Systems breakdowns

by Tom Campbell, Producer and Moderator, NC SPIN, September 14, 2017.

Founding UNC President Bill Friday was fond of boasting that our universities were the “crown jewels” of our state. Friday welcomed the restructuring of all public universities into a consolidated system in the 1970s, but he disagreed with the 32-member Board of Governors, politically appointed policymaking structure forced on him by the late Governor Bob Scott and the legislature. To his death Friday insisted it was not the most beneficial way to govern higher education.

Through the intervening years we’ve seen instances where this governance structure wasn’t ideal, but two glaring examples prove Friday was right. The first was the sudden firing of former system President Tom Ross for no other apparent reason than politics. The second was last week’s Board of Governors’ meeting which looked more like a revolt than a sophisticated governing board meeting. Unbeknownst to many BOG members, four far-reaching resolutions were proposed that could have significant effects. One would “endeavor to reduce tuition and fees at all our member institutions while preserving and enhancing the quality of education provided.” No one can question that university costs are high and need lowering, but thoughtful steps to achieve the goal didn’t accompany this resolution.

Before adjourning, the BOG further resolved to create special committees to review the size and scope of the General Administration staff, reorganize the board meetings and even study the possibility of moving the headquarters for the system from Chapel Hill to perhaps RTP or Raleigh, so as to avoid the perceived bias toward UNC Chapel Hill. All were passed without the prior knowledge of or input from UNC President Margaret Spellings and appeared to challenge her leadership. Board member Joe Knott said afterward, “It would seem that we are blurring the lines between policy and management, and I think this is a long term recipe for chaos. We are not equipped to run this institution.”

Can this governance structure be improved? Of course it can. It should begin with a better process for selecting Board of Governors members than just being able to get sufficient numbers of votes from one house or the other of our legislature. The ideal would be to have varied disciplines and sectors represented, people with valuable experiences and diverse backgrounds that could help guide these important institutions. And yes, the organization, scope of authority, procedures and processes of this board bear scrutiny. Studying the General Administration staffing, functions and effectiveness could also be valuable. It’s been a long time, if ever, that such an evaluation has been conducted.

Our universities aren’t the only systems in need of restructuring. This year we’ve witnessed yet another court challenge to the governance of our public schools. It appears a constitutional change is needed to clear up specific roles and responsibilities between a constitutionally mandated, publicly elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction, a board appointed by the Governor, and frequent input by the legislature.

While at it, our community college system, itself a somewhat bulky and complicated governing process, also deserves study and perhaps reform.

If we truly want our education systems to work at peak efficiency we must first structure them properly to succeed. We don’t need the distractions and disruptions of constant in fighting and political interference that hurt the students, educators and the public of North Carolina.