Cooper: University boards should reflect North Carolina

Governing boards of North Carolina’s public universities should reflect the state’s diversity of race, geography, gender and political thought, Gov. Roy Cooper told a commission yesterday that he appointed to study governance of the UNC System.

“We have a university leadership that doesn’t come close to reflecting that – and particularly our political diversity,” Cooper told members of the Commission on the Governance of Public Universities in North Carolina at its first meeting.

The governor said he wants to be sure the University System can weather “any political storm that may be blowing, red or blue.”

While the commission has eight Democrats and six Republicans and is both geographically and demographically diverse, “We know there are signs of trouble when all the members (of the UNC Board of Governors and campus Boards of Trustees) are appointed by too few,” Cooper said. “Signs of intolerance, bureaucratic meddling, undue influence, and singularity of political thought.”

Women account for 59% of the students at UNC campuses, yet they make up fewer than one-quarter of members of the 25-member UNC Board of Governors and fewer than one-third of campus trustees, Chris Marsicano, an Assistant Professor of Education Studies at Davidson College, told the commission. 

“Women are greatly underrepresented at the Board of Governors level and at the Board of Trustees level,” he said. 

And even though there are nearly 1 million Hispanics in North Carolina – 10% of its population¹ – there are only two Hispanic trustees across the entire UNC System – and only one has voting authority, Marsicano said. 

Black residents make up 23% of the state’s population, but only 21% of enrolled students and 16% of Board of Governors members, he said.

And while Democratic, Republican and Unaffiliated voters each account for roughly one-third of North Carolina’s electorate, the 25-member BOG includes 16 registered Republicans (64%) and just one Democrat (4%). The remaining members are registered as unaffiliated voters.

Neither House Majority Leader John Bell nor state Sen. Gladys Robinson – both members of the commission – attended its first meeting. The commission plans to hold hearings across the state in coming months as it forms recommendations to improve system governance.

SELECTION PROCESS

All members of the UNC Board of Governors are appointed by the NC General Assembly. Republican legislators also stripped the governor’s office of its power to appoint four of the 13 trustees at each of the System’s 17 campuses after Cooper, a Democrat, was elected in 2016.

Dr. Kevin Reilly of AGB Consulting, the former President of the University of Wisconsin System, told commission members that in a survey of 25 state university systems, 22 of those systems’ boards were appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate.

North Carolina was the only system surveyed whose board members are appointed strictly by the legislature.²

“You’re very much an outlier when it comes to other states,” Reilly said.

He noted that Kentucky law requires the governor to appoint members to the Kentucky Commission on Post-Secondary Education proportionate to voter registration with the two leading political parties.

Commission member Lou Bissette, a former chair of the BOG, asked whether other states ban lobbyists on university boards – a common criticism of the Board of Governors’ composition.

Bissette, a former mayor of Asheville, also said the board has too many members from the Triangle.

“I think geographic representation is important, and I think we’re losing that in our university,” he said.

IT’S A LONG WAY, FIDUCIARY

Commission members also discussed just whom board members represent.

Bissette recalled how one unnamed BOG member announced at his first meeting that he was there to represent the state legislature.

“When you go onto this board, you don’t represent the person or entity that appointed you – your fiduciary duty is to the institution,” Bissette said.

Commission Co-Chair and former UNC System President Tom Ross said board members might have more political independence if their terms were lengthened. While some states have 8-year terms, Board of Governors terms are for four years.

He never used the term ‘micromanage,’ but James Lyons of AGB Consulting, the former president at three universities, discussed the proper role for university trustees.

“Respect the differences between the board’s role and the administration’s role,” Lyons said.

“Focus on what matters most to the long-term sustainability,” he said – not who should be the law school dean.

When Commission Co-Chair and former UNC System President Margaret Spellings asked how to balance institutional support with vigilant oversight, Reilly offered a compromise view.

“Trustees need to think of themselves as ‘loving critics,’” he said.

INITIAL THOUGHTS?

Commission member Dr. Nicole Dobbins, an Associate Professor of Special Education at N.C. A&T State University, surprised the co-chairs by asking them about their initial thoughts when Cooper asked them to lead the commission.

Spellings said the UNC System needs to avoid damage to its nationwide reputation due to poor governance.

“This institution is a huge competitive advantage to this state,” she said.

Ross said he had a close relationship with Bill Friday, who led the UNC System for 30 years, and had tremendous respect for how Friday navigated state politics. 

“There are certain things that once we get through the election, ought not be political,” Ross said. “That’s how I’ve always viewed the University.”

¹ https://www.higheredworks.org/2021/10/latinxed-freedom-to-create-a-better-future/. 
² https://governor.nc.gov/media/3518/open, Slide 6.