From the 1800’s to the 1900s, NCGA Representative Allen Buansi, D-56, said the legislature’s investments played a large role in the development of the UNC System. He said the state’s educational offerings wouldn’t be where they are today without the financial support.
The current BOT is made up of 15 members. Eight are elected by the BOG, with the other appointed by the NCGA. The BOG is also elected by the NCGA.
Every BOT creates and sends their respective University’s budget to the BOG after approval from their chancellor. Once the budget is approved by the BOG, requests for state funds go through proposals in the legislature.
Buansi said state budget debates in the legislature can be very long, sometimes stretching over a year. He also said that Democrats are often not in the room during negotiations, including those regarding education.
Both Buansi and Mimi Chapman, UNC associate dean for doctoral education and former chair of faculty, highlighted the impact of a 2016 decision that reduced gubernatorial power in the UNC System. The law moved the authority to delegate four trustees to each university’s BOT from the governor to the NCGA on the heels of the election of Democratic Governor Roy Cooper.
Recent changes
Chapman was acting chair from 2020 to 2023, holding the role during what she described as a tumultuous time at the University. Her time in the position included the hiring and debate around tenure of Nikole Hannah-Jones and the announcement of the School of Civic Life and Leadership.
She said that the BOT, within the last five or six years, have been seeing their role differently.
“In the past, I think the trustees’ role was to give the Chancellor and other members of the administration their best advice on difficult situations or things like that,” Chapman said. “But not to impose an agenda on the campus, which is what's been happening more lately.”
She also described the BOT as more homogeneous politically than they were in the past, a sentiment current BOT member Ralph Meekins said he shared. Meekins said he was somewhat of an outsider on the board, because he said he is likely one of the more liberal members. He described himself as fairly conservative, fiscally, and socially moderate.
Meekins added that the BOT has changed over time from a political standpoint. He said when Democrats had control of both the NCGA House and Senate, which occurred from 1999 to 2010, the board wasn't as political.
“Ever since Republicans have taken office, you know, they've put more conservative people on these boards, including UNC. Some could perceive that as a good thing, some could perceive that as a bad thing," he said. "Depends upon your politics."
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Current Trustee Vinay Patel said that he doesn't think the Board has changed since his term began in 2021.
"I'm up for reappointment if the legislature or the Speaker [of the House] decides to reappoint me, but at the end of the day, you know what, we're in a good spot," he said. "We're trying to do things that are for the best interest of both the University and the state of North Carolina.
Meekins said, in his opinion, changes to the appointment process have decreased diversity of thought on the Board and added members who have acted faster and more dramatically than before.
“[The] pendulum has swung all the way over to a far right position, which is just the fastest and the most significant pendulum swing I've ever seen in my lifetime," he said, referring to how society is dealing with issues on race. "And I'm 64 years old, and it's strange, and it's kind of scary.”
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Ananya CoxAnanya Cox is the 2024-25 University editor. She previously served as the summer University editor and a senior writer on the Udesk.
