Costs

American colleges and universities spend billions of dollars a year from state, federal, and private sources. The following articles identify ways to cut costs and ensure that public investment in higher education provides value to students, taxpayers, and society.

BOG considers projects

Feb 24, 2006 · Shannon Blosser

CHAPEL HILL — With three months before the 2006 General Assembly short session begins, the UNC Board of Governors is trying to decide which projects the system will submit to legislators for approval.

Recently, in a work session before the monthly board meeting, members received updates on several projects and their budgets. No decisions were made on the budget appropriations. That is expected to come in April at a board meeting in Greensboro before inauguration ceremonies for UNC’s new president, Erskine Bowles.

In all, seven funding proposals were discussed during the workshop. Some are seeking a change in budget appropriations that were approved during the budget negotiations last year.

Bringing Health and Fitness to the University

Feb 21, 2006 · George Leef

The newly-installed Chancellor of the University of East Dakota at Middleburg (UED at M), Dr. D. Reginald Von Buskirk, was determined to make improvements at the campus. His predecessor had been content to collect his annual salary of $250,000 in return for a bit of tinkering with the curriculum to make it more relevant to students – the popular new Sociology course on “The Simpsons” had been his idea – but the school had mostly stagnated under his leadership. Von Buskirk was made of different stuff. The most important thing he had learned in earning his doctorate in education administration was that leaders must be bold. That idea had so overwhelmed him that he wrote his dissertation on it, “Leadership Styles and the Boldness Imperative.” His advisor had called it “the most inspiring twenty pages I’ve ever read.” Von Buskirk had a bold idea for UED at M.

UNC Can Run More Efficiently

Feb 2, 2006 · Shannon Blosser

Recently, the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems and the Pew Charitable Trusts released a study on higher education funding on the state level. The study is noteworthy because it questions whether high spending on public colleges and universities correlates with high quality.

Included in the study, “A New Look at the Institutional Component of Higher Education Finance: A Guide for Evaluating Performance Relative to Financial Resources” by Patrick Kelly and Dennis Jones, is a section where the authors discuss higher education spending and results. They focus on two state university systems – Colorado and North Carolina. According to the study, Colorado and North Carolina perform nearly the same on various measures. For example, 70.3 percent of Colorado’s students earn a bachelor’s degree and 68.5 percent of North Carolina students do.

Tar Heels Turn it Green With Inefficient Solar Power Program

Jan 26, 2006 · Martin Center Staff

Morrison Residence Hall at UNC-Chapel Hill was closed in the spring of 2005 for renovation. When it reopens in the fall of 2007, not only will students’ accommodations be nicer, but solar panels will be used to heat the building’s water.

While many campus activists and administrators are excited about the project, the solar heating system is financially inefficient.

The new Morrison Hall will have about 200 solar panels placed on the roof and their energy will heat about 60 percent of the building’s hot water. From that, a saving of $11,275 annually is projected.

The solar hot water system is funded by a $137,455 grant from the state legislature, $184,000 from student fees, and $125,000 from University housing and residential education funds. The project was originally anticipated to cost $309,000, but estimates are now as high as $446,000.

How Literate Are Americans?

Jan 19, 2006 · George Leef

Late in 2005, government officials in the National Center for Education Statistics released the results of the most recent study done by the National Assessment of Adult Literacy(NAAL). The study finds that the already weak literacy of American adults – including college graduates – has declined since the last assessment was done in 1992.

More than 19,700 people participated in the study, which was conducted between May 2003 and February 2004. The tasks involved three kinds of questions – to assess prose literacy, to assess document literacy, and to assess quantitative literacy.

The prose literacy questions were designed to see how well the individual could perform prose tasks such as searching for and comprehending information contained in written material – for example, describing what a poem is about. Document literacy questions were designed to see how well the individual could understand documents – for example, finding what time a certain bus arrives at its destination. Quantative questions were designed to see how well the individual could perform mathematical tasks such as calculating the cost per ounce of a brand of peanut butter.

NCPA

Jan 4, 2006 · Shannon Blosser

RALEIGH — North Carolina Press Association officials said Tuesday that the organizations will not sue the University of North Carolina system for failing to comply with the state’s Open Meetings Law even though the NCPA was “deeply troubled” by the search process in September.

The notification came in a letter by Rip Woodin, president of the NCPA, to UNC Board of Governors Chairman Brad Wilson. The letter was written on behalf of the NCPA, The News and Observer of Raleigh, The Charlotte Observer, The Associated Press, and the North Carolina Broadcasters Association.

The Top 10 Nuttiest Campus Events in N.C. 2005

Dec 29, 2005 · Jon Sanders

The holiday season is full of traditions. Reporters scour stores looking for toys that could kill your kids. Lawyers’ offices fill with activist atheists upset that some poor soul wishes them “Merry Christmas.” And the Pope Center for Higher Education Policy compiles its annual top 10 list.

Mandatory Student Fee Systems Continue to Produce Trouble

Dec 1, 2005 · George Leef

Most people don’t like to be compelled to pay for things they don’t want. Taxpayers rarely think, “The government sure is taking a lot of the money I earn, but I trust that in the wise judgment of the politicians, the money is being spent for the greatest overall good, so I’m content.” Quite a few revolts in history have been sparked by the perception that taxation was mostly funding high living for the favored few.

Mandatory student fee systems are a sub-species of the taxation beast. Most colleges and universities these days have established a policy of adding on to the tuition, room and board, and other education-related fees, a “student fee” that provides the school with a substantial pot of money which is then doled out among various student groups on campus. Exactly how the money is divvied up varies, but the principle is the same as taxation: We’ll take your money, then other people will decide how it’s spent.

The Coming Revolution in Higher Education

Nov 22, 2005 · George Leef

Advancing technology has brought about dramatic change in many industries. The transportation industry today looks nothing like the transportation industry of a century ago. The same is true of medical science, communications, the production of food, and so on. But what about higher education?

For the most part, college teaching today is done in pretty much the same way it was done a century ago. Indeed, it’s done in pretty much the same way as in the day when Socrates taught. Sure, technology has made some inroads at the margins – professors today are apt to use power point presentations rather than blackboards, and if a student loses his syllabus, he can get the information online – but nothing essential has changed.

If Yale computer science professor David Gelernter is correct, however, a technological revolution is just around the corner, a revolution that may bring about a sea change in the way the higher education industry works. Writing in the November 28 issue of Forbes Professor Gelernter entitles his piece “Who Needs a College Campus?” It is a thought-provoking piece that everyone concerned with education should read.

Auditor calls for CCs to tighten control

Oct 27, 2005 · Shannon Blosser

RALEIGH — In the wake of an audit investigation of Halifax Community College, State Auditor Les Merritt is recommending the community college system have better monitoring of employment contracts, by-laws, and local boards, and improved training programs for trustees and business office personnel.

The recommendations were released Tuesday in a management letter to State Board of Community Colleges Chair Hilda Pinnix-Ragland. It was also released on the same day as an audit investigation of Halifax Community College President Ted Gasper’s activities found several violations, including questionable reimbursements and the president’s contracts being approved with the board not being aware of some amendments.