Legislators debate merits of UNC projects
RALEIGH – Members of a House subcommittee Thursday challenged the merits of two UNC items at the top of the university system’s legislative wish list.
Primarily, legislators questioned whether a new dental school at East Carolina University is a sound investment and whether a large expenditure for UNC-Chapel Hill’s Carolina North project would crowd out funding for other programs statewide.
Missing the Mark in Higher Education
The old saying, “be careful what you wish for,” is especially apt when it comes to public policy, whose consequences seldom reflect intentions. Unfortunately, the U.S. Department of Education may be about to prove this adage true once again.
Study group says no to UNC-Rocky Mount
A feasibility report released this week argued against making North Carolina Wesleyan part of the University of North Carolina system.
The report was issued by a legislative study commission and was headed by James Leutze, former chancellor of UNC-Wilmington. It said the operating and construction costs needed to bring the school up to UNC standards were a major reason for the recommendation. In all, roughly $207 million would be needed in operational and capital costs to bring the institution on a par with some of the comparable institutions in the system, such as Elizabeth City State and UNC-Asheville, the report said.
Protecting Against “Heterosexism” — for $200,000?
Harvard’s president Derek Bok has written that universities have something in common with gambling addicts and exiled royalty – there is never enough money. One reason why that’s true is that people on campus are almost always spending other people’s money and when that’s the case, there’s a strong tendency to demand all sorts of unnecessary things. After all, if available money doesn’t get spent on what you want, it will get spent on what someone else wants.
The story of the proposed Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) Center at NC State is a good illustration of the infighting that erupts when interest groups battle over how to spend other people’s money.
Senate introduces flurry of higher education bills
RALEIGH – Bills that would provide full funding for all University of North Carolina budget requests, create a ROPE Scholars program, and alter tax deductions for contributions to 529 plans were among the bills introduced in the State Senate Wednesday.
The introductions came during a busy day in the General Assembly that marked the deadline for bills in the State Senate to be filed with the Senate Principal Clerk’s office. The House has a similar deadline of April 18 for public bills and May 9 for appropriation bills.
UNC Tomorrow Commission launched
GREENVILLE – University of North Carolina leaders announced Friday the members of a “blue ribbon” panel that will examine the system’s future and how it can meet the needs of the state.
The initiative, UNC Tomorrow, was launched at last month’s Board of Governors meeting with Norma Mills, former Chief of Staff for Senate Pro Tem Marc Basnight, serving as the executive director for the study. The entire process is scheduled to take 18 months, with a report to be presented early next year.
Executive Summary: The Decline and Revival of Liberal Learning at Duke: The Focus and Gerst Programs
Duke University grew from a small liberal arts college founded before the Civil War into a major national university by the 1960s. Throughout those years, the school (named Trinity College until 1924) was known for its solid, traditional curriculum and its opposition to the racism that was prevalent across most of the South. Unfortunately, Duke was badly affected by the student upheavals of the 1960s and 70s. Catering to students’ demands for greater control over their education, the university abandoned its old core curriculum in favor of a loose “distribution requirements” system, thereby discarding the idea that certain subjects are vital to a well-rounded education.
The Federal Takeover of Higher Education
Editor’s Note: Guest columnist Richard Bishirjian is president of Yorktown University, an online liberal arts college dedicated to teaching the forms of knowledge we have inherited from western civilization.
Two events occurred in Washington, DC, in late February that could foreshadow a significant decline in the independence of American colleges and universities.
First, representatives of accrediting associations, state universities, and private colleges engaged in negotiated ‘rule-making’ with representatives of the Department of Education. This rule-making was to establish procedures by which college students are tested, and by which colleges and universities will be compared on the basis of that testing. The other event was even more ominous — an announcement that actions would be taken to control the independent system of accreditation of American higher education by establishing a national accreditation foundation.
House approves rules for UNC nominations
House members approved this week a bill that outlines the procedures for nominating members to the UNC Board of Governors.
The bill sets specific deadlines for when nominations can occur, as well as when a vote must take place. Many of these procedures were missing in previous administrations and the publication of the rules brings transparency to the nomination process that has been missing in years past.
House members must approve eight members to fill their portion of the 16 open seats on the Board of Governors. These terms would begin on July 1.
Higher education leaders plea case to legislators
RALEIGH – The heads of the University of North Carolina, the North Carolina Community Colleges, and the organization of independent colleges all appealed for money at a legislative committee hearing Tuesday.
Hope Williams, president of the North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities, asked that the governor’s new EARN scholarship program apply to students in private schools as well as public. She made the request during a joint meeting of the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Education. UNC President Erskine Bowles and Community College System President Martin Lancaster also discussed the budget recommendations made by Gov. Mike Easley last month.