“It is very frustrating. Chapel Hill is in a very, very vulnerable situation right now.” — UNC-Chapel Hill trustee Paul Fulton, The Daily Tar Heel, March 28, 2005
“We are talking about a real problem. I think this is the first round in a long, long process. … Now we have reached the point that if cuts at the 4-percent level come to fruition, we will not be able to protect instructional programs as we have in the past.” — UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser, DTH, March 28, 2005
“Something will have to give. Classes may get larger, sections may be cut. We can’t keep taking money away and not see any effects.” — UNC-CH Provost Robert Shelton, DTH, April 13, 2004
“We’ve taken hits of $45 million. We’ve already taken out everything we could out of nonacademics. … Cuts have been deep over the last few years. We’re really concerned about having the resources for quality education.” — East Carolina University senior associate vice president for financial services Chuck Hawkins, DTH, March 15, 2004
“We’ve cut the fat, the muscle; we’re past the bone. This is amputation.” — UNC-Wilmington assistant to the chancellor Mark Lanier, DTH, Feb. 26, 2004
“If we’re not cutting into the bone, we’re perilously close.” — UNC Board of Governors chairman Brad Wilson, The Herald-Sun, Oct. 10, 2003
“We’re bleeding. We’re losing a lot of our instructional personnel because we can’t offer competitive salaries.” — UNC-CH professor of religion Peter Kaufman, DTH, Sept. 2, 2003
“There’s an emotional quality to it, when things get tight. People suffer under the strain. The feeling is, ‘What’s going to fall on us next?'” — UNC Center for Teaching and Learning director Larry Rowan, The Herald-Sun, Aug. 2, 2003
“In any given year, we have raids on our best faculty. Historical data show that in the past we’ve been able to retain about 90 percent of the people subjected to the raids. Last year, that was only around 50 percent.” — UNC-Chapel Hill Provost Robert Shelton, Chapel Hill News, July 8, 2003
“We’re talking about real people and real jobs at NCSA. This one hurts.” — North Carolina School of the Arts Chancellor Wade Hobgood, Winston-Salem Journal, June 27, 2003
“The quality of the University of North Carolina is now at great risk.” — UNC President Molly C. Broad, Charlotte Observer, June 11, 2003
“We will not be able to hide, in any manner, the next round of budget cuts. They will be very public and very painful. I’m very concerned that the fabric of this university is being torn. These are not easy times. Once morale declines, it can be a very destructive phenomenon.” — UNC-CH Chancellor James Moeser, The Herald-Sun, May 24, 2003
“When we are losing that many people now, this is nothing compared to what’s coming.” — Sue Estroff, UNC-CH Faculty Council chairman, DTH, Nov. 25, 2002
“Given the 2002 North Carolina General Assembly’s lack of providing any money — any money — for salary increases, it is increasingly difficult for us to attract and retain the best faculty. And we ignore this truth at our own peril.” — UNC President Molly C. Broad, DTH, Nov. 11, 2002
“How many small cuts do you take before you cry out in pain?” — UNC-Chapel Hill Provost Robert Shelton, DTH, Nov. 4, 2002
“I realize that all of us are feeling a great deal of stress and anxiety about what we don’t’ know and what we fear. The more news we hear from the state, the greater cause we have for concern.” — UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser, DTH, April 29, 2002
“This is about maintaining and enhancing the excellence of our academic programs. Being just average … is not where the University of North Carolina should be.” — UNC president Molly C. Broad, The News & Observer, May 31, 2001
“While we have protected people and programs in the past, there is no fat left to cut. … Such a large reduction in staffing and operation expenditures also would have a ripple effect on the economy of the region. Economists conservatively estimate that for every dollar invested in the University, we generate at least an additional $3 that translates into new jobs, earnings for North Carolina workers and their families, and sales in the private sector. Other economists assert that the multiplier is as high as $6.” — UNC-Chapel Hill Office of Government Relations, “Talking Points About Possible Budget Cuts to The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,” April 30, 2001
“If we don’t stay ahead educationally, we’re going to get behind on the economic side. We don’t need to do that.” — UNC Board of Governors chairman Ben Ruffin, N&O, Oct. 22, 2000.
“It takes a long time to build a university of the quality of the University of North Carolina. It just doesn’t take very long at all for that quality to diminish.” — UNC President Molly C. Broad, N&O, Jan. 9, 2000
“The needs are so urgent that we’re willing to do what otherwise would be unthinkable.” — UNC President Molly C. Broad, N&O, Jan. 8, 2000
The 1990s
“Imagine yourself some years from now, gainfully employed. Your résumé looked good when you graduated because a degree from Carolina meant something back in the ’90s. Then Hurricane Jose followed Hurricane Irene, which followed Floyd. Most of the state’s money had to be earmarked for the disasters. The entire UNC system suffered, but Chapel Hill more than the rest because it had the most to lose. So, UNC faculty (picture your favorite professors) were easily recruited by other universities that offered them both better pay and better laboratory, teaching and research space. Top students followed the best faculty to other universities. Chapel Hill gradually dropped to the level of numerous other second-rate institutions. It ceased to be either competitive or selective.
“So now you look worse on paper than a person who went to South Podunk U. even though he or she is far less educated than you are. And who do you think gets hired to be your boss? You guessed it: the South Podunk alumnus.”
— David Guilkey, professor and chairman of the UNC-CH Dept. of Economics, and Ed Samulski, professor and chairman of the UNC-CH Dept. of Chemistry, editorial in the DTH, Oct. 28, 1999
“We will be at risk again of losing ground.” — Molly C. Broad, N&O, Sept. 12, 1998
“The situation is particularly acute at the two research institutions [UNC-CH and N.C. State], where experienced faculty are continually being hired away by institutions offering substantially more salary and benefits.” — Lolly Gasaway, UNC-CH law professor and chair of UNC’s statewide faculty assembly, N&O, July 8, 1997
“It is not too soon to be frightened for our own welfare.” — UNC-CH Chancellor Michael Hooker, Charlotte Observer, May 28, 1996
“The state legislature wants a first-rate university but wants to pay second rate salaries.” — UNC-CH biochemistry professor Barry Lentz, N&O, Oct. 14, 1995
“We need the 6% increase, and even that won’t close the gap completely.” — UNC-CH Chancellor Paul Hardin, N&O, Feb. 12, 1994
“The need for competitive faculty salaries at Chapel Hill is very great.” — UNC-CH Chancellor Paul Hardin, The University Gazette, May 12, 1993
“It’s nice to have some sort of symbolic effort, but in general it’s a disaster.” — UNC-CH political science professor Donald Searing, N&O, June 18, 1992
“The state’s flagship university is being nickel-and-dimed to death.” — Lead sentence, “Cuts take their toll on UNC-CH faculty; University risks losing its academic stature,” by Ruth Sheehan, N&O, Jan. 15, 1992
“It’s almost a sense of, ‘We’re surrounded and embattled in a hostile environment.'” — UNC-CH political science chairman David Lowery, N&O, Sept. 30, 1991
“If we want to compete to be a national first-class research university, we’re losing out.” — UNC-CH economics professor John S. Akin, N&O, Sept. 8, 1990