5 things to know about the centers and institutes review

1. The review began in September.

In summer 2014, the North Carolina General Assembly directed the UNC Board of Governors to consider taking $15 million from the UNC system’s centers and institutes and redistributing it to other campus priorities. A working group began its review in September and has whittled down the system’s 237 centers across three phases.

2. It involved three phases.

In the first phase, the board chose centers for further review — including 26 at UNC — based on factors such as their budget and their economic return ratio. The board then tapped 34 centers, nine of which were located at UNC, to give presentations to the board. The third phase involved recommendations for 16 centers, including seven at UNC.

3. Ultimately, 11 centers closed.

In the first phase, the board chose centers for further review — including 26 at UNC — based on factors such as their budget and their economic return ratio. The board then tapped 34 centers, nine of which were located at UNC, to give presentations to the board. The third phase involved recommendations for 16 centers, including seven at UNC.

4. Some say politics is behind it. 

UNC law professor Gene Nichol, who heads the Center on Poverty, has become known for writing scathing editorials criticizing Republican leadership in the state legislature. Critics have said that the review and the poverty center’s closing directly target Nichol — threatening his right to speak out as a tenured professor and his academic freedom in general.

5. Centers impact UNC students.

Many students do internships at centers while working on undergraduate and graduate degrees. Students have stood up for the centers throughout the process — the UNC BOG Democracy Coalition attended most of the meetings, and law students started a blog where they posted video testimonials detailing their experiences with the centers.