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(11/13/07 5:00am)
The UNC system's governing body gave preliminary approval Friday to a host of potentially far-reaching changes in campus security policies.
The system's post-Virginia Tech safety review recommended almost $5.5 million in new annual expenditures, with an upfront investment of $5.7 million.
Officials are now deciding how quickly they can implement those changes.
"As we work through these recommendations, we were always testing it against Virginia Tech," said UNC-Charlotte Chancellor Phillip Dubois, a member of the campus safety task force.
"Could we have prevented Virginia Tech?" Dubois said. "I came to the conclusion we probably couldn't have, but we can do some things to make it a lot less likely."
A similar report is expected in January from a government panel headed by state Attorney General Roy Cooper.
"We want to do things that are reasonable," Cooper said. "We don't want to overreact, but at the same time we want to be prepared."
Cooper added that the state's findings will closely mirror the UNC report.
The UNC task force's short-term recommendations, which could be completed by August 2008, include a new administrative position on each campus to oversee safety and security.
With a recurring cost of $1.9 million, it is by far the group's costliest suggestion.
Leslie Winner, departing UNC-system vice president for legal affairs and chairwoman of the task force, said it is also one of the most important changes campuses can make.
"No campus has a single person in charge," Winner said. "We need someone who can lead this effort on a continuous basis."
The system has done well in responding to specific events, Winner said, citing the 2004 shooting at UNC-Wilmington. But permanent positions are designed to make campuses more proactive.
The UNC task force did not suggest greatly modifying existing security systems for campus buildings, noting that 77 percent of violent crimes within dorms are committed by residents or their guests.
Instead, system officials will leave such improvements, including the use of electronic access passes and security cameras, to the discretion of each campus.
In its August report on the Virginia Tech shootings, the Virginia governor's commission noted that security cameras could have helped prevent the massacre.
The creation of a surveillance camera network covering every main entrance and access door on each campus would total more than $1.6 million, according to the UNC task force.
More than physical changes or new positions, Winner said a culture shift is ultimately required. She emphasized the connection between violent crimes and drug and alcohol abuse, noting that catastrophic events like that at Virginia Tech are exceedingly rare.
"We were looking a bit more holistically," she said. "We took a broader view of the different ways we can prevent a variety of different types of violent crime."
To create that culture shift, the task force called for more rigorous training of residence hall advisers and other campus officials.
"I think it's hopeless to get kids to stop drinking," Winner said. "But I don't think it's hopeless to get kids to stop abusing alcohol."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(10/15/07 4:00am)
From the outset of his presidency, UNC-system President Erskine Bowles wanted a high-profile, comprehensive study to look at future challenges for higher education in North Carolina.
Now, just a few months into the initiative known as UNC Tomorrow, university leaders are grappling with just how comprehensive it has become.
In a series of public meetings held across the state, policymakers heard a litany of chronic problems - and an almost endless stream of requests for help from the university system.
"It's so big, it's hard to know where to start," said Hannah Gage, a member of the UNC-system Board of Governors. Gage has attended all 11 public meetings, held everywhere from Asheville to Elizabeth City.
"I think it will force us to look in a broader way at every critical part of our strategy."
Bowles came into office promising the state's public colleges would serve as an engine of economic transformation, and the energy level surrounding UNC Tomorrow remains high.
But after listening to a chorus of complaints about failing public schools and a stubbornly enduring achievement gap between poor and affluent children, officials are beginning to speak more directly about the limits of the University's role.
"I think we might be talking about an expansion of our core mission," said James Holshouser, the former N.C. governor who serves as an emeritus member of the BOG. "I think there's a real question of whether we have the capacity to do what we're being asked."
That comment prompted Bowles and BOG Chairman Jim Phillips to respond almost in unison.
"Me, too," they said.
In many ways, that kind of reaction is exactly what UNC Tomorrow was meant to elicit. The initiative is designed to test boundaries of what the UNC system can do to respond to problems beyond campus walls.
Already, Bowles and other UNC administrators have begun talking about a more wholistic approach to education.
One of the University's chief goals in the coming years will be to forge a "seamless" relationship with community colleges, including cooperative lobbying for state funds.
"You're going to see me next year when we go to the legislature really supporting the community college budget," Bowles said.
A much greater difficulty for UNC officials will be finding a way to improve K-12 education, which has been the most common demand during community meetings.
The university system will have to cope with a vast expansion in the number of high school graduates during the next two decades, and there are already concerns about how well-prepared those students will be for college work.
"It's astounding how much we're hearing about K-12 and the help they need," Gage said.
By the time UNC Tomorrow wraps up next semester, officials hope to define just how much help they can provide.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(10/12/07 4:00am)
In an effort to combat low graduation rates, administrators are considering a set of minimum entry requirements for the state's 16 public universities.
While the standards would apply to every freshman entering the UNC system, the policy is aimed at a handful of campuses that have struggled to balance rapid enrollment growth with academic success.
Eight system campuses have a six-year graduation rate below 50 percent, meaning fewer than half of entering freshman will receive a diploma within six years.
"We basically have open admissions at many of our universities," said UNC-system President Erskine Bowles.
