The current BOG tuition policy calls for campus-initiated tuition increase requests to be approved only in emergency situations. But in the two years policy has been in place, the BOG has approved tuition increases at 11 UNC-system campuses, including a $600 tuition increase last year at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Members of the Budget and Finance Committee discussed the tuition increase for several minutes but eventually decided the policy was too complicated for one committee to handle and decided to bring the issue before the full board in the next few months.
Later in the day, the BOG's governance committee approved a recommendation to cut the annual number of board meetings from 11 to eight. The proposal would eliminate the board's April and July meetings.
"I do believe that we can do our business, do it well and save a little money by going to an alternate schedule," said BOG member Jim Phillips.
The proposal will go before the full board today.
UNC-system President Molly Broad also said the proposal will allow the board to fulfill its objectives while avoiding unnecessary paperwork.
For the board to move to an eight-meeting schedule, the committee agreed to delegate more authority to the Office of the President -- including approval of minor capital projects and approval of changes to tenure policies.
But BOG member John Sanders, who recently lost his bid for re-election to a second term on the BOG, discouraged committee members from accepting the proposal. Sanders said the change could hinder the board's credibility. "As you delegate more of the board's functions to others, you reduce your understanding of the university," Sanders said.
Sanders also said that while he has no doubt that the proposal will pass near-unanimously, the board should consider the full ramifications of such a change.
