The board serves as the governing body of the 17-campus UNC system. Made up of 32 voting members, it elects the system’s president, oversees tuition and fee levels, approves campus budgets and makes various policy and personnel decisions.
It’s this last power that has garnered widespread public attention in recent months, as the board voted in late February to close three academic centers and also decided in January to force system president Tom Ross to resign.
The N.C. General Assembly selects new board members every two years to four-year terms. They are sworn in during the summer. Eight new board members will be selected by the N.C. House of Representatives, which has nominated six current members and nine new nominees.
Eight will be selected by the N.C. Senate, which has nominated four current members — Chairman John Fennebresque as well as Lou Bissette, Anna Spangler Nelson and Frank Grainger — and the following 11 new nominees.
Robert J. Brown
Robert J. Brown is CEO of B&C Associates Inc., a consulting firm in High Point. He serves on several university boards and is a registered Republican.
