UNC system’s budget better than was expected

Given the tremendous state budget shortfall that had to be closed, the UNC-system budget and finance committee was pretty happy when it saw the final 2009-11 budget.

Enrollment growth, need-based financial aid and faculty recruitment and retention fund all received the full or almost full amount that the Board of Governors requested in November 2008.

But their top priority, campus safety, was excluded entirely. Money to keep faculty salaries competitive with the UNC system’s peers and funding to improve accountability and performance measures also were left off.

In a fiscal year fraught with no-win situations, Board of Governors members, who craft policy for the UNC system, still considered the final result a victory.

“We have no room to complain,” said John Davis, the board’s budget and finance committee chairman.

“They’ve got to make very difficult decisions that don’t make anybody happy. Maybe your job is to make everybody equally unhappy.”

In November 2008, the board requested about $3 billion in funding for the UNC system for 2009-10.

By the time the N.C. General Assembly began reviewing the request months later, the fiscal situation had worsened drastically, changing the nature of budget discussions, said Rob Nelson, UNC-system vice president for finance.

“The world had changed so much,” he said.

The final allotment — $2.7 billion — is a 5.9 percent reduction of that request. Including the federal stimulus money, the UNC-system allocation totaled $2.84 billion.

“More money could have been allotted, but it’s a matter of moving money around,” Davis said.

“It’s a very, very difficult decision. Do you spend money on mental health? Do you spend it on classroom instruction? Do you spend it on economic development?”

Because campus safety initiatives received enough money in past years, this year’s exclusion shouldn’t be devastating, Nelson said.

The system already has most of the money it needs for police officers, mental health counselors, training, identifying threats, emergency response and equipment — the key elements of improvement to campus safety.

Still, unexpected events could present a problem, Davis acknowledged.

“Are we pleased that there wasn’t money there? No. Does it worry me? Yes.”

However, the funding for enrollment growth was a particular relief.

The state’s rapidly growing population makes it crucial that the universities continue to expand their enrollment if they are to continue meeting the state’s needs, Davis said.

“If we are going to as a state continue to move forward and continue to have progress, we’ve got to have an educated population,” he said.

Last year’s drastic budget cuts were good practice for managing this year’s reductions, Nelson said.

However, another year or two of severe cuts could have long-term consequences.

“If we manage ourselves, we can make it through the fiscal year,” he said.

“Without economic recovery, we’ll be facing more cuts and more holdbacks. … I think the deeper we go the more difficult it’s going to be to protect our quality.”


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