Fire Holden Thorp

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Andrew Payne

Once again Holden Thorp, the embattled chancellor of the University of North Carolina, had failed the nation’s oldest public university.

Thorp lied to the media with regard to the NCAA investigation; now he’s claiming to be a champion for low tuition.

“We’ve done a wonderful job of keeping the tuition down at a time when Virginia and the (University of California) are charging twice what we’re charging,” Thorp told the News and Observer.

A wonderful job?!? Who cares what UVA or the California system charges for tuition. The North Carolina Constitution – which demands low tuition – does not speak to other state’s institutions or as academics call them “peer institutions.”

Again, Thorp demonstrates a fundamental disconnect between the university and its constitutional mandate. I guess that is what we get for hiring an individual who was barely qualified to lead one of our community colleges.

Just a warm up

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Andrew Payne

The UNC Board of Governors is expected to vote on tuition proposals next week for the system’s 16 university campuses.

UNC President Tom Ross has recommended limiting increases to an average of 8.8 percent for 2012-13 and 4.2 percent in 2013-14. Together, they would add more than $700 to the annual bill of an average in-state undergraduate.

Dozens of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill students on Wednesday protested a proposed tuition increase at the school.

A constitutional command

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Andrew Payne

TO THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA

The seventeen campus University of North Carolina system is the engine that powers the economic, intellectual and cultural well-being of our state and its citizens. Any act or failure to act which impairs this engine to provide the system of public higher education mandated by our state constitution jeopardizes the future of our state and the young men and women who rightly look to it to provide a readily accessible system of higher education where they will acquire the knowledge and refine the skills that will enable them to make the most their talents and the opportunities which life will present to them.

After serious and throughout consideration, it is the sincere opinion of the undersigned that the implementation of the presently pending campus requests to increase tuition at our institutions which constitute the University of North Carolina will make these institutions inaccessible to many qualified young men and women and breach the moral and constitutional duties of the State to all our citizens. Many high school graduates would be denied the opportunity to take advantage of the challenging and stimulating programs which as students in our institutions they could enjoy and utilize to maximize their abilities and make meaningful and continuing contributions to their fellow citizens and the well-being of all who are fortunate enough to call North Carolina home.

Over two hundred years ago the people of North Carolina signaled the importance they gave to education when, in their 1776 State Constitution, the first and only public service they commanded was education. Here are their words:

Continue reading →

A Morning of Action

Posted on January 16, 2012 by David Hook

On Friday, February 10th, 2012, the UNC Board of Governors will meet to vote on a sweeping tuition increase across all UNC-affiliated schools. Most universities are proposing tuition increases of at least 10-20% over the next several years. Given the sordid state of our economy, already-exorbitant tuition levels make it difficult for young adults to attend secondary education in North Carolina. By pushing that bar even higher, the UNC school system is effectively limiting attendance; siphoning away those who are under-privileged and less fortunate.

Photo by Shawn Rocco - srocco@newsobserver.com

Is that the way it has to be? At NCSU, our chancellor just got a swanky new mansion (the other mansion was a bit small), and we’re in the process of building a giant, state-of-the-art engineering library (complete with a robotic book-delivery system). The student center is currently undergoing heavy Continue reading →

The 170 percent

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Andrew Payne

The greed of the “1 percent” (to use the enemy of the Occupy Movement) is rampant on Wall Street, in the halls of Congress and now in the towers of academia.

Cleaning up after my annual Naughty Clause Party, I came across a bill from August 1999. It’s an invoice of sorts for a year’s study in an undergraduate degree program at NC State University. Here’s a snapshot (literally) of the costs to attend NCSU during the 1999-2000 academic year.

As you can see, Tuition and Fees were $2414 – for one year!

Compare that to the estimated annual expenses for full time undergraduate students living on or off campus for the 2010-2011 academic year, as provided by the University:

2010-11	NC Residents	Out of State Residents
Tuition & Fees	$6529	$19,064
Books & Supplies	$1000	$1000
Room rent	$4976	$4976
Meals	$3178	$3178
Personal Expenses	$1250	$1250
Transportation	$750	$1150
Health Insurance	$744	$744
TOTAL	$18,427	$31,362

A 170 percent increase in costs in just one decade.

