ASG Aims to Inform Voters About Funding

At its monthly meeting Saturday, the UNC Association of Student Governments announced its intention to take its "Keep North Carolina Educated" campaign on the road.

ASG leaders said the campaign will focus on raising awareness of the N.C. General Assembly's responsibility to fund higher education in the state, which could offset future tuition increases.

ASG leaders said the campaign is especially needed now that the state is facing a budget shortfall between $400 million and $900 million and the UNC system is potentially facing greater funding cuts.

Brad Dixon, ASG vice president of finance, said the campaign is intended to persuade voters to pressure state legislators for adequate higher education funding or to vote those legislators out of office.

"(The campaign) is about getting out awareness to a lot of people who are footing the bill," he said.

Dixon said North Carolinians must demand that state legislators stop shirking their responsibility to the UNC system.

"We can't allow them to press through the paradigm that the state doesn't have to support the university system," he said.

Dixon said the General Assembly's higher education budget cuts force system officials to implement tuition hikes to compensate for a lack of state funding.

James Haltom, ASG vice president of public affairs, emphasized student leaders' responsibility to ensure that tuition is kept low and UNC-system schools remain accessible.

"Millions of North Carolinians go to work every day at mills, farms and in cities across the state to provide for us to go to college," Haltom said. "It's our responsibility to keep those universities affordable."

To complement the long-range voter awareness campaign, the ASG approved a proposal for tuition guidelines to be presented at the UNC-system Board of Governors meeting in February.

The proposal includes a recommendation to approve campus-initiated tuition increases on campuses that have not increased tuition in the last two years but to deny the requests of universities that have already implemented increases.

The document also recommends that the BOG revamp its tuition policy -- a move it is already poised to make.

ASG President Andrew Payne said the tuition policy allows officials to implement quick fixes and does not provide for any long-term solutions.

"We're putting out fires year by year," Payne said. "And it's obviously not working."

The proposal also emphasizes the importance of cooperation within the system, specifically with regard to tuition issues. The BOG has already announced intentions to require system schools to collaborate on a long-term tuition policy.

The proposal also recommends that a high degree of student input be incorporated into tuition considerations.

It also requests BOG support for the ASG's campaign to inform voters of the General Assembly's responsibility to higher education.

To defray its operating costs and raise money to fund its awareness campaign, the ASG drafted a proposal to increase its budget through student fees, grants and corporate donations.

If the fee proposal meets BOG approval, the ASG will have the authority to charge students a $1 annual fee. ASG leaders said the student fee -- in conjunction with projected grants and donations -- would enable them to increase the ASG budget from $2,500 to $165,000.

Payne lauded the potential benefits of a larger budget. "To see what we've done with so little, I can only imagine what we can do with a lot."

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