[ASG:Council] State budget adopted, and it's better than expected

Thu Aug 6 10:01:25 CDT 2009

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Council and Executive Officers,

I meant to send this email out yesterday, but couldn't get the wifi
working in my new apartment until now.  Please forgive the delay.

The final state budget has been adopted by both chambers of the NC
General Assembly as of yesterday -- and the end product is actually
far more favorable to the UNC system than any of us expected going in
to it.  Some of the highlights:

====================
NO STUDENT TAX FOR 2009-2010
====================
The $200 tuition increase that was included in the House's version of
the budget was dropped in the conference committee edition.  Tuition
for 2009-2010 will only go up by the amount adopted by the UNC Board
of Governors in February (amounts that UNCASG supported via resolution
in January).

This was/is A Big Deal™ because it helps cement the BOG's role as the
non-partisan arbiter on tuition increases, instead of the General
Assembly using tuition as a political football to balance the state
budget.  The final budget *does* include the $200 student tax for the
2010-2011 academic year, but the NCGA has to come back next May to
revise the 2010-2011 budget so we get a shot at nixing it next year as
well.

More importantly, it also means the BOG-approved tuition increases go
to the BOG-approved uses -- notably more financial aid at every single
campus.

====================
+$23M IN FINANCIAL AID FOR 2009-2010
====================
The budget also includes the additional $23 million in need-based
financial aid requested by the Board of Governors.  Only $11M of this
is recurring funding, so for 2010-2011 we'll have to fight for another
$12M.  But it helps take care of students for the next academic year.

====================
ENROLLMENT GROWTH FUNDING IN BOTH FISCAL YEARS
====================
Recurring funding for enrollment growth is also included in both
2009-2010 and in 2010-2011, meaning universities will not need to cap
enrollment next year.  You'll remember from a prior email that this
was something in the works, which would mean thousands of academically
qualified NC students would be blocked from attending a UNC
institution.  This funding avoids that problem.

====================
TOTAL UNC CUTS LIMITED TO 6%
====================
The University did receive a recurring cut to its base budget, but the
final amount comes out to around 6% -- far better than anyone was
expecting (the House budget cut was going to be 8.7%).  This means
there will be fewer class sections cut, fewer teaching spots unfilled,
fewer services reduced, etc etc.

====================
CAMPUS-SPECIFIC PRIORITIES FUNDED
====================
The Legislature also appropriated funding to a number of
campus-specific priorities. Here are just a few:
- NCSSM tuition grants (phase out delayed until the 2012 graduating class)
- ECU dental school
- UNCCH and NCCU nursing programs
- UNCC Energy Production Infrastructure Center
- NCAT and NCSU engineering programs
- UNCG and NCAT joint nanoscience project
- WCU rapid product realization project
- ECSU aviation program
- UNCSA film-making program
- FSU's Military One-Stop Center and BRAC Outreach
- WSSU's adult and transfer recruitment program

and several more items.  I've attached the copy of the side-by-side
comparison chart produced by UNC General Administration that shows how
things line up between the Senate budget, the House budget, and the
final Conference Committee budget.  I've also included the budget bill
text itself (S202v7.pdf) as well as the Conference Committee Report,
both provided by the NC General Assembly.

====================
THE BOTTOM LINE:  TARGETED ADVOCACY WORKS
====================
I know there's been some disagreement among certain folks, notably the
editorial pages of a certain collegiate newspaper, about the efficacy
of what we're doing versus having a massive rally downtown.  I think
the end product the General Assembly adopted illustrates why UNCASG's
approach was the right one.  There's a reason you don't see paid
lobbyists having mass rallies downtown ;)

The cuts facing the universities will definitely have an impact, but
the worst-case scenarios were averted and even the bad parts of this
particular budget are delayed until 2010-2011 -- giving next year's
session of UNCASG an opportunity to correct them.  Our job this year
is to prepare the groundwork for next year's advocacy efforts.

====================
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
====================
Whenever you have time, get in touch with any legislators you
contacted during the budget deliberations and thank them for
supporting the University and UNC students.  These folks were under
intense pressure from a wide number of special interest groups, and
the fact we ended up where we did is truly impressive.  It solidifies
the General Assembly's status as one of the most supportive
legislatures for higher education in the country.

*THANK YOU* to all of you who helped get students together for this
advocacy campaign.  I truly do appreciate your help!

As always, feel free to text/call/email if you have any questions!

-TGD

--
T. Greg Doucette
President, UNC Association of Student Governments (37th & 38th Sessions)
Member Ex Officio, University of North Carolina Board of Governors
Senate President Emeritus, NC State University (87th & 88th Sessions)

127 W Hargett Street  Suite 300
Raleigh, NC  27601
Phone (O): 919.715.2431
Phone (C): 919.606.7158
Fax: 919.715.2434
Email: greg.doucette at gmail.com

http://www.iwantmydollarback.org/
http://www.uncasg.org/
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