Board of Governors aims to cut costs, keep future tuition hikes to a minimum

For the first time since 2009, the UNC-system Board of Governors is entering a new academic year without significant state budget cuts on its conscience.

The N.C. General Assembly made few new cuts to the system in the 2014-15 budget, signed by Gov. Pat McCrory earlier this month.   System President Tom Ross praised the budget, noting that it included the first state investments in the system’s five-year strategic plan.

And John Fennebresque, the board’s new chairman, said the board will continue confirming to lawmakers that members are working to reduce costs and help the system operate as efficiently as possible.

A year ago, 16 new members were appointed to the board by the GOP-controlled N.C. General Assembly. Students had expressed concerns that the board was focused on political ideology and did not represent the campuses’ diversity.

But Alex Parker, president of the Association of Student Governments and a nonvoting member of the board, said this board’s perspective tends to align better with the state government’s vision of the system.

“The name of the game is to get our name out of the newspapers,” he said, noting that the system wasn’t a contentious part of state budget discussions. “We don’t want to be in that spotlight.”

For the past five years, campus leaders, faculty and students have railed against budget cuts, which totaled nearly $500 million   between the 2011-12 and 2013-14 school years as the economic recession’s impacts were realized. The cuts have sparked tuition increases, layoffs and problems retaining faculty.

Fred Eshelman, a board member who had expressed frustration   with the General Assembly’s support for the system, resigned from the board June 30.

Fennebresque said continuing to find new savings will allow the system to invest in higher salaries for faculty and need-based financial aid.

“Do we need 15 schools of education? Maybe we do, but we’re looking at that sort of thing,” Fennebresque said.

Marty Kotis III, who joined the board in 2013, said helping campuses operate at lower costs, through online education and sharing course and program resources, will help minimize future tuition hikes.

The system’s in-state tuition was frozen for this year, though out-of-state tuition rose across the system, including an 11.3 percent hike at UNC-CH.

The board’s annual tuition debates often spark student protests think this is common knowledge , and students have been a vocal presence at board meetings throughout the past year — beginning in Aug. 2013, before the new members had been sworn in, when the board passed a ban on gender-neutral housing.

Kotis said recent student efforts have not accomplished much. In fact, he said, board members often already agreed with protesters’ stances.

Blanche Brown,  a UNC-CH sophomore and organizer with the N.C. Student Power Union, said she expects more student demonstrations this year.

N.C. Student Power is pushing for a public forum as part of each board meeting, Brown said, because having only one student voice on the board — the UNC-system Association of Student Governments president — is problematic.

“The fundamental makeup of the Board of Governors is never going to be really helpful for students, unless we have a bigger role in meetings and in the decision-making process,” she said.

Parker said the board can be slow to seek out student voices because they’re tasked with managing the entire university system — but he said members are responsive to students.

Brown said she hopes the board will show a commitment this year to addressing student concerns.

“I don’t think they wake up every morning and say, ‘I want to raise tuition.' But I don’t feel 100 percent confident that they’re fighting for us.”

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