CHAPEL HILL – Legislative leaders and Gov. Roy Cooper think they’re scoring political points in their standoff over the 2019-21 state budget, which still hasn’t been adopted more than six months into the fiscal year.

But as the governor and the legislature feud over Medicaid expansion and K-12 teacher pay, more than 240,000 students at our state universities are trying to get an education right now.

“Please don’t make this system collateral damage in this year’s political standoff,” Interim UNC System President Bill Roper said last week as university officials described the implications for our public universities.

“The lack of a state budget for the current fiscal year is a source of great frustration, real disappointment and deep concern that this will hurt our institutions, our faculty, our students and the communities we serve,” Roper said.

Without a state budget, Roper and UNC Board of Governors Chair Randy Ramsey said:

• Universities will not receive funds to provide for additional students, despite record enrollment this year.¹ This is particularly pronounced at Western Carolina University, UNC Pembroke and Elizabeth City State University, which depend on additional state funds to offer in-state tuition of $500 a semester under the NC Promise program.

• More than $630 million in capital projects and $130 million in repairs and renovations won’t proceed. These include a $215 million replacement for the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, replacement of a 1920s-era steam plant at Western Carolina, a new STEM building at NC State, renovation of Jackson Library at UNC Greensboro, a new health sciences building at UNC Pembroke and a new library and state crime lab at Elizabeth City State.

• University faculty and staff will not receive raises. “Which means our institutions will be much less competitive when it comes to retaining and hiring the best talent,” said Roper.

“People have long said how much they support this system, and I ask you, please spare us the platitudes. Just get the budget done,” he said.

The UNC System has no reserve to cover what the state budget would have funded, Roper added. After legislators again failed to adopt a budget when they reconvened briefly last week, he said, “It looks like it’s April at the earliest – if ever.”

David Green, a law professor at NC Central University and Chair of the UNC System Faculty Assembly, pointed out in a recent op-ed that UNC campuses are losing key instructors due to stagnant state pay.

“Unfortunately, North Carolina is falling behind other public and private universities in investing in its human capital: faculty and staff,” Green wrote.

“UNC institutions have lost star faculty to other states, taking their teaching skills, research, and grant funding with them, often due to lack of meaningful salary raises.”²

Roper said that as university officials shape their budget requests for 2020-21, “In particular we want to frame a more persuasive ask regarding compensation for our faculty and staff colleagues.”

But as state universities attempt to educate a record number of students at 2018-19 funding levels, “This is going to hurt the UNC System,” said Ramsey. “It’s going to hurt our institutions. It’s going to hurt our faculty. And above all, it’s going to hurt our students.”

All of which led Rep. John Fraley, R-Iredell, an education supporter who is not seeking re-election this year, to a grim conclusion as he sat in on a committee discussion of the budget.

“There are too many things that need to be dealt with,” Fraley said. “My only comment is that we all ought to be embarrassed.”³

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¹ https://www.northcarolina.edu/news/2019/09/second-year-record-enrollment. 
² https://www.wral.com/david-green-failure-to-fully-fund-has-n-c-universities-falling-behind/18879760/.
³ https://www.carolinajournal.com/news-article/unc-system-leaders-grim-after-legislature-fails-to-pass-budget/.