THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 23, 1995 TAG: 9509230239
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY DENNIS PATTERSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CHAPEL HILL LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Trustees at UNC-Chapel Hill approved a $400 tuition increase for all students Friday, promising increased salaries for some faculty and more financial aid for students.
The legislature this year gave trustees of North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill the option to raise their tuition. It is the first time lawmakers have given trustees such authority.
``We feel this is a unique opportunity to pursue further excellence for our university, as it is our responsibility to do everything possible to enable our university to be in the Top 10 near-term and No. 1 long-term,'' said trustee Annette Wood.
The trustees first rejected a motion by UNC student body president Calvin Cunningham to delay consideration of the tuition increase until after Congress votes on proposed cuts to student financial aid.
``I think the students of this university have said unequivocally to this board and to me that they want a delay on this action,'' Cunningham said. ``There are a lot of questions on this campus about what this means.''
But trustee Walter Davis, who said he was one of the ``motivators'' for the legislative provision, argued the trustees must approve the increases now.
``This didn't come easy in the legislature,'' Davis said. ``It took five years of work with both Republicans and Democrats.''
Davis said he pushed the tuition increase because he was concerned that UNC-Chapel Hill was declining in quality ``and nobody was doing anything about it.''
``Nobody was lobbying for Chapel Hill,'' Davis said. Supporters of the university ``had been encouraged not to.''
``If I've done anything for this university, it's that $400,'' said Davis, an oil company executive and donor to the university.
D.G. Martin, a lobbyist for the 16-campus UNC system, said he did not believe Davis was criticizing his work at the legislature.
``I think (UNC system president C.D. Spangler) and the Board of Governors have done as best they can for all the campuses of the university,'' Martin said. ``And the board and the president have always felt strongly about the Chapel Hill campus and its importance to the entire UNC system and the state as a whole.''
Davis has frequently been at odds with Spangler and UNC system officials. Spangler had urged trustees not to approve the increase.
Forty-five percent of the tuition increase will be used for student financial aid, said trustee Annette Wood. Another 45 percent will be used to increase faculty salaries on a merit system. Ten percent will be used for libraries.
After his motion to delay action was defeated, Cunningham voted for the tuition increase. He said he hoped students would trust his judgment that it was good for the university.
Under the plan, all students would pay $400 a year more tuition beginning in the fall of 1996. Graduate students in the law school would pay an additional $600 that year. Graduate students in the pharmacy program would pay an additional $2,600. Graduate business students face a $1,300 tuition increase for 1996-97 and another $1,300 for 1997-98. by CNB