Dearmin mum on tuition stance

Today marks the second meeting of the Tuition Advisory Task Force, and members still are waiting for Student Body President Seth Dearmin to vocalize his stance on tuition.

During the year's first task force meeting last week, Dearmin, who serves as the group's co-chairman, only spoke twice and did not specifically establish an opinion on potential campuswide tuition hikes.

But Dearmin said Tuesday that it would not be fair to characterize his role as passive.

He said that he has been researching former task forces and gauging what areas on campus most need tuition revenue.

"I'm jumping in already," he said. "Coming in with a present agenda is not the best way to effect positive change."

Although the tuition discussion still is in its initial stages, history has shown that the student body president's position in the task force evolves into the stance taken before the University's Board of Trustees.

Former Student Body President Matt Tepper told the tuition task force in 2003 that, in light of a student fee increase and a potential systemwide tuition increase, campus hikes should go easy on students.

Months later at the BOT meeting, Tepper proposed a smaller hike as an alternative to the board's tuition plan.

And in 2004, former Student Body President Matt Calabria said in the task force that he is a proponent of hikes that improve the student experience.

Calabria ultimately compromised with trustees - rather than staunchly opposing them - and the proposed tuition hike was reduced several hundred dollars.

Dearmin's platform suggests pursuing a locked-in tuition plan and emphasizes the danger of pricing students out of UNC.

"Right now I'm really open-minded about things," he said. (The) most important thing I could be doing at the moment is just to go in and listen to all sides of the tuition (debate)."

Other task force members have stressed the need to address the campus' funding crunch.

Last year, the tuition hike approved by the trustees was reduced months later by the UNC-system Board of Governors - drastically reducing the University's revenue.

The cut brought about $3 million less in tuition revenue to the University, leaving many of the campus' needs unfulfilled, administrators say.

"I think there really are some very pressing needs," said Faculty Chairwoman Judith Wegner, a member of the task force.

"Some of the disciplines - they are worse off against others as far as (how) they stack up against peers at other schools."

 

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.