Gives a whole new definition to “free as practicable.” (A reference to NC’s Constitutional mandate to provide the benefits of the people’s university…to the people free of expense). The NC Constitution must also make reference to the University’s responsibility to provide its students with health care?

Where has all the money gone? We will attempt to explore those issues here at Honest NC. To begin with, most of the money has gone to line the pockets of administrators, athletic coaches and tenured faculty with shoddy track records.

The 99 percent is justified in yelling about student debt load and the exorbitant costs of attaining a higher education.

Where’s the freeze?

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Andrew Payne

In 2003 the University of North Carolina Board of Governors froze tuition at the 2002-03 academic year rates. Although in the end the North Carolina General Assembly thwarted the Board of Governors action, I wonder why their will be no tuition freeze this year?

The reasons for the tuition freeze were quite simple – according to the Board of Governors resolution “the economic climate within North Carolina has resulted in rising levels of unemployment and financial hardship for many citizens of the state” and “students within the University and their families have borne a greater share of the cost of a UNC education through tuition increases implemented during the past three years.”

UNC-system President Molly Broad said at the time “while the state economy is still struggling, we are all in agreement that tuition must not become an accepted source of revenue to fund educational access in this state.” She went on to say “we also must be mindful that thousands of North Carolina workers have lost their jobs over the course of the past year, and that the ability of many families and students to pay higher tuition even with the help of financial aid has been sorely strained.”

What has changed? Is NC economy on the rebound? Are businesses and industry flocking to NC to employee the thousands of laid of textile and manufacturing workers. The answers to all these questions are NO! Then why are Boards of Trustees on target to dramatically increase tuition this year? It appears that tuition freezes are merely political schemes of the ruling class and their lackeys in higher education governance.

So why no tuition freeze this year? I guess that students and their families are no longer pawns in the political maneuverings on NC’s power elite.

Tuition lawsuit inevitable

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Andrew Payne

The Supreme Court of Missouri discarded the University of Missouri System’s appeal in a class-action lawsuit contending that the system violated state law for almost two decades by charging tuition to in-state undergraduates. The appeal stemmed from a ruling late last year that the University of Missouri illegally collected hundreds of millions of dollars in tuition from in-state students since 1986. The judgment was based on an 1889 state law that entitled Missouri residents to a free education.

It is estimated that over 250,000 Missouri students were illegally charged tuition, but because of statutes of limitations, up to 150,000 students are eligible for monetary relief or educational vouchers. It is estimated that the system may have to pay up to $450 million, plus interest, in damages. To put that number in perspective, the Missouri University system receives less money than that annually from the Missouri state legislature. That is almost the equivalent of shutting down multiple campuses of the University of North Carolina system.

Before 1986, the University of Missouri charged students a small flat fee to attend school. But then the university system began charging students tuition, or as system officials call it “educational fees,” based on the number of credit hours and classes a student was taking. This system of assessing tuition and fee charges is found throughout the country and is the same one employed by the University of North Carolina system.

Sound familiar? Well, North Carolina has a similar provision about education, but instead of state law, it is found in the state constitution. Article IX, Section 9 of the state constitution reads the “Benefits of public institutions of higher education…The General Assembly shall provide that the benefits of The University of North Carolina and other public institutions of higher education, as far as practicable, be extended to the people of the State free of expense.”

In light of recent proposed and dramatic tuition increases across the UNC System, including N.C. State and UNC-Chapel Hill, the time has come to launch our own lawsuit against the state and the university. Over the next few weeks, a team of attorneys and other professionals will be recruited to assist in this lawsuit. A Web site will be established that will allow N.C. students, families and graduates to access additional information and learn how to join the class action suit. Ultimately, we will ask the court to issue an injunction for increases and ask that the state refund tuition costs for overcharged students.

