The change the UNC system needs

The UNC Board of Governors said it wanted a “change agent” to replace current President Thomas Ross, but it never went on record explaining what that meant. Unfortunately, the actions and policies abetted by the legislature and promulgated by the board over the last half-decade might mislead UNC president candidates about the changes UNC needs.

Those changes would make the university a place where even the least fortunate can develop their talents, where commitment and sacrifice do not defer to privilege, where entrenched interests cannot imperiously thwart innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit, and where ambitions for civic greatness prevail over self-serving apprehensions.

For far too long, access to higher education has unfairly privileged a fortunate few. This irresponsible squandering of talent is stunning: American institutions of higher education have been admitting and graduating the most talented students from low-income groups at a rate that is hardly better than that of the least prepared students from high-income groups.

In North Carolina, board policies require admissions measures that are poor predictors of student success and also discriminate against students from underprivileged backgrounds. Time-to-degree requirements are outdated and rigid, making it more difficult for working – typically less privileged – students to maintain timely academic progress. Tuition surcharges and stiff limits on completion fall hard on students who may need more time to finish degrees.

Those who understand the value and importance of social mobility and meritorious achievement know that limiting access is wrong, and the next president of the university should, too.

Make it affordable

Affordability reform across the country is moving toward free tuition and significant financial aid so every deserving student can attend college, but here in North Carolina legislators and governing authorities have done little to enable those with limited resources to pay for their educations.

State support has been squeezed, tuition has been on the increase, financial aid has been cut and the Board of Governors blocked the use of tuition dollars to recruit and support promising students. What’s more, North Carolina taxes – which pay for public education – fall more heavily on low-income groups who contribute a higher percentage of their earnings to support the public good than those from high-income groups.

When the founders of the university instructed that the cost of public higher education should be as “free of expense” as was “practicable,” they certainly did not intend for policymakers to require those of lesser means to subsidize the education of the more fortunate.

That is unfair by any definition and an inequitable burden against which the leadership of the university must stand.

Intellectual innovation and creativity are the lifeblood of civic greatness and economic dynamism. That is why American colleges and universities have historically defended their missions of teaching, learning, research and service from interference by entrenched political and economic interests. American college graduates are innovative “job makers.”

not ‘job takers’

In North Carolina, politicians would have the university train students to be nothing more than “job takers,” and they would shut down teaching, research and service that challenge ossified political hierarchies and obdurate special interests.

If the price of freedom and prosperity is the occasional discomfort of those who fear the energy of discovery and invention, most North Carolinians will demand that their universities put the public good before the private interests of an imperious few.

The University of North Carolina is an investment in the public good that over the years has provided an enormous return to the people of this state. No one should be misled by bloated rhetoric decrying the “expense” of higher education to taxpayers.

The only taxpayers burdened by greater access and affordability are the few who gain by excluding others with talent and being subsidized by those of lesser means. The only taxpayers who would be burdened by innovation and entrepreneurship are those who want to protect themselves from competing in the marketplaces of ideas, services and goods. And the only taxpayers who would oblige a miserly mismanagement of investment in an essential public good are the few who put their own interests before those of the people of this state.

Access, affordability, innovation and the advancement of this great legacy we have inherited from our predecessors are the values North Carolinians should expect the UNC president to promote. And if the UNC Board of Governors has difficulty articulating the right change for UNC, perhaps the new president will exercise the thoughtful independence and unyielding commitment this great university needs and the people of this state deserve.

This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 4:54 PM with the headline "The change the UNC system needs."