Safety is the priority of UNC system budget

Two-year plan calls for $3 billion

CHAPEL HILL -- A scaled-back budget request from the UNC system would put 33 more police officers and 40 more mental health counselors on public university campuses across the state next year.

Campus safety is the top priority of a two-year budget request the UNC system's governing board will likely approve today. UNC system officials say their $3 billion spending plan -- including new funds of about $168 million -- is an acknowledgement of the state's ongoing economic struggles.

The university system's spending plan will ask for more than $13 million to continue a series of safety measures that began last year in the wake of the shootings at Virginia Tech that left more than 30 people dead.

Along with the additional officers and health counselors, campuses are being trained in threat assessment and are installing high-tech emergency notification systems with sirens, surveillance cameras and emergency communications systems.

"I believe this budget is a very lean and focused and prioritized budget," said Rob Nelson, the UNC system's vice president for finance. "It's the lowest percentage increase that we've had in over 20 years."

If approved today, the budget will be submitted to the state legislature when it convenes next year. Last year, the university asked for 11.6 percent more money than it received the prior year. This year, it asks for 5.8 percent more.

"This is a reasonable request, but we may not get a penny of it," said UNC system President Erskine Bowles. "We have to explain to the General Assembly what our needs are."

Some other high priorities:

* $23 million next year for need-based financial aid.

* $66 million to recruit and retain faculty.

* $2.6 million for global readiness programs.

* $1 million for university outreach, like a one-stop higher education center at Fayetteville State University to recruit members of the military.

* $10 million to hire faculty to work at the N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis, a new public-private venture involving several public universities.

* $16 million for health issues, such as planning funds for medical school expansions at East Carolina and UNC-Chapel HIll, and a new Area Health Education Center at Elizabeth City State University.

The university wants to give 2 percent merit raises to employees and an additional 1 percent for faculty members.

With North Carolina's economy still struggling, university leaders created the spending plan at the same time that they plotted ways to cut 5 percent from their current operating budget.

UNC leaders have encouraged campuses to avoid cuts to classroom instruction as much as possible by looking first at delaying equipment purchases, nixing travel, and keeping open positions vacant as long as possible.

On campuses, department heads have long relied on vacant positions for savings. A good example: the state's last economic downturn came several years ago in the years following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

In 2003-04, the UNC system faced permanent cuts of 3 percent, leading to the elimination of 378 jobs across the state.