The Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina this week approved a systemwide, $1 increase in student fees to fund the UNC Association of Student Governments. The increase will raise the UNCASG’s budget from $2,500 to $165,000 — an increase of 6,600 percent.
The question of whether the $3.1 billion in higher education bonds will raise taxes in North Carolina Counties sparked heated debate this week between bond supporters and research analysts.
On Wednesday, less than ten hours before UNC-TV aired a documentary showcasing UNC’s facilities needs, UNC-TV director and general manager Tom Howe told the Joint Select Committee on Higher Education Facilities Needs that UNC-TV needs $65 million in state money to meet a federal mandate.
N.C. Community Colleges will need upward of $1.2 billion for capital expansion if they are to meet projected enrollment growth for 2000-2005, according to Kent Caruthers, a consultant with MGT of America, Inc. in Tallahassee, FL. The recommendation is part of a preliminary report on the North Carolina Community College System’s (NCCCS) funding needs that was presented to Board members last week. Since 1996, MGT has worked with Community College officials to assess the needs of NCCCS and consider ways to approach the General Assembly in asking for more funds.
At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, “high priority” projects and “emergency” needs apparently mean two different things. Even as buildings “crumble” and outdated labs go unrenovated — those things deemed “emergency” needs for UNC-CH under a $3 billion bond proposal to the General Assembly last July — UNC-CH announced last week that it will use $28.6 million in unrestricted grants (a gift from 1949 UNC-CH graduate David B. Clayton) to fund “high priority” projects. These projects differ drastically from the school’s “emergency” needs as outlined under the $3 billion bond proposal. And, in fact, none of the grant money will be used to fund such “emergency” needs.
North Carolina is one of 39 states likely to face a shortfall in higher education spending in the next several years, according to a new report by Harold A. Hovey, a state budget and tax expert with the California-based National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.