That kind of wide-open approach is the byproduct of the UNC system's focused growth initiative, which singled out seven of the system's smaller campuses for rapid expansion.
While the program is considered a success in terms of broadening access to higher education, the downside has been an increased number of students with questionable qualifications.
"Remember what happened at A&T," Bowles said, referring to the decision to include N.C. Agricultural and Technical University in the focused-growth program. "All of those kids got in, and they all flunked out."
The six-year graduation rate at N.C. A&T stands at a meager 38 percent.
The requirements under consideration are modest and would not take effect until fall 2009.
If the standards are approved, applicants would need a grade point average of at least 2.0 and a combined SAT score of 700. By 2013, students would need a 2.5 GPA and an 800 SAT to be considered for admission to any UNC-system school.
"We want to balance broad access and success," said Charlie Nelms, chancellor at N.C. Central University. "We need students who are better prepared in terms of the rigor of the courses they've taken."
Most students who fall short of the proposed standards are already denied admission, but system officials say the existence of a firm baseline would send a message.
"Higher admissions standards, we think, are a plus for the university and a plus for students," Bowles said.
System officials hope that gradually increasing the minimum requirement will prompt students to work harder in grade school.
Poorly prepared students are at a much higher risk of dropping out, often leaving them to face college debt without a college degree.
Already, campuses use a variety of information to determine whether a student is capable of college-level work. Schools that already have minimum standards would remain largely unaffected by the proposed policy.
At UNC-Greensboro, for example, a computer model looks at grades, standardized test scores and the reputation of students' high schools to predict their GPAs as college freshmen.
"The way we've raised admissions standards over the years is by ratcheting up that predicted GPA," said Patricia Sullivan, chancellor at UNC-G.
A potential byproduct of enforcing a baseline admissions standard would be to redirect more applicants to the state's community colleges.
Already conscious of that impact, officials said they will be working to create a more seamless relationship with community colleges.
"Everything we're doing today, we're doing with the community college system," Bowles said.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(10/12/07 4:00am)
Chancellor James Moeser said Thursday that he will not propose any tuition increase for in-state undergraduates for the 2008-09 academic year.
"I am recommending that there be a zero percent increase in resident tuition," Moeser said.
A letter has already been sent to Provost Bernadette Gray-Little, who co-chairs the campus tuition and fee advisory task force, advising her of the decision.
The move is part of an ongoing effort to tie tuition rates more closely to state appropriations.
This summer, legislators provided a substantial windfall for the state's public universities, and for UNC-Chapel Hill in particular.
As a result, UNC-system officials are calling on campuses to strongly limit resident tuition hikes.
"The General Assembly has done their part," said Rob Nelson, UNC-system vice president for finance. "So (system President Erskine Bowles) thinks it's a year for low tuition."
A revised tuition plan enacted last year caps annual tuition increases at a maximum of 6.5 percent and automatically reduces that cap in proportion to generous state funding.
System administrators are still working to determine exactly what those caps will be, but they have already provided preliminary numbers to several campuses.
Moeser said he expects UNC-CH's cap to be near zero and characterized his support for no resident increase as a pre-emptive move.
System officials said they expect low tuition proposals from other schools.
"I do expect it to be a year where a lot of the campuses will respect what the legislature did," Nelson said.
Ken Peacock, chancellor at Appalachian State University, said his campus had received a preliminary cap of 2.6 percent. But given the extent of legislative funding, he said the campus might not ask for even that much.
"That will be up to our campus committee," Peacock said, adding that the committee has not yet met. "We were waiting for that guideline."
The next meeting of the UNC-CH tuition and fee advisory task force is slated for Oct. 22.
If the group adopts the zero percent recommendation, it is likely to increase pressure on nonresident tuition.
There is no cap for out-of-state tuition increases, and UNC-CH trustees have in the past shown a willingness to approve sharp hikes for nonresidents.
"We're actively going to discuss that at the next meeting and the meeting after that," Moeser said, referring to discontent among nonresident students.
"They feel we're raising their tuition because we can."
Mike Tarrant, UNC-CH student body vice president, said students are grateful for the prospect of an in-state reprieve but worried about the impact on nonresidents.
"Our fear is that the trustees will try to compensate for the lost revenue through out-of-state students," he said.
Tarrant added that there are ongoing concerns about the very nature of the tuition-setting process, and whether it is truly inclusive of students.
"We had problems with the process last year," Tarrant said.
The campus task force was summarily overruled in last year's tuition discussions when trustees denied a $500 recommendation for nonresidents and approved their own increase of $1,250.
That, Tarrant said, is an outcome student officials would like to avoid this time.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(08/19/06 4:00am)
July 13 - By signing the final version of the state budget into law in early July, Gov. Mike Easley put the finishing touches on the spending plan.
But legislators didn't spend time in Raleigh without making decisions that will affect UNC and the rest of the state's public colleges and universities:
No budget cuts to be had this year
For the first time in more than five years, the UNC system was able to increase the number of projects it can fund instead of deciding which could be cut.
(08/19/06 4:00am)
June 22 - Sometimes, it's easier to follow the way of those who have gone before us.
