Former Leaders Voice Opposition To BOG Inquiry

The provision calling for the study is part of a bill the N.C. Senate passed three weeks ago calling for the elimination of quotas in the selection of BOG members.

Former governors Jim Hunt, James Holshouser, James Martin and Bob Scott and former UNC-system presidents Bill Friday and C.D. Spangler, all cosigned the letter criticizing the bill and asking the N.C. General Assembly to reject it.

The bill currently sits in the N.C. House Rules Committee. It is unclear when, if ever, the House will hear the legislation.

The letter's authors cited other university issues as more pressing than the study, naming possible budget cuts, a recent focus on enrollment growth and construction projects funded by last year's $3.1 billion bond referendum as examples.

Former UNC-system President Bill Friday said Sunday he does not object to the study itself -- explaining that four similar studies were conducted during his presidency -- but to the study's timing.

If the bill passes, the study would be completed by early next summer, when the 2002 legislative session convenes -- a time frame Friday said he feared was too short. "It takes at least 18 months to two years to do a study like this," he said.

The letter's authors also expressed concern about a lack of public explanation for the purpose of the study.

Former UNC-system President C.D. Spangler said the provision was not discussed on the Senate floor. "It was simply slipped into a bill and passed by the Senate with no discussion," Spangler said.

Despite criticism of the provision, some legislators have emphasized the need to re-examine the board's effectiveness.

"The thought is that the selection process is extremely cumbersome and that the board is too large," said Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, D-Cumberland.

Rand said a study would be valuable and questioned the opposition's motives. "You're only afraid to study something if you're afraid of what it might show," he said.

But Spangler was insistent that the organization of the university system does not need to be investigated.

"When unknowing people tend to get into something which works very well, they are not doing the right thing," he said.

Spangler said he believes the present university system has been functioning well since its implementation in 1971. "I am a student of organizational structures," he said. "This one is well executed."

Under the present system, a 32-member BOG oversees boards of trustees at the 16 campuses. The BOG has specifically defined duties, and certain powers also are delegated to individual campuses' trustees.

Another aspect of the study is to examine the role of UNC-CH and N.C. State University in the university system, or, more specifically, whether BOG oversight is helping or hurting these institutions, said Rep. Joe Hackney, D-Orange.

Hackney, who is vice chairman of the House Rules Committee, said the BOG does not harm these institutions. "UNC-Chapel Hill would not fare well in the House of Representatives without the umbrella of the UNC system."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.