UNC-system Board of Governors voices concern over McCrory's budget

PEMBROKE — “Education, economy and efficiency” continued to be the rallying cry of Gov. Pat McCrory at the UNC-system Board of Governors meeting Thursday — but some board members were still not convinced by his rhetoric.

In the board’s first ever meeting on UNC-Pembroke’s campus, McCrory spoke to a crowd of more than a hundred, including all 17 UNC-system chancellors, as part of a question and answer session with the board.

McCrory responded to university administrators, faculty members and students who have voiced concern about his plan to cut funding for higher education.

He said setting financial priorities is difficult, given the need to improve Medicaid and transportation while supporting the economic recovery.

“It’s a Catch-22,” McCrory said during the discussion. “Education is important for commerce, but commerce is also important for education.”

The UNC system reported Thursday that McCrory’s budget proposal would cut a total of $139 million from the system in the 2013-14 fiscal year. McCrory has cited the need to improve universities’ efficiency before allocating more funding to higher education.

Board member Walter Davenport asked McCrory whether campuses would have to be closed or consolidated in the final state budget.

McCrory said he did not anticipate any closures or changes, but emphasized that campuses should share resources to improve efficiency.

Out-of-state students will shoulder the bulk of the financial burden next year, he said — which will be achieved in part through a proposed 12.3 percent out-of-state tuition hike at UNC-CH.

Board member Fred Eshelman said it is unclear whether more tuition increases will be necessary to accommodate the governor’s recommended cuts.

McCrory said funding for specific university programs should correlate with available jobs.
“We have to adjust education toward the market forces,” he said.

But Eshelman said he’s worried about the impact of the cuts on the implementation of the UNC system’s strategic plan

The system’s five-year strategic plan was approved by the board in February and aims to increase the number of bachelor degree holders in the state to 37 percent by 2025.

“If this budget stands — and I don’t know if it will or not — we’ve gutted the plan,” Eshelman said.
“Almost all of the money we asked for, for enrollment increases or quality, were gutted.”

Cameron Carswell, the outgoing Association of Student Governments president who sits on the board, said she was disappointed that McCrory used the economy’s struggles as an excuse to push education to the back burner.

“Neglecting to set education as a priority should not be dependent upon economic times,” Carswell said.

Carswell said some of McCrory’s comments were off topic and distracted from the main education questions asked by board members.

Outgoing UNC-CH Chancellor Holden Thorp, who attended the discussion, said he will be interested to see how the budget evolves in the next few months.

“(McCrory) seemed pretty clear about his objectives,” Thorp said. “(There will be) challenges of getting the branches to work together before the budget is finalized.”

The legislature is expected to approve a final budget in June.

Contact the desk editor at state@dailytarheel.com.