Such is the lesson that University officials and Chapel Hill leaders can use to help resolve the continuing conflict that is Carolina North - especially because UNC-Chapel Hill has two prime examples to look to for guidance.
In 1984, then-N.C. Gov. Jim Hunt moved to allocate 835 acres of unused farmland to N.C. State University to create the Centennial Campus, a satellite campus located about 1 mile south of the main campus.
More than 20 years later, more than 1,300 acres in Raleigh is used to employ 1,600 corporate and government employees and 1,350 university faculty and staff and to educate 3,400 university students, as well as 600 middle school students.
The transformation took some doing.
David Winwood, N.C. State associate vice chancellor for technology development and innovation and head of the Centennial Campus staff, said the university had to work with those directly affected by the new campus to ensure its success.
"Ultimately we took (our plan) to the city council planning group as a combined, united package (with the local neighborhood)," he said. "The City Council saw that both parties were in agreement, and it went through pretty smoothly."
Since then, NCSU officials have worked to maintain their strong ties to the community to ensure that they are working toward common goals.
"We work very hard to be good neighbors with the people living adjacent, businesses that are adjacent and certainly with city leaders," said NCSU Provost Larry Nielsen.
"There is a constant conversation that is going on."
In another region of North Carolina, a biotechnology campus is being constructed to resurrect a community that all but died when the textile industry moved from the state.
The efforts of the UNC system and Dole Food Company Inc. combined last fall to introduce the N.C. Research Campus to Kannapolis, an area devastated by job loss when the textile company Pillowtex closed its mills in 2003.
While the situation bears obvious differences from that of Carolina North, a variety of parallels exist that could help resolve the problem in Chapel Hill.
Kannapolis Mayor Robert Misenheimer said constant communication between his city manager and system leaders, as well as with Dole representatives, has kept most contentious issues at bay.
However, N.C. Sen. Fletcher Hartsell, R-Cabarrus, acknowledged that the Kannapolis project was not all roses to start.
"There was probably some initial skepticism because it is different and new," he said. "A lot of times it does take a crisis to result in some very significant and affirmative activity, and I think that's what they've addressed.
"I think we all need to recognize that there is both the market for and a very significant need for education."
A 2004 state constitutional amendment has helped to alleviate the financial burden initially placed upon the city of Kannapolis.
The policy allows city officials to designate a certain project as tax-increment financing, granting them the right to place an additional tax on new developments in the district to be used for infrastructure improvements.
Misenheimer said that city officials would use the funding to rebuild roads, as well as to construct tunnels under busy roads to prevent traffic problems at particular intersections.
"We'll just be using their money to do that without our citizens havin to be involved," he said.
Transportation is one issue that has been raised in recent Carolina North discussions, which are very similar to problems that initially plagued the Centennial Campus.
"Centennial Campus was poo-pooed by a great many people for transportation issues," said Russ Lea, UNC vice president for research.
Lea said a constant stream of buses was needed to maintain a steady flow of people from Centennial Campus to N.C. State's main campus.
"The Wolf Line was able to be highly successful when you have all the traffic of students and traffic of faculty," he said.
Yet Lea said the biggest mistake made was when NCSU officials forgot to bring home the bacon.
"The greatest frontier on Centennial Campus was food," he said. "I think most people will admit that was our biggest mistake - not bringing a central core of small cafes or eateries in initially.
"Food drives conversation."
Winwood said the greatest remaining obstacle for Carolina North is the relationship between the university and town.
"I think what I see as a challenge is a community that doesn't really see any growth beyond certain boundaries," Winwood said. "The reality is that the University needs to grow."
In the end, system officials need to remember the reason that they look to build the research campuses, Lea said.
"People have to interact to get the benefits of these campuses," he said. "If they don't interact, then you're just renting offices."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(08/19/06 4:00am)
June 1 - How serious legislators are about making N.C. Wesleyan College the potential 18th member of the UNC system is questionable.
The proposal included in the final state budget would create a $50,000 study of the college, catching many legislators and system leaders off guard.
"We haven't, at any of the board meetings, had any discussions about that," said UNC-system Board of Governors member Fred Mills.
"My first thought is it seems a little far of field," said Senate Minority Whip Jerry Tillman, R-Randolph. "At first blush it just seems a little bit unusual to ask for a church college into the system."
Both House Speaker Jim Black, D-Mecklenburg and House Majority Leader Joe Hackney, D-Orange, said they had not heard of the proposal.
Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, said that he was unsure how necessary a study truly would be.
"I can't imagine why they should become part of the system," he said. "It is a significant financial burden for the people of North Carolina supporting what we have."
"It certainly can't be said that people don't have access," he added, noting the four system schools in the college's general vicinity.
"I would suspect that the case could be made that we could reduce the number of universities," Rand said, though he added, "I'm certainly not suggesting that."
However, Gary Sherman, vice president for enrollment at Wesleyan, said the college serves a distinct role in the eastern section of the state.
"There definitely is a need in this part of the state for an access college," Sherman said. "We are finding more and more that many good students are having trouble getting into the UNC system because of lack of space."
Wesleyan enrolls about 1,700 undergraduate students at $22,670 for full-time tuition.
