While bold action from officials is often welcome, a proposed bill in the North Carolina General Assembly from Sen. Tom McInnis (R-Richmond) that seemingly attempts to reform the very nature of higher education in North Carolina makes little sense.
The UNC system, despite recent years of punitive budget cuts imposed by the general assembly, is one of the most robust in the nation.
This is largely because UNC attracts excellent faculty who are world-renowned experts in their fields. It is a place of knowledge production as well as knowledge transfer.
Requiring professors to teach a class load of eight classes per year, a rate comparable to that of high school teachers, would prevent professors from giving their research its necessary attention.
In turn, this would likely cause a mass exodus of faculty at UNC and other UNC-system schools, devaluing the education provided to students in the system.
If a student wants professors who primarily focus on teaching, there are fantastic options already available in the UNC system and North Carolina’s community colleges.
In the future, it would be wise for McInnis to consult even a couple professors at North Carolina’s flagship institutions before he proposes legislation that wastes the time of the General Assembly.
UNC-system faculty deserve greater credit, not ill-considered, burdensome reforms.
