Tan Tran
The Tuition Review Advisory Committee held its second meeting Monday to continue discussion regarding the increase of student tuition for the 2009 to 2010 school year.
Discussion in Monday’s meeting centered on how the University uses Campus Initiated Tuition Increases (CITI) to improve the overall status of the institution and what impact the N.C. state budget cuts have on the University.
Student Body President Jay Dawkins, a junior in civil engineering, said the job of the committee in finding an appropriate increase in student tuition is a balancing act.
“The University will always need increasing amounts of money as it grows and becomes more competitive amongst its peers,” Dawkins said. “But we have to remember what our students can afford. This committee has a really difficult task.”
Provost Larry Nielsen said budget cuts handed down by the state make a 6.5 percent increase in student fees necessary for the continued improvement of faculty salaries, financial aid benefits and the overall goal of the University to continue expansion.
Faculty members questioned how long the University could sustain growth while still dealing with the budget cuts that administration, faculty and students have no control over.
Donn Ward, professor and department head in food, bioprocessing and nutrition science, said eventually, the cuts to the budget will have a noticeable impact on the success of the University as a whole.
“The University has taken a series of budget cuts this year and we’ve taken them for the last number of years,” he said. “These cuts do nothing but nibble at the foundation of the University.”
Ward said he wanted to make sure the commmittee thought about how best to use funds available from an increase in student tuition.
“I just want to make sure that while we’re looking at new opportunities that we don’t overlook where these cuts are hurting us,” he said. “We have to decide if we should use the CITI money to continue the expansion of the University or use it to offset the effect of the budget cuts.”
Faculty Senate Chair Jim Martin, a chemistry professor, said budget cuts make it difficult for faculty to continue to give students the education he said they deserve as students of a public institution.
“Most departments and deans probably feel like they have been cut to the bone,” he said. “Sadly, over the last several years, we are not covering the cost of education. We have been trying to run this institution for less than the cost of the institution.”
Martin also said the N.C. legislature has a huge challenge in providing quality education to students because of the number of students and the struggling economy.
“The legislature has been overwhelmed with educating the number of people we have to educate in this state,” he said. “This is a huge challenge.”
For Dawkins, tuition increases are necessary for the improvement of the University and something students need to think about more broadly.
“Students need to remember that these tuition increases go directly back to students,” he said. “We’ll do our best to keep the cost low for students and then find a way to allocate the funds in the best way possible.”
While the committee did not determine the percentage of the tuition increase for the 2009 to 2010 school year, meetings later in the month will determine the amount of the increase and its allocation.
Martin said investments in education are something which can improve the University and its success in the future.
“Every dollar we spend on education is an investment in tomorrow,” he said. “It’s an investment in the future.”