Of the 1,169 applicants this past year, 81 percent were accepted, and 288 enrolled. Of the 164 faculty employed by the college, only 32 percent work as full-time professors.
Mills said the BOG would most likely conduct the study if the legislation passes through the General Assembly.
"Since the General Assembly provides a lot of the capital that the BOG needs to work, I think it would be remiss of us to say no," he said. "If the net result can be more affordable education opportunities for the young people of North Carolina, then I'm for that, but we don't need to take every private college out there."
Mark Fleming, system vice president for government relations, echoed similar sentiments but voiced concern over the cost that would be placed upon the system.
"We are willing to do any study that the legislature wants, but it needs to be funded," he said. "That means it's going to be taking money from other university priorities."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(08/19/06 4:00am)
May 18 RALEIGH - Many North Carolina legislators have called for a variety of changes because of concerns that money from the new lottery might be used to supplant money from the General Fund already earmarked for education.
A watchdog committee will be created within the N.C. General Assembly to monitor lottery activities and spending, said Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, D-Dare.
Currently in the form of a bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, the legislation would create the Lottery Oversight Committee, a nine-member panel to oversee spending.
The panel would receive reports from the Lottery Commission, the state treasurer and local governments providing public education, among others, and would produce two reports per year.
While the panel would not be able to enforce any recommendations it might have, the General Assembly would, Rand said.
"The people that they respond to would have the authority to change the people making the decisions (concerning the lottery)," he said.
Three panel members would be selected by the N.C. House, three by the N.C. Senate and three by the governor.
Another proposal, by Sen. Richard Stevens, R-Wake, would create a constitutional amendment to prevent the supplanting of educational funding.
"A lot of us were concerned by supplanting," he said.
The proposed amendment would create a new section in the N.C. Constitution specifically stating that revenue from the lottery would only go to education and would not replace existing funding for public schools and higher education.
Basnight said that legislators should be careful when amending the constitution.
"I wouldn't use the constitution to make law," he said, noting that it could set a dangerous precedent for future assemblies.
House Majority Whip Larry Bell, D-Sampson, said that he might favor the creation of a committee over a constitutional amendment.
"Somewhere down the line, someone needs to monitor (the lottery)," he said.
"I'm kind of hesitant to change the constitution."
Sen. Fletcher Hartsell, R-Cabarrus, said the only way to ensure that lottery funding would be used for new areas in education would be to create entirely new programs to fund.
"Anything other than that makes the situation susceptible to supplanting," he said.
Basnight said ultimately, there was no way to control future assemblies' priorities, noting that they can not choose to use all proceeds from the lottery for education.
"You can't tell another assembly what they can or can't do," he said. "You may find another assembly does not want that."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(08/19/06 4:00am)
June 22 - When legislators proposed a mandatory background check for students applying to any UNC-system school, students and system leaders gave mixed reviews.
The UNC system cemented its position in late June when Leslie Winner, system vice president and general counsel, went before the N.C. Senate finance committee.
"We don't support the legislature telling us that we have to do background checks on everyone," Winner said in an interview later that day.
"I think the university takes student safety very seriously, and our hope would be that the legislature would trust us to implement these recommendations without the need of legislation."
Two incidents at UNC-system schools have prompted lawmakers to discuss tougher security.
In 2004, two UNC-Wilmington students were slain and fellow students who had prior histories of violence were charged with the crimes. In 2006, a UNC-Chapel Hill alumnus drove a car through central campus intending to kill students.
Since 2004, the system has made many changes to the way it handles security. For example, a database catalogues all students who have been suspended or expelled from the system in order to prevent their readmittance.
Admission officers have also been trained to recognize red flags that could result in criminal checks on a case-by-case basis.
However, as Winner pointed out, the same system committee that suggested those changes also warned against universal background checks, calling them intrusive and unnecessary.
As evidence, Winner said only 13 system students with prior criminal records were charged with violent crime on state campuses in the past three years.
About 250 system students were charged with a crime more serious than simple assault during that same time span, while about 250,000 students attended system schools. And due to the UNC system's new procedures, 84 applicants have been denied admission to state schools.
With this information, Winner recommended that the background-checks bill be put aside.
"It primarily came from the chancellors," she said. "I think that the chancellors generally do not think that checking every student that is admitted is a good way to ensure student safety."
Legislators are not entirely convinced.
Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said he supports the goal of the bill.
"I think it's probably something that we need to think seriously about doing," he said.
"Students have, I think, a right to know whether there are other folks within the community that may have a history of violence of some sort."
Sen. Fletcher Hartsell, R-Cabarrus, said he remains unsure where his support lies.
"I think there are circumstances under which background checks would be useful," he said. "I'm not sure a global requirement would be necessary."
As of mid-July, the legislation was re-referred to a judiciary committee where it remained dormant.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(08/19/06 4:00am)
May 18 RALEIGH - A flood of campaign finance reform has hit the N.C. General Assembly as legislators
work to close loopholes and clarify discrepancies.
Bills that would address issues such as barring lobbyists from serving as campaign treasurers and decreasing allowed cash donations from $100 to $50 have bombarded the N.C. House of Representatives.
Ten bills recommended by the House Select Committee on Ethics and Government Reform would be greatly beneficial to the reform effort, said House Majority Leader Joe Hackney, D-Orange.
