The board adopted a plan designed to help prepare the university system for expected growth over the next decade in the number of college-bound students and adult learners.
The plan calls for each university to develop data outlining its capacity for increased enrollment and to draft plans for how it might meet a greater demand.
The board's report included projections that on-campus enrollments of in-state students could grow almost 30 percent during the next decade.
The plan also outlines strategies to expand access by expanding off-campus "distance-learning" instruction through telecommunications systems and by increased use of summer school.
The board, in its plan, envisions the possibility of some campuses moving toward a year-round academic calendar and invited institutions to submit proposals for pilot projects in the use of a three-semester calendar.
Additional funding will be needed to implement some of the strategies, the report said.
The board recommended that the General Assembly appropriate funds to support all types of regular-term degree-credit instruction, whether conducted on-campus or off. Funding for training professors in the use of technology used in distance learning also is needed, the report said.
To prepare campuses for distance-learning projects, universities need additional funding to expand the capacity of campus computer systems, including installation of fiber optic networks, the report said.
The board's report also said that it would examine as part of an upcoming study of the funding system for enrollments whether the legislature should appropriate funds for summer school programs. Currently, summer school programs must be self-supporting. The board may request funding for summer school in its 1999-2001 budget request, the report said.
To the UNC Home Page