Legislative Priorities Announced

By D'Lyn Ford

Meeting an increased need for student financial aid is one of top priorities on the  UNC system's agenda for the legislative session.

The University of North Carolina system will focus on students in its three priorities for the upcoming legislative session, Chancellor Jim Woodward said at a general faculty meeting last week.

The top priority is to seek adoption of a tuition increase plan approved by the Board of Governors.

The BOG plan, an alternative to the tuition increase plan adopted by the legislature last year, would send 2010-11 tuition funds to universities rather than putting them into the state’s general fund. “We ask that it be a campus-initiated tuition increase and funds come directly to campus,” Woodward said.

Need-based financial aid is the second priority. Financial aid application rates among UNC students have risen from 66 to 71 percent over the past year, Woodward said.  “We want to encourage funding to help the neediest students.”

Minimizing additional budget cuts is the final goal.

“We have contributed substantially to helping the state weather financial setbacks this year,” Woodward said, adding that the process has been “well managed by the leadership of the state.”

However, making additional cuts without harming the university’s academic core would be “absolutely impossible,” he said.

Link:

• UNC System's Legislative Priorities