Advocating Carolina
Posted on June 1, 1990A year ago I shared the distressing news that some superb faculty members of long tenure were leaving our University. This came at a time when the state had mandated significant reductions in the fourth quarter allocation of revenues to state agencies including the UNC System and our own campus. What was particularly distressing about last year’s financial news was that, as we had suspected, the budget reductions were not necessary as was evidenced by a substantial state surplus at the close of the fiscal year.
Regrettably, this year’s cuts, which now number four, are necessitated by a short-fall in projected revenues as well as an increase over projected expenditures. More distressing is the expectation that in the next fiscal year, which begins July I, we will also experience financial difficulties. There is discussion already suggesting there may not be funds for any expansion budget items and our base budget, also referred to as the continuation budget, may be cut by as much as five percent. Additional cuts will have a devastating impact on Carolina’s ability to fulfill our academic mission.
Despite this distressing news, progress has been made on another important front. As you will recall, the General Alumni Association’s Task Force, chaired by GAA Immediate Past President Tom Lambeth ’57, identified several initiatives that are essential to provide Carolina and the other campuses within the UNC System the needed flexibility and expanded authority to manage scarce resources effectively. Several of those recommendations now are supported by UNC System President C. D. Spangler ’54, the UNC System’s Board of Governors, and the Office of State Budget and Management. Legislation is now being considered in the short session of the General Assembly to provide for these needed changes: 1) cutting in half the number of line items by which campuses are budgeted; 2) raising the dollar amount at which items must be submitted to the state bid process from $5,000 to $10,000; 3) retaining much more of the overhead receipts generated from research grants by each campus; and 4) permitting the UNC System campuses to be exempted, like private institutions presently are, from paying state taxes on certain purchases.
While this list should by no means be considered exhaustive, it does represent a beginning. Certainly, if the University is to advance and make the most of its limited resources, important additional changes will be needed. Nevertheless, the changes now embraced by our Board of Trustees, the UNC System General Administration and Board of Governors, and the Office of State Budget and Management, if adopted by the General Assembly, do represent a beginning.
What can we as alumni do? We know this is an election year. We should all exercise our democratic rights by expressing their concerns to our elected officials. Importantly, we must all be advocates for education, not just higher education. Carolina is very dependent upon the quality and strength of those students who are coming through the North Carolina public schools. Furthermore, we can encourage our local Carolina clubs to reach out to the other campuses within the UNC System and sponsor “candidate nights” to which those running for the General Assembly will be invited and expected to address issues concerning all of education, but especially higher education. Too often, those elected to the General Assembly are not challenged to state positions on issues regarding higher education.
As we approach the 200th anniversary of public higher education, Carolina alumni have important opportunities to help our University. Clearly, our personal financial support is vital, but equally important are our collective efforts to advance needed changes by state government and the N.C. General Assembly. With increasing competition for scarce resources, many public officials will help only if we insist that they support North Carolina’s most significant resource-our University.
Yours at Carolina,
Douglas S. Dibbert ’70
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