On to the State: Students must make education a campaign issue this coming year

In its vote to raise tuition Thursday, the Board of Trustees drove yet another nail into affordable education’s proverbial coffin — but not before taking one last chance to prove just how hurried this year’s tuition process has been.

After motioning on behalf of her committee to vote on Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Bruce Carney’s proposal, trustee Sallie Shuping-Russell seconded Student Body President Mary Cooper’s motion to delay the vote another month, only to withdraw it and vote to raise in- and out-of-state tuition by 15.6 and 6.5 percent, respectively. Her reluctance, yet insistence to send the proposal along to the Board of Governors, showed just how far UNC backed itself into a corner.

But the board and administration aren’t the only ones deserving of blame.

Cooper’s proposal to raise in-state tuition 6.4 percent and out-of-state tuition 4 percent deserved all the praise it received, especially when one considers that it was pieced together, as she said Thursday, “with one Excel sheet, with Google and a weekend.” Impressive though that may be, waiting until the last second deprived an otherwise well thought-out proposal of a chance.

It’s now Cooper’s obligation to make up for lost time.

From the beginning of her administration, Cooper has shown a savvy for coordinating students at a state-wide level. During the summer, she mobilized students on a lobbying campaign meant to spare the University from as many budget cuts as possible.

She should employ a similar strategy to make preserving public education a campaign issue for the 2012 election year. As the past year and its 15.6 percent, or $414 million, cut to UNC system has shown, some state legislators lack an appreciation for higher education and the benefits it reaps for the state’s economy.

Before legislators sign off on any tuition proposal, the University’s plan must pass through the Board of Governors. To date, this board has not had the courage to fend off tuition increases and say “enough” to the state.

Students are uniquely suited to fill this role, but their potential wasn’t tapped on this campus until last week, with Cooper’s tuition forums. With the filing deadline for 2012 elections coming in February, this potential must be channeled toward the source of the UNC system’s financial hardship — the state legislature.

This shouldn’t be a tough sell for in-state students, who face a tuition hike that more than doubles the BOG’s 6.5 percent cap on such increases. Many of their families have spent years dutifully paying taxes to the state with the understanding that they would one day afford tuition at UNC or any other UNC-system school. Tuition should be kept within their grasp.

It’s time for students to finally draw a line in the sand.

It’s time to tell the state that the University has cut itself down to the bone, that the UNC system has a contract to keep education affordable. It’s time for legislators to know that, with each successive year of budget cuts, they violate that contract more and more.

And it’s time for students to realize their role in maintaining that contract and making the preservation of high-quality, accessible education a prerequisite for public office.