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The legislature's "short session" may have ended just a few weeks ago, but members of the UNC Board of Governors already have their eyes on the next session, which starts in January.
The Board of Governors approved a budget request for the UNC System totaling $1.77 billion for 1999-2000 and nearly $1.9 billion for 2000-2001. The approval came at the board's Nov. 13 meeting.
Highlights of the proposed budget include:
"The themes of the budget are access, quality and competitiveness," said UNC President Molly Broad. "Access to enrollment for the people of the state, quality in our faculties, technology and libraries, and competitiveness in improving productivity."
Broad repeated her commitment to increasing faculty salaries.
"It's an important part of our effort to close the gap between members of UNC's faculties and their peer institutions," Broad said.
The University's capital projects on the list include $55.9 million for a Science Library Instructional Facility, $21.6 million for a Materials Science Building, $9 million to renovate and expand Memorial Hall and $8 million for an Arts and Humanities Instructional Center.
In other financial matters, the Board of Governors approved 1998-99 allocations for the 16 campuses, including $181.5 million for the University's academic affairs programs and $146.4 million for the health affairs programs.
Also, the board approved a system-wide renovation and repair budget for 1998-99 that included $13.2 million for the University. Among the work included in that funding are more than $1 million for classroom improvements, $715,000 to renovate lecture halls and $1 million to continue work on the campus's fiber-optic network.
The Board of Governors also made a number of changes on various tuition issues. Those changes included an increase at the Kenan-Flagler Business School, a retroactive and system-wide increase for 1998-99, and a new policy for setting tuition levels.
Having all three tuition issues determined at one meeting brought the tuition story full circle. That's because the legislature requested the study of tuition policy last year after Kenan-Flagler officials went straight to the legislature to request a tuition increase. And one of the benefits of the new tuition policy, according to Broad and members of the task force that wrote the policy, is that it should end retroactive tuition increases.
The policy directs the Board of Governors to set tuition rates in October for the school year that starts the following August. Student fees are scheduled to be set in March. The new policy suggests that the board consider factors such as students' ability to pay, the health of the state's economy and the availability of state funding when the board sets tuition.
The policy also reiterates the state's tradition of trying to keep tuition costs as low as possible. By setting tuition and fees so early, students will know before they head to school in the fall how much their education will cost, said Jeff Nieman, a University student who as president of the UNC Association of Student Governments served on the tuition task force. "Hopefully it's going to result in a more stable way of setting tuition increases that makes it easier for families with students to plan," Nieman said. "Hopefully we won't get the big jumps, erratic changes and late charges."
The new policy didn't come in time to keep the board from approving a retroactive increase for this school year. The board approved a 2 percent increase at all 16 campuses, meaning tuition at the University increased by $28 to $1,456 for in-state undergraduates and by $208 to $10,622 for out-of-state undergraduates.
The policy gives greater flexibility for graduate and professional schools to raise tuition, although such increases must still gain approval from the University, general administration and the Board of Governors.
The first such program to get an increase was the Kenan-Flagler Business School. The Board of Governors approved increasing tuition for master of business administration students by $5,000 for in-state students and $4,000 for out-of-state students over the next two years. That will bring the overall cost for in-state students to $5,900 in 2000 and $8,400 in 2001. Out-of-state students, who already had a $1,000 increase this year, will pay $18,350 in 2000 and $20,350 in 2001.
Costs for masters of accounting degrees also will increase $3,000 over the next two years for in-state students: to $4,900 in 2000 and $6,400 in 2001. Out-of-state students got a $1,500 increase last year and now pay $15,600.
University officials point out that the Kenan-Flagler Business School still costs less than any of the other top 20 business schools. The extra money will allow the school to hire more faculty and increase faculty salaries, which have fallen well behind that of competitors.
In other business, the board named Jeffrey Houpt as chief executive officer of the newly formed UNC Health Care System, which was formed through the merger of UNC Hospitals and the Physician Practice Plan operated by the University's School of Medicine. That merger took effect Nov. 1.
Houpt was vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine.
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