ASG Supports Standardizing Tuition Policy

The proposal will not be official until it is approved by the full body of the UNC Association of Student Governments on Saturday. ASG President Andrew Payne said he expects the proposal to be met with approval.

If finalized, the proposal will be submitted to the UNC-system Board of Governors for consideration.

The proposal emphasizes the importance of soliciting student input at all stages in the process that determines tuition policy and rates.

Payne said UNC-Chapel Hill has not been reluctant to include students in its tuition-setting process, but that other university officials are dragging their feet.

"I applaud the (UNC-CH) administration for their level of involvement with students," he said. "But we are not seeing that on other campuses."

At its November meeting, the UNC-CH Board of Trustees called for the creation of a Task Force on Tuition to assess the need for a tuition increase. The 15-member task force -- which recommended a one-year, $400 hike that the BOT will consider today -- included four students.

But UNC-CH Student Body President Justin Young, who was co-chairman of the task force, said more effort should have been made at UNC-CH to raise student awareness of the need for a tuition increase. He also said a broader student audience should have been consulted. "A lot of students were left out."

In addition to encouraging student participation in planning tuition hikes, the proposal encourages equality among campuses in the system.

The proposal also advises the BOG not to entertain tuition increase requests from schools that already have been granted requests during the last two years. The proposal does advocate tuition increases at the four UNC-system schools that have yet to implement them.

Payne also said the ASG leadership will not support second-round campus- initiated tuition increases until the BOG tuition policy is revamped. The BOG is set to review its policy at its February and March meetings.

"The policy is flawed," Payne said, pointing out that the current system allows campus administrators to play an unpredictable game of follow-the-leader with tuition. "UNC-CH has started a domino effect, and everybody is jumping on board," Payne said.

Student leaders and BOG members have criticized the board in the past for not following its own policy when approving tuition increases. The policy, which was adopted in 1998 and modified by the N.C. General Assembly last summer, calls for the BOG to approve campus-based tuition increase requests only in extraordinary circumstances.

The ASG proposal recommends the BOG set strict guidelines for tuition increases and emphasizes the importance of systemwide collaboration. The BOG already has informed UNC-system chancellors they will be expected to cooperate in order to form a universal tuition policy.

Student leaders also are encouraging cooperation among UNC-system students. "It's really important that we all collaborate," Young said. "The student body presidents are banding together."

A student protest against tuition increases will be staged on the UNC-CH campus today. Payne said he expects students from all over North Carolina to travel to Chapel Hill for the protest. He said, "We've come to realize this isn't a campus issue. This is a universitywide issue. It affects people from across the state."

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