Updates from the UNC Board of Governors

I am writing to share my report from the February 2023 meeting of the UNC Board of Governors, which I returned from yesterday. I continue to share this information with you to highlight some of the important UNC System initiatives and decisions coming out of each UNC Board of Governors meeting, giving quick access to topics that may be of particular interest to the UNCSA community. You can find all meeting materials on the UNC System website, and all meetings are livestreamed and archived on PBS North Carolina.
 
This month's meeting had a significant focus on the UNC System budget for FY2023-24, with the board voting to finalize its long session proposal to the N.C. General Assembly for operational and capital priorities, as well as voting on the campus initiative tuition and fee increases proposed by each institution in the fall semester. The Board of Governors approved the proposed tuition and fee increases for UNCSA, as approved by our Board of Trustees and communicated to campus throughout the fall. 

I've highlighted key updates from the BOG meeting below for you to note.

Sincerely,


Brian Cole 
Chancellor

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General meeting of the UNC Board of Governors 

Feb. 23, 2023 - full agenda and meeting materials 

• In his report, President Peter Hans focused on the challenges that our System and society are confronting related to student mental health, and the plans to work with the state, System and campus leaders to increase support.
• The 2022 Gov. James E. Holshouser, Jr. Award for Public Service was presented to Bonnie E. Fusarelli of NC State University.
• The board approved a revision to the UNC Policy Manual to codify the University’s commitment to free expression and restrict vague or ideologically motivated statement policies of any kind across UNC campuses (300.5.1). The revision seeks to reduce, if not eliminate, situations whereby an employee or applicant for academic admission or employment is forced to participate in political processes and/or support certain expressions. It was approved by the University Governance Committee on Jan. 18 and approved in a final vote in the general meeting on Feb. 23 (See Page  7 to view the final approved revision in red).
• The board approved all items from committees (see below).

Committee reports on this page:

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Joint Meeting of the Budget and Finance and Military and Public Affairs Committees 

Feb. 22, 2023 – full agenda and meeting materials

• The committee approved the UNC System’s proposed operating budget priorities for 2023-25 for the long session of the N.C. General Assembly. It includes further support for faculty and staff salaries, systemwide funding for cybersecurity needs, a new faculty incentive retirement program, and an expansion of the state distinguished professorship funding match program, among other items. It also included a UNCSA-specific request for an additional $1 million in recurring funding for student physical and mental health support needs (Pages 3-38).
• The committee approved the UNC System’s proposed capital budget priorities for 2023-25 for the long session of the N.C. General Assembly. In addition to a request to maintain annual support for campus repair and renovation funding (R&R), the proposal also contains capital project requests from the six-year capital proposals submitted by each campus. For UNCSA, that includes a $51 million request for Phase 2 funding for the Stevens Center project as well as $24.5 million for a new high school residence hall (Pages 39-49). 

Budget and Finance Committee  

Feb. 22, 2023 – full agenda and materials; additional materials

• The committee approved the proposals by various UNC System campuses to increase nonresident and graduate tuition rates per the legislative and UNC System guidelines (Pages 10-33).
• The committee approved the proposals by various UNC campuses to implement inflationary increases to several fees on campus, including general fees (health services, education and technology) and special fees (Pages 34-51).
• This includes the increases proposed by the tuition & fees committee at UNCSA, approved by our Board of Trustees and communicated throughout the fall.

Educational Planning, Policies and Programs Committee

Feb. 22, 2023 – full agenda and materials

• Vice President David English gave an update on the Faculty Policy Initiative, which he is leading along with Wade Maki, chair of the UNC Faculty Assembly. In this comprehensive examination, subcommittees focused on faculty workload, post-tenure review, professional/teaching faculty tracks, teaching evaluation, faculty recognition programs, and the development of a faculty retirement incentive program.

University Personnel Committee 

Feb. 22, 2023 – full agenda and materials 

• Report on the utilization of System Faculty Recruitment and Retention funding for January and February. It included actions related to NC State and UNC Chapel Hill retention applications (Pages 5-7). 

University Governance Committee 

Feb. 22, 2023 – full agenda and materials 

• No UNCSA-specific topics to highlight.

Strategic Initiatives Committee 

Feb. 22, 2023 – full agenda and materials 

• The executive team of Project Kitty Hawk gave a progress report. Project Kitty Hawk is the new nonprofit education technology firm created by the General Assembly in 2021 with funding of $97 million. It is designed to extend the benefits of UNC constituent institutions to adult learners (Pages 4-30).
• Crystal Woods, chair of the UNC Staff Assembly, moderated a panel of UNC System staff on their perspectives regarding leadership profiles and selection.

Past BOG Updates
January 2023
November 2022
September 2022