"I think we are dealing with issues that have arisen and are trying to respond appropriately," Hackney said. "In modern day politics, being forced to raise money is just something that we are all forced to deal with, and it's a problem."
This increased attention toward campaign finance stems from the investigation of House Speaker Jim Black, D-Mecklenburg, by the state Board of Elections earlier this year for possible campaign violations.
House Majority Whip Larry Bell, D-Sampson, said one of the biggest problems was that legislators aren't always aware of laws governing campaign finance. However, Bell added that this did not justify such actions.
"People say that ignorance of the law is no excuse, but we as legislators need to work within the scope of the law," he said.
But prohibiting lobbyists from giving blank checks to legislators, one of the ten bills, was a step in the right direction, Bell said.
"They need to know where the check is going, and they need to know, or the committee needs to know, where the check is coming from," he said.
Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, D-Dare, voiced concern about a person's ability to raise funds and how it might influence their ability to become a member of the General Assembly.
"There are people of small means who should be able to serve within this body," Basnight said. "You don't want to eliminate them from this body."
One proposal that Bell said concerned him pertains to the definition of what types of gifts legislators would be allowed to accept, particularly in reference to a section that would prohibit legislators from accepting a meal from a lobbyist.
"I think it's an insult that some people can buy you lunch and that that would change your mind, that you would be that fickle," Bell said.
Bell said legislators should continue to be cautious of overly dramatic changes to campaign financing methods.
"I think many times if we're not careful, we may overreact to something that was not a problem in the first place."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(08/19/06 4:00am)
June 8 - After North Carolina legislators finalized the budget, a single question hovers above them, lingering in the not-so-distant future.
Allegations against House Speaker Jim Black, D-Mecklenburg, and a number of his aides pertaining to campaign ethics have left open the possibility for a change in the leadership in the House.
It remains to be certain, however, just how likely such a shift could be.
"Each year when we start a new session, it actually starts a new ballgame as far as who the players may be," said House Majority Whip Larry Bell, D-Sampson.
"(Speaker Black) would not automatically go into the speaker position."
Bell noted that the Democratic party must win a majority in the November elections to maintain the ability to choose the speaker.
While the players haven't officially announced their candidacies, several names have been floating around, including that of House Majority Leader Joe Hackney, D-Orange.
When asked if he was actively seeking the speakership, Hackney declined to comment.
Yet support for Black still exists within the House, and with his declaration in May that he indeed would run again for the post, a changing of the guards might not come to pass.
"I like what Speaker Black has done," said Rep. Joe Tolson, D-Edgecombe. "He has been a strong supporter of the eastern part of the state.
"I can't turn my back on somebody that has been that supportive of me."
In a meeting held before the legislative session started this summer, the House Democratic Caucus also decided to stick with Black, at least for the remainder of the session.
In order to remove Black from office, the N.C. House would need to impeach him upon grounds of either maladministration, corruption or unconstitutional acts.
The Senate would then be required to oversee the impeachment proceedings.
Black could be removed from his position as well as his office only if two-thirds of senators present voted for conviction.
Rep. Ray Rapp, D-Haywood, said that, as with every year, he expects there to be a battle over the speaker position.
However, with elections coming up, Rapp said such worries seem too distant for concern.
"That seems light-years away given what we've got on our plate right now."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(08/19/06 4:00am)
While the N.C. General Assembly is pleased this summer with the generous state budget, several issues favored by officials in Orange County never made it past the drawing board.
Given the approval of salary increases for state and university employees, a minimum wage increase of $1 and a cap on the gasoline tax, it can't be said that county residents won't be affected by this summer's work.
Yet proposal after proposal directed toward helping Orange County and Chapel Hill is foundering,
most never escaping House and Senate committee meetings.
"We didn't have many local bills," said Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange. "During the short session, we don't really do major bills."
In the end, it appears that bills to fund two new county deputy clerks, a child abuse center and a historic district in Hillsborough, a new arts center in the northern part of the county, a fire training facility and a tax for schools won't make it through.
A bill introduced in 2005 by Rep. Bill Faison, D-Orange, would have increased the number of county commissioners to seven but remained in committee through the short session.
"It's very hard," Kinnaird said. "Every county has its needs and wants."
One bill that did make it changed the Chapel Hill charter so there no longer are term limits for the mayor. Another allows Chapel Hill to put payments from developers toward the local transit system instead of infrastructure, where they usually go - a surprising development, Kinnaird said.
"Usually, our local bills have a hard time getting through," she said. "This time this one didn't, which is amazing."
Both bills were co-sponsored by House Majority Leader Joe Hackney, D-Orange, and Rep. Verla Insko, D-Orange.
The relative death of local bills doesn't mean county legislators weren't busy this summer.
Hackney continues to push a series of legislative reform bills ranging from purifying campaign finance to cleansing lobbying techniques.
"That's taken up more of my time than anything else," he said.
He also is working toward passing changes to DWI enforcement that would, among other things, regulate the transportation of kegs.
As chairwoman of the justice and public safety budget committee, Kinnaird worked to add funding to court systems across the state.
