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Students say no, BOG
votes yes
Tuition increases approved
without student backing |
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Jacque
Lenz | Chief Photographer
Members of the UNC Board of Governors
carry a conversation before the meeting as students "raise
their voices silently," a protester said.
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by Justin Boulmay
Staff Writer
The Board of Governors approved a $225 boost in tuition and a $44
increase in student fees Friday for the 2004-05 academic year while
students gathered to protest the raise.
The increases come during a time when Appalachian State University
has experienced budget reductions for the past four years.
Appalachian students received the $225 tuition rise, as did many
of the UNC schools with the exceptions of the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University and North
Carolina School of Arts, which received higher increases.
BOG member Jim Phillips said the proposal for increases originated
with universities needing more money, and the proposal that passed
called for fewer increases than initially proposed.
“The genesis of these increases are our campuses,” Phillips
said.
The BOG said the money is intended to go toward improving the quality
of education at the University of North Carolina system schools.
This will help lower class sizes and increase availability of class
sections. Permanent faculty members are to be hired to replace temporary
professors.
Phillips said each university chancellor is to report back to the
BOG on Dec. 31 to report how the funds were used.
“Our goal has to balance our commitment to access with the
need to maintain quality,” he said.
Fayetteville State University student Victor Landry said that has
not been the case for the past few years.
“Students have seen no improvement in quality,” Landry
said.
Association of Student Governments President Jonathan L. Ducote
said he was disappointed with the vote.
“I think it’s a bad day for the university,” he
said.
Students from the 16 University of North Carolina system schools
attended the meeting to protest the increases. Holding signs with
mottos such as “Be Like Mike (Easley) – Vote No”
and “Vote No, Keep Tuition Low,” many students said
they felt their presence would help persuade the BOG to deny the
proposal.
“I think it will be [effective],” ASG Vice President
for Public Affairs Jeremy P. Engbretson said before the meeting.
“I am very optimistic about the vote … and I’m
very optimistic that it will go in our favor,” East Carolina
University SGA President Benjamin F. Wyche said.
While the increases were being discussed, Ducote said the BOG should
consider lowering the increases. Ducote is a member of BOG but does
not have voting privileges.
When his first amendment failed, Ducote said the board should consider
spreading the $1,500 increase for out-of-state students at UNC-CH
over a two-year period instead of one. That amendment failed as
well.
Less than an hour before the meeting began, members of ASG held
a press conference outside the General Administration building.
Ducote, ASG Vice President Amanda M. Devore and Associate Vice President
Victor Landry gave speeches, and Appalachian State SGA President
Rachel A. Johnson read her personal story from “The Personal
Stories Project: Faces, Not Numbers.”
“If the [North Carolina] legislature is serious about economic
development, then the legislature needs to get serious about funding
its universities,” Ducote said.
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