You can’t buy excellence, but you must pay for it.

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By Art Padilla RALEIGH (October 4, 2023) – The UNC System announced recently that tuition at the 16 campuses has not changed in eight years. In no small part, this reflects the deep affection North Carolinians have for their universities.  At the same time, several Board of Governors members expressed concern about the full cost… READ MORE

Florida-style bill would make colleges switch accreditors

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RALEIGH (September 28, 2023) – Last Thursday morning, HB8 in the NC General Assembly was titled “Computer Sci. Grad. Requirement.” It required high-school students to complete a computer science course to graduate, as it had since it was filed in January.1 But by the end of the day, as most of North Carolina was sifting… READ MORE

Latest episodes: The Political Takeover of the UNC System

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RALEIGH (July 6, 2023) – Dear readers, today we share the latest episodes in the ongoing saga The Political Takeover of the UNC System. Just as the UNC Governance Commission was completing its recommendations for how to improve governance of the university system, we received fresh reminders of why those recommendations desperately need to be… READ MORE

UNC Commission offers recommendations legislators should heed

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RALEIGH (June 27, 2023) – The Chronicle of Higher Education recently labeled the University of North Carolina System “a poster child for troubled governance.” The UNC Board of Governors and campus Boards of Trustees have compiled a scrapbook of examples of poor governing in recent years: Driving off worthy leaders, interference in campus chancellor searches,… READ MORE

Commission: UNC boards should look more like NC

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RALEIGH (June 12, 2023) – A bipartisan commission appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper made recommendations this week to increase representation on the University of North Carolina System’s governing boards. Cooper told reporters the UNC System has distinguished North Carolina and made a difference for its people – but its governing boards need more diversity of… READ MORE

What price control of UNC? $400M

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RALEIGH (May 18, 2023) – What price control of the UNC System? Apparently about $400 million. The cost of a new “Education Campus” to be built across Salisbury Street in Raleigh from the Legislative Building to house offices of the UNC System, NC Community College System, Department of Public Instruction and Department of Commerce has… READ MORE

UNC Governance: ‘Everybody wanted less politics’

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RALEIGH (May 4, 2023) – Gov. Roy Cooper’s UNC Governance Commission began discussing its recommendations this week to make UNC governing boards more representative of the state, more ethical and less politicized. “I think everybody wanted less politics in the Board of Governors and the Boards of Trustees,” said Commission Member and former UNC Board… READ MORE