"We have had an excellent budget for the court system, giving them adequate resources and technology to fill in all of the severe cuts that have been made," Kinnaird said.
"We greatly increased the number of judges, assistant district attorneys, clerks and magistrates."
Seventeen district court judges and 90 new assistant district attorneys were added to the state.
All in all, Hackney said, he was proud of what had been accomplished during the short session.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(08/19/06 4:00am)
June 15 - Jim Phillips comes to the helm of the UNC system's policy-making body during a time of dramatic transformation among the system's leadership.
Voted in as the new chairman of the Board of Governors on June 9, Phillips is a major part of the reshuffling within the university's leadership that has come with recently installed system President Erskine Bowles.
As a 1979 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, a former Chapel Hill student body president, a member of the BOG since 1997 and a two-time chairman of the board's budget and finance committee, Phillips brings a wide assortment of skills to the table.
And he will need them as he negotiates the intricate challenges of tuition and enrollment growth, along with the increasing need for qualified teachers and nurses across the state.
"We've got to go back and think strategically," Phillips said in a press conference after being approved Friday as the next chairman.
Outgoing board Chairman Brad Wilson said he didn't anticipate drastic changes to the board during Phillips' two year stint as chairman.
Wilson and Phillips worked closely together, particularly when Phillips served as the governors' point man on financial issues.
But Wilson noted that Phillips might be inclined to decrease the number of committees and the number of meetings for the sake of efficiency - an early hallmark of Bowles' presidency.
Phillips said he recognizes the potential for his leadership to have dramatic effects across the state.
"We are literally, along with millions of other people in the state, remaking this state's economy."
Nelson Schwab, chairman of the UNC-CH Board of Trustees, said he didn't foresee any potential conflicts with the new BOG chairman.
That will tend to happen when the head honcho of the system used to be a student leader at its flagship school.
"I think the (UNC-CH) board and the system are more together now than they have ever been," said Schwab, who has come under fire from backers of the system for what they have perceived as Chapel Hill trustees' slights -including a push last year for the flagship to be able to set its own tuition rates instead of putting the matter before the BOG.
"I hope that we can keep that going. I think it benefits everybody to have open communications."
Schwab did note one issue that the two boards would need to work diligently to resolve.
"I'm sure that tuition will rear its head come the fall," he said.
In previous discussions concerning tuition, Phillips supported a proposal to use peer institutions as guidelines for tuition rates, a format that would allow for regular increases in rates, Schwab said.
"I know that when we had meetings last fall of the tuition task force, he was involved and very supportive of (the policy)," he said.
Such a collection of controversial issues are destined for Phillips' desk, and he said he is ready to take them on.
"There is no doubt that this university will - indeed, must - lead the way in the future," he said.
It remains to be seen in which direction that leadership will go.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(08/19/06 4:00am)
Walking in the shadow of the UNC-Chapel Hill Bell Tower, trudging through the soft snow at Appalachian State University or feeling the cool, salty breeze blowing across UNC-Wilmington, one can't help but see something grand.
For nine years, Brad Wilson - a member of the Board of Governors, the policy-making body for the state's 16 public universities - has helped make that majesty possible.
For the last four years, Wilson has served as BOG chairman - a highly public job that has seen him handle system expansion, political battles, a presidential search and extended talks about students' tuition and fees.
This Friday, he'll be taking a step back. The day marks Wilson's last BOG meeting as chairman - and reviews of his four years have been positive.
"I think it's always important to put an individual's performance in perspective of the circumstances in which they served," said former
N.C. Gov. Jim Holshouser. "In this particular case, the challenges that the university and its campuses have had to face during the time of Brad Wilson have been significant. It seems to me that he has guided the board with a firm, steady hand."
Taking the helm soon after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Wilson found the system under fire over UNC-Chapel Hill's required freshman summer reading of "Approaching the Qur'
(07/20/06 4:00am)
While the N.C. General Assembly is pleased this summer with the generous state budget, several issues favored by officials in Orange County never made it past the drawing board.
Given the approval of salary increases for state and university employees, a minimum wage increase of $1 and a cap on the gasoline tax, it can't be said that county residents won't be affected by this summer's work.
Yet proposal after proposal directed toward helping Orange County and Chapel Hill is foundering, most never escaping House and Senate committee meetings.
"We didn't have many local bills," said Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange. "During the short session, we don't really do major bills."
In the end, it appears that bills to fund two new county deputy clerks, a child abuse center and a historic district in Hillsborough, a new arts center in the northern part of the county, a fire training facility and a tax for schools won't make it through.
A bill introduced in 2005 by Rep. Bill Faison, D-Orange, would have increased the number of county commissioners to seven but remained in committee through the short session.
"It's very hard," Kinnaird said. "Every county has its needs and wants."
One bill that did make it through changed the Chapel Hill charter so there no longer are term limits for the position of mayor.
Another allows Chapel Hill to put payments from developers toward the local transit system instead of infrastructure, where they usually go - a surprising development, Kinnaird said.
"Usually, our local bills have a hard time getting through," she said. "This time this one didn't, which is amazing."
Both bills were co-sponsored by House Majority Leader Joe Hackney, D-Orange, and Rep. Verla Insko, D-Orange.