As someone who has been fighting unreasonable tuition increases for a number of years, I don’t believe anybody wanted this matter to be settled in court. I would have rather seen the issue resolved by the General Assembly as constitutionally mandated. Instead, the legislature failed to adequately fund the university system and allowed campuses to increase tuition at dramatic rates and for laughable reasons.

Students and their families would not be the first group to bring a lawsuit against the state. Low-income school districts sued the state to bring fairness and parity in the way K-12 education is funded. A couple of years ago, N.C. taxpayers sued the state over double taxation and received court ordered reimbursements. Currently, there are dozens of municipalities that are suing the state over funds that were seized to plug gaps in the state’s budget deficit.

The students that brought the lawsuit against the state of Missouri did not sue just to gain financially, even though it looks like Missouri students are owed between $2,000 and $3,500 for each semester they attended the university. They litigated because they felt the state had an obligation to uphold the laws it passes. This is especially true when University of Missouri officials were arguing that “educational fees” were not the same as tuition.

The same can be said for our lawsuit. I am not in this just for the money. I want the state of North Carolina and its elected officials in the General Assembly to voluntarily oblige by its own laws – its own constitution. Because they have not been able to do this, then the only other course of action is to bring about a lawsuit.

I am tired of listening to administrators banter about how they don’t want to increase tuition but they have to because of the General Assembly’s budget cuts. I am tired of the state hiding behind the facade of “low tuition.” I am tired of tuition increases. I am tired of qualified students being forced out of higher educational opportunities because of their economic background.

Public Notice: The time for debating tuition is over – I’ll see you in court.

Imagine if students sued North Carolina over illegally assessed tuition charges. I know my tenure here at NCSU hasn’t produced an education free of expense. You may argue tuition in North Carolina is one of the lowest in the nation, and I would agree. However, tuition only makes up one-third of the total cost of higher education. The state constitution doesn’t guarantee low tuition — it guarantees low-cost higher education. The average student attending a public university will spend approximately $16,000 per year* to attend one of North Carolina’s campuses.

So let me ask, is $16,000 a year low-cost education? Is the state extending the benefits of higher education to all people in this state? I would argue the answer is, unfortunately, no.

Here is my proposal. Students — past and present — who have attended one of the 16 campuses of the University of North Carolina system should bring forth a class action lawsuit against the state of North Carolina and the General Assembly for not upholding their constitutional responsibilities. If the state of North Carolina, like the state of Missouri, cannot voluntarily abide by its own laws, then the only other course of action is to bring a lawsuit.

Students would not be the first to take such an action. Lower-income school districts, taxpayers and municipalities have or are taking financial shots at the state. Why should students be forced to pay each year for increasing higher education costs when the General Assembly has a clear responsibility?

I don’t care if the state is in a budget crisis or not. If the state doesn’t want to live up to its obligation, then change the constitution. But don’t put on a facade that, just because the public tuition is low in North Carolina, higher education is affordable.

If the ruling in Missouri is upheld, the university system will be devastated financially. That is not what I want in North Carolina, nor is it the reason I am bringing suit against the General Assembly.

I want the higher education in North Carolina to be truly affordable and open to every qualified citizen no matter his or her economic background. The University of North Carolina has too many opportunities wasted because someone was locked out financially.

*The post was originally written from 2002-2004, and portions have been previously published.

“University of Missouri Tuition Lawsuit”

Michele Norris discusses the case with Bob Herman, a lawyer for the students who brought the suit.

WHEREAS and RESOLVED

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Andrew Payne

WHEREAS, the North Carolina State General Assembly has cut state funding to the UNC system by incredible amounts over the past few years; and,

WHEREAS, NC State University has seen that cut reflected by receiving over $125 million less in state funding in the past five years; and,

WHEREAS, in light of the budget cuts, UNC Board of Governors stated on October 8 that schools in the system could seek to implement a one-time increase beyond the 6.5% cap that has been in place on tuition and fee increases since 2006; and,

WHEREAS, the Board of Governors provided further clarification later in the month stating that the one-time ‘catch-up’ increase could only move the school’s tuition to the top of the bottom quartile of the school’s peer institutions; and,

