A Great Place to Party? Survey Says… Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill received the dubious honor of being rated on www.PartySchool.com – a web site that rates schools’ party scenes, gives advice on planning parties (including a list of drinking games “to get the party started”), and provides the “world’s only patented, scientifically proven cure” for combatting hangovers. PartySchool.com awarded UNC-CH with 4 out of 5 stars for its “wild” party scene.


Lawmakers Back UNC Bonds

To the applause of UNC leaders and amid self-congratulation, House and Senate members on Wednesday approved $3.1 billion in bonds for North Carolina’s public colleges and universities. But debate over equity and accountability continue as UNC leaders face ostensibly their biggest challenge yet – making their case to voters in November.


University Stewardship Questioned

While Republican lawmakers say they will support the $3.1 billion bond proposal for the UNC campuses, many say they have misgivings about the way the state’s public universities are managed. Some are calling for accountability measures.


Who Is James Moeser?

On April 14, James Moeser was elected chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Because UNC opted for a secret search, however, North Carolinians were left wondering who James Moeser was and what he could do for UNC-CH.



Race Preferences in Disguise?

A controversial program designed to bring “social equity” to the college admissions process may soon be implemented at colleges and universities nationwide. Questions remain, however, over whether the program contains race-preferential policies. The new program is called “Strivers” and was developed by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), which devises the SAT, as a way to account for background factors of prospective college students.



Study Urges UNC to Slow Down on Bond

The Pope Center for Higher Education Policy this week released a Spotlight showing why the UNC system should not rely on bonds to finance the UNC system’s construction costs and highlighting better ways to address construction needs. The report poses questions that it says all citizens and legislators should ask before giving approval to the legislation: Can’t the necessary capital dollars come from existing growth in funding?


UNC Sets Sights on New Funding Sources

The UNC Board of Governer’s meeting on May 14 led to the approval of two financial “tools” that could change the way that UNC pays back construction bonds, according to Associated Press reports. The tools are included in two legislative bills that should reach the General Assembly within weeks.


Will UNC Ever Take Privatization Seriously?

A new study by the Pope Center for Higher Education Policy finds that the UNC system uses criteria that inhibit its ability to contract out various services. These criteria, known as “outsourcing criteria/guidelines,” apply to all UNC-system schools and were recently part of the Outsourcing Steering Committee’s decision not to privatize residential housekeeping services at UNC-Chapel Hill. These criteria also guided the university’s decision not to privatize various other services at UNC-CH, including heating, ventilating and air conditioning, ground maintenance and vehicle maintenance.