The relative death of local bills doesn't mean county legislators weren't busy this summer.
Hackney continues to push through a series of legislative reform bills ranging from purifying campaign finance to cleansing lobbying techniques.
"That's taken up more of my time than anything else," he said.
He also is working toward passing changes to DWI enforcement that would, among other things, regulate the transportation of kegs.
As chairwoman of the justice and public safety budget committee, Kinnaird worked to add funding to court systems across the state.
"We have had an excellent budget for the court system, giving them adequate resources and technology to fill in all of the severe cuts that have been made," Kinnaird said.
"We greatly increased the number of judges, assistant district attorneys, clerks and magistrates."
Seventeen district court judges and 90 new assistant district attorneys were added to the state, as they were included in the pages of the final budget.
All in all, Hackney said, he was proud of what had been accomplished during the short session.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(07/20/06 4:00am)
A new face will soon be coming to the UNC-system Board of Governors, adding new life a year after the board last changed shape.
Laura Buffaloe, a retired North Carolina educator and 1965 graduate of Elizabeth City State University, will be joining 31 other members of the board as result of legislation coming from the General Assembly.
Nominated to the post by Sen. Jeanne Lucas, D-Durham, Buffaloe said she couldn't wait to get started.
"I am very excited," she said.
"I have given 40 years up to education in the state of North Carolina, and I do look forward to this."
Buffaloe comes aboard the system leadership to replace Willie Gilchrist, the superintendent of Halifax County Schools since 1994 and a 1973 graduate of Elizabeth City State.
Gilchrist can no longer serve as a member of the board, as he is leaving to become interim chancellor of ECSU.
Born in Elizabeth City, Buffaloe said she knows the ins and outs of the state's education system, having worked in a variety of capacities.
"Since I have retired, it would be a good thing to do (to join the board)," she said.
Originally working as an eighth-grade teacher, Buffalo also has served as a professor at Halifax Community College and later as vice president of instructional services for the school. Buffaloe retired from those positions last year.
"She appeared to me to be qualified," said Sen. John Garwood, R-Wilkes, who also signed on to the bill that makes Buffaloe a BOG member.
Buffaloe said that she was flattered by the legislative nod and excited about the opportunities that it could bring.
She said she had a variety of ideas of what she would like to work toward as a member of the board. However, she said that since she had never been to a BOG meeting, she needed to look over what the board was currently working on before she would move forward with her own ideas.
"I'm the kind of individual that likes to look at what's there and look at the facts and kind of go from there," Buffaloe said.
"I'd like to be able to peruse the various issues that are there now and be able to make a kind of consensus decision on what needs to be done."
Working with one of the system's latest additions, UNC-system President Erskine Bowles, was an added bonus that Buffaloe said she looked forward to.
"I am excited about it," she said. "I've kept up with his process over the years, and I'm excited about the opportunities that those on the board have to make decisions related to the state."
Garwood said that the addition of Buffaloe at this point in the year was irregular but that the Senate had moved forward in the appropriate manner.
"It's very seldom that that way of coming to the board as a member is put into effect," Garwood said. "Frankly, I can't remember a time."
The Senate adopted the legislation appointing Buffaloe to the post last Monday night in a 47-0 vote.
Buffaloe's term began Monday and will last until June 30, 2009, serving out the remainder of Gilchrist's time.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(07/13/06 4:00am)
A surprising battle looms on the not-so-distant horizon between UNC-system officials and the N.C. Department of Insurance.
The struggle will play out within the confines of the N.C. General Assembly, where a bill pits the two against each other - with students, faculty and staff in the middle.
The insurance department reviews all state construction plans to ensure that they meet building codes. The legislation, which passed easily through the Senate on Tuesday, would allow system schools to choose who reviews the plans: the insurance department, a local government or an independent third party.
If the bill is approved in the legislature, Jim Long, commissioner of insurance in North Carolina, plans to ask Gov. Mike Easley to veto it.
"Commissioner Long took a very personal interest in this. . because it surprised us last Friday when it came out of committee," said Chrissy Pearson, spokeswoman for the insurance department.
Allowing the UNC system to step over the insurance department could be a safety hazard, she said.
"We don't feel like the university system should be taken out of the same standards that any other state agency is in," Pearson said. "There is just no amount of money that is worth sacrificing the safety of our students."
But system officials say the buildings would be no less safe.
"We're going to have all of the reviews," said Jeff Davies, chief of staff to UNC-system President Erskine Bowles. "We're going to look very carefully at all of these."
Rob Nelson, system vice president for finance, said the reason for the push for change is strictly financial.
He said that on average, system officials had to wait 255 days for the insurance department to OK plans for new buildings. With the cost of construction materials rising about 8 percent per month, the university loses about $225,000 each month a project remains on the shelf.
"If we could reduce that review time down to a month, we could save $1.1 million on that average project," Nelson said.
But Pearson said that the university typically holds up construction.
"What I think is misleading about what the university system says is that we flag any issues of concern on the front end," she said. "We have had issues where the university has not responded to our concerns for up to nine months."
"If they will expedite addressing our concerns . we will expedite the process."
Nelson said the change would not allow for any less security or safety.
