesn't include corridors custodial closets" bathrooms and other service space.
""There are a lot of devils in the details"" said Bruce Carney, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the University's largest school. Do we have enough classrooms? Do we have enough offices for faculty? The answer at this point" considering the expected enrollment growth is" ‘No way.'""
The goal is to keep all undergraduates on the main campus" something the developing Carolina North campus will help achieve Carney said.
For example when the School of Law moves to Carolina North" Van Hecke-Wettach Hall might open space for undergraduates.
The University could benefit from having to work through those details and the other challenges enrollment growth presents.
""This is an opportunity"" too"" Carney said. ""Not many states are growing like this.""
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