Bowles off and running

New UNC-system president Erskine Bowles has been in office not even two weeks, but most say he has hit the ground running.

Board of Governors Chairman Brad Wilson said today's committee meetings and Friday's meeting of the full board likely will be business as usual, despite having a new face at the table.

But Bowles will be leading the university system without three top members of the General Administration staff.

Jeff Davies, vice president for finance, has served in various positions in General Administration since 1985. He will leave his position to head business affairs at UNC-Greensboro.

Cindy Lawson, vice president for communications and strategy development, will take a position at UNC-Wilmington.

Both positions are effective March 1.

In addition, Gretchen Bataille, who had been serving as both senior vice president of academic affairs and interim chancellor at N.C. School of the Arts, stepped down at the end of December to focus on her chancellor duties.

The School of the Arts is in the process of finding a new chancellor, but Bataille said it is premature to say whether she would accept a permanent position.

Charlie Mercer, chairman of the personnel and tenure committee, said he expects Bowles to address the group today about filling the vacancies.

Wilson said personnel changes with a new president are not unusual. He added that Bowles has been meeting with Davies and others to get up to speed as quickly as possible.

"One thing we've learned is he's a tireless worker and has a big appetite for lots of information and digests it quickly," Wilson said.

Bowles will have to spend some of that effort getting ready for tuition discussions.

Though the topic officially is slated for the February meeting, the budget and finance committee likely will begin informal discussions regarding campus-based tuition increases today.

Committee chairwoman Hannah Gage said she is looking forward to hearing Bowles' views on tuition.

"He seems very committed to low tuition, but at the same time understands the realities of the rising cost of higher education and the demands to maintain a quality system," she said.

Gage said the tuition policy task force, which will meet next month, also is waiting for Bowles' input before proceeding.

"We may find that what we have done within the parameters of the tuition task force is too limited, and maybe there are a lot of other ideas that we need to consider," she said.

The task force is examining a long-term policy that would limit campus-based increases to a range set by the board.

A similar policy for setting 2006-07 tuition passed the budget and finance committee in November.

Since then all but one system school has indicated that its requests will be within the guidelines, Gage said. Appalachian State University likely will ask for an exception, citing need above and beyond what the guidelines allow.

Gage said the schools' commitment to remaining within the guidelines is a good sign.

"I think it certainly gives us a strong indication that what we are talking about on the tuition task force may work," she said.

 

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.