"We're not exempting ourselves or asking to exempt ourselves from any state regulations," he said. "We're asking that we speed up the process."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(07/13/06 4:00am)
By signing the final version of the state budget into law on Monday, Gov. Mike Easley put the finishing touches on the spending plan - meaning that legislators are likely to go home soon.
But they didn't spend time in Raleigh without making decisions that will affect Carolina and the rest of the state's public colleges and universities:
No budget cuts
For the first time in more than five years, the UNC system was able to increase the number of projects it can fund instead of deciding which could be cut.
(06/29/06 4:00am)
Across the UNC system, students are graduating in fewer than eight semesters worth of class.
But system leaders are finding that students are taking more time to finish those courses.
A recent study found that UNC students graduate, on average, in 7.42 semesters worth of class - but span them out across 8.89 actual semesters.
"Some of our students stop out and come back after a couple of years," said Alan Mabe, UNC-system vice president for academic affairs.
To cut down on the amount of time students spend in school - and to ensure that they make it to graduation day - leaders from across the state came together last week in Chapel Hill to begin talks about a list of goals and recommendations for tackling retention.
"It requires us to take a look at student success a bit differently," said Kemal Atkins, UNC-system director for academic and student affairs.
"Say if a student is stopping out for that period of time - is that the way they chose to complete their college career, or was there another issue?"
The rising cost of attending system schools could be one reason students take semesters off, he said.
"Some of the factors may be student preparation, financial aid or adequate support for students on campus as far as academic services," Atkins said.
From 2001 to 2005, in-state tuition at a UNC-system school rose an average of $221 per year. Out-of-state tuition rose $791 per year, and student fees have increased by $81 annually.
Mabe said increasing the amount of money offered in each scholarship could help students finish in four years.
"We're going to do some more thorough studies as to financial aid to see if we can establish what the links are," Mabe said. "Some people think students are getting discouraged as they run up their debt."
UNC-Chapel Hill leaders have expressed their own concerns about retention, but Carolina's situation is significantly better than that of the rest of the UNC system.
Of the 3,682 first-time, full-time freshmen who entered the University in 2001, 83.6 percent stayed enrolled for four years, with 70.7 percent graduating on time.
That compares with a 36.8 percent four-year graduation rate at N.C. State University and a 26.4 percent rate at UNC-Charlotte. Of the 26,001 freshmen entering the UNC system in 2001, 35 percent - or 9,110 - graduated in four years.
Mabe said the system would begin establishing retention goals in the next year.
"We are heading in the direction of establishing goals for retention and graduation rates," he said. "Campuses are headed in the direction for establishing them for themselves."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(06/29/06 4:00am)
Last summer, the N.C. legislature finalized its budget without too much controversy - choosing to exclude a provision that would have allowed UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State to set their own tuition.
Then, in August, legislative leadership called members back for a surprise vote that ultimately approved the state lottery.
But it appears that this year, with the House and Senate budget proposals so similar, officials have no final tricks up their sleeves.
Legislators working to reconcile the two versions of the budget chose to fully fund numerous UNC-system requests, said Sen. Kay Hagan, D-Guilford, who serves as a co-chairwoman of the budget conference committee.
Enrollment growth and need-based financial aid both received full funding, she said, and campus faculty will see a notable increase in their salaries.
"We have put (system) faculty salaries in at 6 percent," Hagan said.
The budget also will likely set up a sort of trust fund for keeping talented professors in North Carolina.
"There will be a $5 million fund that the (UNC-system) president can allocate to different chancellors in the system (to be used) if there is a professor being wooed by another university," Hagan said.
And state employees appear to have fared better than originally anticipated.
"They definitely have a 5 percent (salary) increase," Hagan said. "Whether there's a bonus tied to that or not, that has not been decided."
A final decision has not been made on increasing the minimum wage to $6.15, a provision that the Senate approved in its budget and the House approved in bill form, Hagan said.
She noted that no provision will be set in stone until the final budget is voted on and approved by both chambers.
Sen. A.B. Swindell, D-Nash, and Rep. Ray Rapp, D-Haywood, both budget conferees, said the special provision calling on the UNC-system Board of Governors to fund a $50,000 study to determine if N.C. Wesleyan College should become a member of the system also made it through budget negotiations.
The education conference subcommittee went over the issues time and again before presenting it to the conference chairmen and chamber leadership, said Sen. John Garwood, R-Wilkes.
"We spent hours in that meeting, and we went back over the list and discussed them again to some degree," he said.
Some legislators maintain that the process is flawed and needs to find more transparency.
"I get the mushroom treatment," said Sen. Hugh Webster, R-Alamance.
"Keep them in the dark and feed them a lot of manure."
Sen. Richard Stevens, R-Wake, said the legislature appears on track to complete the budget by the self-imposed deadline of July 1 - though, given the number of issues that still must be worked out, any prediction is dicey at best.
"They're obviously trying to get it worked out and have it passed by Friday," Stevens said.
"They were in session last night and today, and it's still a work in process."
The fact remains that until all the T's are crossed and all the I's dotted, the legislation could ultimately find itself embroiled in controversy over any of a myriad of issues.
But perhaps this year, it won't.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.