CHAPEL HILL — Rep. Robin Hayes, R-N.C., was among the leaders of a recent House resolution to express support for the continuation of a federal law that denies federal funding to colleges that do not allow military recruiters on campus. The resolution is in response to U.S. District Court of Appeals ruling in November that struck down the law.
The Dionne article anticipated last week’s big Edwards news. He now has an issue: the alleviation of poverty. Dionne doesn’t write that Edwards has no idea about how to accomplish it; instead, as he graciously puts it, Edwards is “planning to set up a center to study ways to alleviate poverty.” That would be UNC’s new Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity, of which Edwards will be director.
CHAPEL HILL — Though most of the State of the Union address Feb. 2 dealt with reforms to Social Security and spreading freedom throughout the world, President Bush also focused attention on his higher-education goals.
During his fifth State of the Union address, Bush advocated increasing Pell Grant funding as well as providing more funding for workforce training initiatives for community colleges. Both proposals were ways, Bush said, “to make our economy stronger and more dynamic.”
CHAPEL HILL – Enrollment has increased at seven UNC system institutions that were targeted to improve low enrollment numbers, according to a recently-released report.
Since 1999, enrollment increased at the seven institutions, denominated as “focused-growth” institutions, by 11,777 students, or 36.3 percent. More than $28 million in state funds have been used to increase enrollment through the program.
Note: Here is a copy of an interview of North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics teacher Carol O’Dell. The interview was part of the NBC 17 program “At Issue” and was conducted by moderator Donald Jones and Donna Martinez of the John Locke Foundation. The topic of the interview was O’Dell’s assertions that NCSSM is declining academically. O’Dell was informed by school administrators that her contract would not be renewed mainly because she has been critical of the school’s apparent academic decline. NCSSM officials declined a request by NBC 17 to appear on the program. The interviewed aired December 19, 2004.
Near the very end of the 2003 legislative session, the General Assembly passed a new law that gives to all graduates of the North Carolina School for Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) a tuition waiver if they enroll in any of the campuses of the UNC system. With tuition charges going as high as $4,400 (at Chapel Hill), this policy is a substantial yearly saving for those families whose children graduate from NCSSM and then choose one of the UNC campuses.
CHAPEL HILL – A report released by the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy today challenges the merits of the tuition waiver program at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, while shedding light on academic and administrative concerns at the school.
CHAPEL HILL – UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees members voted Thursday to increase tuition for in-state students by $200 and out-of-state students by $950. The approved increase is a lesser amount than what trustees members had considered the previous day.
UNC-CH’s request will join others within the UNC system for a possible vote on tuition increases next month during the Board of Governors meeting on Feb. 11. Board of Governors Chair Brad Wilson has been outspoken in his belief that, after several consecutive years of tuition increases, UNC system students deserve a break.
What if the petty, snarling villain in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol were Bob Cratchit? What if Ebenezer Scrooge had tried from the beginning to help the hobbling young Tim, but Bob threw his money back in his face? What if the other Cratchits sat mute in fear of Bob as he said, “Bah! You don’t believe as I do, Mr. Scrooge! Sometimes you criticize my work! To me your money is tainted!”
Here’s what: You would have the situation now playing out at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Predictable as the falling of autumn’s last leaves, December brings news that the state’s budget has a big deficit, that the UNC system claims that it needs a lot more money, and talks of tuition increases.
