Board of Governors meeting covers tuition increase, Bowles announces retirement

At the Board of Governors meeting Friday the Board unanimously approved a tuition increase plan that will average out to a 5.2 percent tuition increase across the system, on the assurance that the money will benefit the campuses.

The Board’s tuition plan was created to replace the plan drafted by the North Carolina General Assembly to raise tuition by $200 or 8 percent, whichever is lower.

The General Assembly’s plan would keep the money in the state’s general fund. The plan, which was approved Friday, heads to the legislature to be debated in May.

The make-up of the Board’s plan includes financial aid receiving 50 percent of the revenue, 25 percent to graduation and the remaining 25 percent to other “critical needs.”

According to the Board, their plan aligns with the recommendations of individual campuses but at this point they have not had any indication from the Assembly whether or not their plan will replace the Assembly’s plan.

Also during the course of the meeting, Erskine Bowles announced his retirement. Bowles, who has been president of the UNC System since 2006 will remain at his position until the end of the school year, after which he will return to Washington to serve on President Obama’s newly formed National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

The commission, which will be officially released Thursday, will allow both parties to attain a “long-term deficit reduction” according to a White House official. Bowles did not mention his appointment to the committee at the meeting.

Bowles is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and Columbia University and has worked for companies such as Morgan Stanley and was White House Chief of Staff under former president Bill Clinton from 1996 to 1998. Bowles ran as a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate twice, unsuccessfully in both attempts.

To find his replacement, the Board will appoint a search committee in the next few weeks.