WHEREAS, NC State University had previously decided on a tuition increase of $330 for 2012-2013 academic year for in-state undergraduates and $660 for other students in a process that starts at the beginning of the school year and involves student input from various sources; and,

WHEREAS, the first mention to the student body of NC State that this option was being considered was in a Technician article entitled, “BOT tuition and fees meeting today,” that ran on November 17^th, the same day the Board of Trustees Audit, Finance and Planning Committee met to discuss the increase; and,

WHEREAS, the full Board of Trustees, sans Student Body President Chandler Thompson, voted in favor of this increase and sending to the Board of Governors for approval at their meeting on November 18^th despite requests to do otherwise; and,

WHEREAS, this sequence of events occurred after the traditional campus process where tuition increases occur had concluded; and,

WHEREAS, as part of that process and, as stated by the Board of Governors, several effective practices for student input are required when discussing raising tuition and fees, this is to satisfy policy 1000.1.1 and a General Administration committee recently established that student input is required as well as transparency, collaboration with students, timeliness, and accountability; and,

WHEREAS, many of those principles were violated with regard to the ‘catch-up’ increase by the NCSU Board of Trustees; now therefore be it,

RESOLVED, that the Student Government, on behalf of the student body, opposes the Board of Trustees’ hasty actions in recommending the ‘catch-up’ tuition increase which was in violation of Board of Governors policy 1000.1.1; and be it further,

RESOLVED, that while Student Government does not deny the possible practical and demonstrated need of an additional tuition increase for NC State University, such an increase should not be made without gathering more student input than the Board of Trustees solicited; and be it further,

RESOLVED, that the Student Government of NC State University asks the UNC Board of Governors to refuse the ‘catch-up’ tuition increase of NC State University at their next meeting in January 2012 until more student feedback can be obtained and an accurate opinion from the student body can be gathered.

students.ncsu.edu

College Funding Could Be On The State’s Budget-Chopping Block

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Andrew Payne

Same old swan song; the below news report first ran in May of 2002.

Instead of providing real leadership during uncertain economic times – politicians and academic bureaucrats “reel” [definition - feel very giddy, disoriented, or bewildered, typically as a result of an unexpected setback].

To bring the article up to current times – simply replace Gov. Mike Easley with Bev Perdue and UNC-system President Molly Broad with Tom Ross.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The education community is reeling from the state’s recommendations to cut budgets from kindergarten through college. While Gov. Mike Easley vows to protect the classroom, school leaders said there is no way to avoid it.

As graduations across the UNC-system begin this weekend, students look forward to their bright futures. However, the system’s future is less certain.

With only two months left in the fiscal year, Gov. Mike Easley has already frozen state budgets. But the news has gotten worse for some: UNC-system President Molly Broad told the board of governors Friday that state lawmakers identified $234 million in possible cuts in university funding. That number is double the original estimate in March.

“Maintaining the current level of operations or service is just not possible for this university in these circumstances,” Broad said.

Among possible options, the state may:
-Cut all vacant positions
-Reduce non-personnel budgets across the board
-Reduce or eliminate some programs and reduce UNC-TV’s budget

Broad said the effect would be increased faculty workload and larger class sizes. Chancellors were counting on money from vacant positions to hire new faculty, but that money is gone.

“All of that flexibility is lost, when you need to be adding faculty to accommodate growth,” said UNC-Central chancellor Dr. James Ammons.

Most campuses are adding students this fall and must provide education with less money. Some students said they are worried about a cut in quality on top of January’s tuition increase.

“Why are you asking us to pay a considerable amount and yet giving us less?” student Andrew Payne said.

A warning, from a former leader

Posted on December 4, 2011 by Andrew Payne

C.D. Spangler Jr., a former UNC system president who served 11 years and has spent a lifetime running a large family business and foundation, said in a recent appearance in Chapel Hill that universities should look first toward cutting expenses, and should not raise tuition.

Did I mention… Mr. Spangler is America’s #273 richest person.