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.

Halifax Community College Audit Released

Oct 26, 2005 ·

WELDON — Halifax Community College Board of Trustees approved a new contract for college President Ted Gasper in 2001 without knowledge of significant contract amendments, according to an investigative audit released Tuesday looking into allegations of misconduct by Gasper.

The audit also found evidence of more than $15,000 in questionable payments to Gasper for fringe benefits and travel, and recommended that the board of trustees seek repayment of any funds made without adequate documentation.

In addition, the audit found that Gasper leased college property without state approval and that his executive secretary deleted files from her computer after the school received notice of the audit investigation, a violation of state law.

Advice for Erskine Bowles: Ratchet Up and Ratchet Down

Oct 20, 2005 ·

The UNC presidential search committee has done its work and the new president of the UNC system will be Erskine Bowles. Although the North Carolina Press Association has said that it may challenge the legality of the selection process under the Open Meetings Act, no one doubts that Mr. Bowles will succeed Molly Broad in this important position.

An accomplished, multi-talented man, Mr. Bowles will take the UNC helm with this notable advantage — he isn’t an education “insider.” People who have been immersed in higher education administration for most if not all of their careers tend to uncritically accept most of the “conventional wisdom” about how our colleges and universities supposedly need to function. That fact produces tunnel vision much like a horse with blinders. Bowles doesn’t appear to be wearing them.

CC Board to hear update on Halifax investigation

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RALEIGH — Members of a special investigative committee looking into allegations against Halifax Community College President Ted Gasper will be given an update on the investigation’s progress during the North Carolina Community College System’s board meeting Friday.

This comes after a week of meetings at the community college surrounding the allegations, a separate investigation by the State Auditor’s office and new revelations from a former administrative assistant who worked for Gasper.

Gasper has been placed on paid leave for the past month as the state board began its investigation into multiple claims of abuse, including the elimination of academic programs without trustee or state approval. His administrative assistant, Faye Pepper, has also been placed on paid leave because of her close working relationship to Gasper. Joy Cooley is serving as the college’s president.

Chasing the Almighty Sports Dollar

Oct 13, 2005 ·

It’s October, in case you haven’t noticed by the cooler temperatures and the leaves changing colors. You can also tell that fall is here by the way college administrators have begun the traditional fall march of chasing the pipe dream of increased college revenue through athletics.

Locally, two colleges have hung the athletics carrot over the heads of their alumni and supporters with big dreams of new athletics venues and playing against bigger competition. At North Carolina Central University, school officials want to move from Division II athletics to Division I in all sports except for football, where the school would compete in Division I-AA. At North Carolina State, the school is raising money to construct an Arnold Palmer designed golf course.

Pope Conference A Success

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RALEIGH – Presentations by Richard Vedder and Mike Adams were among the highlights of the annual John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy Conference held Oct. 8 at the Hilton-Raleigh-Durham Hotel at Research Triangle Park.

This year’s conference was built around the theme of “Higher Education in America: Do Students and Taxpayers Get Their Money’s Worth?” A group of 12 speakers, including a panel of students, debated various topics in higher education today including the lack of core curriculum, taboo subjects, and what is actually taught in the classroom.

The High Cost and Low Productivity of Our Higher Education System: What it Means for America

Oct 10, 2005 ·

I am honored by the invitation to speak to you today. The Pope Center is a very positive force in rethinking higher education in America. I am somewhat surprised, frankly, that I was invited to speak, since I am an economist, and economists suffer from two defects. First, they are deadly dull. It is usually more fun watching paint dry than listening to an economist. Indeed, it might even be preferable to have a hemorrhoid operation without an anesthetic from an unlicensed French physician to having to listen to an economist pontificate.

Pope Conference Saturday

Oct 6, 2005 ·

RALEIGH – Space is still available for the Pope Center for Higher Education Policy’s annual conference to be held Saturday at the Hilton Hotel in the Research Triangle Park.

Author and economist Richard Vedder is the keynote speaker for this year’s event, titled “Higher Education in America: Do Students and Taxpayers Get Their Money’s Worth.”

Space is still available for those interested in attending. To resgister for the conference, contact Executive Director George Leef at georgeleef@popecenter.org. You may also register online.

“The cost of higher education continue to rise faster than the rate of inflation, but many observer think that quality delivered is going down just as fast,” Leef said. “This conference is designed to explore the important question of how much students and taxpayers are getting for all the money they pour into the quest for college degrees.”

Last year, Vedder’s book Going Broke by Degree: Why College Costs Too Much examined the rising costs of going to college, how only a fraction of those costs goes toward instruction, and how many colleges are failing to educate their students. Vedder’s speech, entitled “The High Cost and Low Productivity of Our Colleges and Universities” will focus heavily on his research in the book.

Besides Vedder other guests and presenters include UNC-Wilmington professor Mike Adams, Indiana University professor Murray Sperber, Melana Zyla Vickers, and Gary Brasor among others.

Registration will begin Saturday at 8 a.m., with the first session beginning at 8:30 a.m. A luncheon will be held at noon.

Bowles named UNC president

Oct 4, 2005 ·

CHAPEL HILL – Former Clinton Administration Chief of Staff and two-time U.S. Senate candidate Erskine Bowles was named Monday the 16th president of the University of North Carolina system.

Bowles’ appointment will become effective Jan. 1, when he will then succeed current President Molly Broad, who announced in April her plans to retire at the end of the 2005-06 academic year or when a successor had been named. His appointment was unanimously approved during a called special session of the Board of Governors.

Professors and Unions – Do the Two Mix?

Sep 29, 2005 ·

A recent decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has given the green light to the formation of a faculty union at a private, church-affiliated college in Wisconsin. The case is important not only because it may stimulate unionization drives at colleges and universities around the nation, but also because it highlights some of the glaring problems in the law governing labor relations for all kinds of workers.

Carroll College is a liberal arts college located in Waukesha, WI. While nominally affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, its religious ties are not much in evidence. An administrative decision in 2001 to divide the college into schools of liberal arts and professional studies led to considerable faculty dissension and ultimately a drive for unionization. Some professors felt that their interests would be better represented by a union, specifically the United Auto Workers.

The University Needs to Know Its Own Limitations

Sep 22, 2005 ·

One of my favorite movie lines occurs when Clint Eastwood (“Dirty Harry” Callahan) says to a criminal he has just subdued, “A man has got to know his own limitations.”

Knowing one’s limitations is a good idea for institutions as well as individuals, but for some years now, it’s been evident that UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser doesn’t recognize any limits on his university. His September 15 “State of the University Address” shows that he believes the university to have a far wider range of capabilities than it actually does.

One example is the Chancellor’s statement that “North Carolina must compete in this global economy, so it is absolutely critical that its flagship university be a player on the world stage.” That’s why UNC is building a new Global Education Center.