Gov. Roy Cooper's proposed budget, announced on March 24, would bring a 7.5 percent increase to UNC-System employee salaries over the next two fiscal years. On Thursday, UNC’s Board of Trustees met for the first fully in-person meeting since January 2020 to discuss the impact of this proposed budget.
The Board also discussed updates on campus vaccinations as well as the Chancellor's new initiative, Carolina Across 100.
What’s new?
- Student Body President Reeves Moseley, a graduating senior, ended his term as a trustee. His successor, Lamar Richards, will be sworn in at the next Board meeting in May.
- Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz discussed the effectiveness of the Carolina Together Testing Program and updates on on-campus vaccinations for eligible students.
- Guskiewicz announced that vaccinations for eligible students at UNC’s on-campus vaccination center will begin March 31.
- Guskiewicz said he anticipates a return to full in-person instruction for the fall semester, albeit with many safety measures likely still in place.
- UNC has received nearly 54,000 applications for undergraduate admissions this year, and there has been a three percent increase in the number of undergraduate applicants who have been offered admission to UNC.
- Rachelle Feldman, associate provost and director of scholarships and student aid, will present plans on sustainable growth of undergraduate enrollment at the next Board meeting.
- Gov. Roy Cooper’s proposed 2021-2023 budget includes increased financial resources for the UNC System, including:
- An increase in employee salaries by five percent in the fiscal year 2022 and a 2.5 percent increase the following year.
- $1000 bonus for employees and an additional $2000 bonus for university and state-funded local community college employees to be paid in the fiscal year 2021.
- $393 million over the biennium in repairs and renovations, with $143 million for UNC-System projects.
- A proposal for $783 million for UNC-System infrastructure projects to be placed on the ballot in November.
- Carolina Across 100, a new initiative that aims to reach all 100 North Carolina counties to better understand their needs and expand UNC’s impact on the state as a whole, was officially launched, Guskiewicz said.
- Anita Brown-Graham, director of ncIMPACT Initiative and Gladys Hall Coates Distinguished Professor of Public Law and Government, will direct the initiative.
- Brown said that the initiative seeks to have UNC collaborate with communities across the state in ways that respond to the opportunities and challenges they continue to face post-COVID-19. The initiative will last for five years.
- “We’re going to — as we have been doing on campus — bring people together in communities from different sectors, geographic boundaries and perspectives,” Brown said.
