THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 12, 1995 TAG: 9502120071
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUCK LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
State university system officials called for better communication with the General Assembly and proposed another look at term lengths for governing board members in a meeting with two Albemarle legislators on Saturday.
The 32-member University of North Carolina board of governors raised the issues during a wide-ranging, two-hour discussion with state Senate leader Marc Basnight of Manteo and Rep. W.C. ``Bill'' Owens Jr. of Elizabeth City.
The session, whose topics ranged from prison building to public education, concluded a four-day retreat for the panel at the Sanderling Inn.
``You are our banker,'' UNC system President C.D. Spangler told the lawmakers. Not only is it important for the system to keep the General Assembly informed, ``it is the only way that we can be successful.''
But Spangler and several board members said they were often flooded with requests for information from individual General Assembly members and asked if mandated studies could be filtered through the legislative leadership. Board member Ellen S. Newbold of Rose Hill added that university officials received no feedback on information they did send.
Basnight and Owens both were receptive to improving lines of communication between the board and the legislature.
The issue of relations between the two panels had been raised frequently during the retreat and grew in sensitivity Friday when a handful of board members were criticized for meeting with some legislators in a violation of board policy.
The meeting, whose participants included Basnight, board Chairman W. Travis Porter of Durham and a group a university-based scientists, focused on proposals for creating coastal marine research centers. Board policy prohibits board members from directly lobbying legislators.
Another sensitive issue addressed Saturday was some board members' dissatisfaction with term lengths, which were reduced about five years ago from eight years to four years. Board members are named by the General Assembly, and half are up for re-appointment this year.
Board member and former state Sen. Helen R. Marvin of Gastonia said the shorter term creates too much turnover at one time and will reduce the amount of experience on the board.
``It is a real concern . . . for the efficiency and productivity of this board,'' Marvin said. Spangler, not subject to the terms, was among those who agreed.
Proponents of changing term lengths suggested six-year terms.
``I don't trouble myself so much with the four-year term,'' Basnight responded. ``I believe that you can find opportunity in new blood.''
But Basnight did say he would work with the board if it developed a unified proposal for changing the terms.
Responding to questions from board members, Basnight expounded on the tax and budget cuts the state will face in the coming years.
``Finding resources in the future is going to be a little more difficult,'' Basnight warned early in the meeting. ``We're going to see a short-term effect on the monies that will be available this year. . . . Your budget will be reviewed like everybody else's budget.
``We might lean a little bit more on tuition this year than we have in the past.''
University officials and both legislators said they found the meeting useful, and Basnight pledged afterward to ``continue our dialogue.''
Always a vocal proponent of the state's northeast, Basnight thanked board members for meeting in the remote setting of the Outer Banks.
``We all have to be one as a whole, and the state can't be unless you come to places like this,'' Basnight said. by CNB