Dr. James Moeser, chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, speaks to the NC State faculty during the General Faculty meeting held last week. (Photo by Roger Winstead)

The leaders of NC State and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were featured in the same arena last week. But instead of an adversarial contest on the athletic field, the chancellors of the two schools met in D.H. Hill Library in a spirit of cooperation.

Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser both addressed the biannual meeting of the NC State General Faculty on Tuesday, Feb. 5.

Fox used the opportunity to speak to the faculty about the state of the university.

"It is undoubtedly true that every year in the life of an innovative research university presents unique challenges and opportunities, but this year has been extraordinary," Fox told the assembly. "We can only pray that this year's imposing events -- the national tragedy of the terrorist attacks in September and its consequent effect on an already weakened state and national economy -- are one-time, non recurrent happenings and that full recovery will be soon forthcoming."

Fox reiterated the three main goals of the university -- namely building a diverse campus community, embracing academic and business partnerships, and adopting an operational business model that emphasizes efficiency and accountability -- and reported on their progress.

"I'm pleased to report that many concrete indicators point to progress," she said. Some of those indicators include the continued success of our graduates, the growth of Centennial Campus in tough economic times, the initial planning of a capital campaign and the hiring of Vice Chancellor Steve Jones to develop new engagement activities.

Fox also cited areas of improvement for the university, including increasing diversity in the campus population.

"Although we have more African-American students enrolled at NC State than at two of North Carolina's historically black colleges and although we rank well above average among our designated peers in attracting and graduating minority students, we must be more aggressive in recruiting and supporting all students from under-represented groups," Fox said.

Fox concluded her remarks with a status report on the state's budget woes. She said that because of a projected $900 million revenue shortfall facing North Carolina this fiscal year, the university must seek alternate revenue sources. She will recommend a campus-initiated tuition increase of $400 for all students for the 2002-2003 academic year.

"If this recommendation is approved ... we will pledge to use these funds to address, as funds and state regulations permit, the deficiencies in compensation of our faculty and staff, while ensuring student access such that the tuition increase will not increase any student's unmet financial need to a level that would force him or her to forego an NC State education for financial reasons," Fox said.

Moeser, who came to UNC-Chapel Hill in August of 2000, extolled both universities and encouraged collaboration between the two.

"We're part of what I think is a very well constructed university system, with two great flagship universities which compliment each other and 14 other campuses that have very clear missions quite distinct and apart from ours," Moeser said. "I would like to see our three campuses, along with Duke, work even more closely together in the future in key areas of research. Especially those that will help North Carolina hold onto and improve it's competitive edge."

Moeser listed several examples of how the two universities have worked together in the past, including help promote the passage of the University/Community College Bond issue in November, 2000.

"We can do great things, I believe, with enhanced collaborations, especially with the two public universities and working with our private partner at Duke and with our corporate partners across the Triangle," he said.