After weeks of debate and discussion, the N.C. General Assembly is moving forward with a version of a $19 billion budget that could have far-reaching implications for N.C. State and the UNC System.
Lawmakers from the House and Senate have been struggling for the past few weeks to reach a compromise on several issues, like capital projects, employee salaries and enrollment increases, that caused a rift in the two budgets.
According to Andy Willis, assistant to the chancellor for external affairs, one of the big hang-ups was the “two different philosophies” the legislative bodies hold.
For example, one of the University’s priorities for this year’s budget was the complete funding of the $61 million Engineering Building III Complex on Centennial Campus. Willis said the Senate chose to completely fund five or six capital projects, like this one. The House, however, chose to distribute the same amount of funding over more campuses and on a continual basis.
“It’s like spreading the wealth,” Willis said.
This would mean that campuses looking to fund their buildings, like NCSU and EBIII, would need to return to the legislature to seek funding. It’s a philosophy Willis said may cost the state more in the long run, especially considering rising building costs.
“It may cost more with the House’s philosophy,” he said. “It could be $75 million next year.”
As Willis points out, legislators often view investments in engineering as an automatic investment in the state’s economic development. Sen. Janet Cowell, a freshman senator representing Wake County, said she agrees.
“We are dramatically falling behind on science and technology compared to other countries,” Cowell said. “N.C. State is a campus where a $61 million investment will be strong in anchoring the state and [it will be] really putting our money where our mouth is.”
Willis said the General Assembly’s budget means great things for NCSU, especially since it’s the first time in years there is no reduction in the budget for the UNC System.
But for employees like chemistry professor Jim Martin, there’s something even better in this budget. Willis said lawmakers have now tentatively approved the largest increase in salaries for employees in 10 years — a 6 percent increase in faculty salaries and a 5.5 percent increase for staff salaries.
It’s a welcome sight to University employees like Martin, who said the increase was a “step in the right direction.”
“Pay is not something we’ve been able to do very well at,” Martin, who also serves as chair-elect of the Faculty Senate, said.
He said he was excited to see the General Assembly make a concerted effort to invest in education, but pointed out that there’s still a long way to go.
One of the areas that needs improvement, he said, was the philosophy of the $5 million in extra funding the General Assembly allocated to aid in the retention of faculty members who receive counter offers from other universities. Paid to the UNC Board of Governors, Willis said he estimates about 80 percent of this funding will go towards incentive packages for professors from UNC-Chapel Hill and NCSU thinking of accepting better offers.
It’s a mentality Martin calls “reactive planning.”
“I’ve been told that the way to advance myself is to go out and get another offer,” Martin said. “It’s really not hard for another University to hire away a professor — that’s the world we live in.”
Martin said the phenomenon is not an isolated incident either.
In 2000 there were 41 tenure-track faculty members in the chemistry department, according to Martin. Although some of these vacancies are due to retirement, he said now there are only 25.
Although the General Assembly didn’t give the go-ahead to everything on the University’s wishlist, like funding for a new library on Centennial Campus, they approved other priorities like the incorporation of enrollment funding in the coninuation budget. This means the UNC System will no longer have to ask for increased funding for its ever-expanding ranks of students every year.
All in all, Willis said he was happy with this year’s budget and said that with the help of politically connected Board of Trustees members, University officials were able to effectively communicate many of their wants and needs.
But this kind of treatment isn’t around every year, he said.
“It ebbs and flows — the next year might not be ours. You have to take advantage of things when the time is right,” Willis said. “We’re thinking big, we’re thinking strategically.”
Both parts of the General Assembly gave preliminary approval to the budget bill Wednesday, with the House voting 82-35 and the Senate voting 32-16. Willis said he expects the two bodies to approve the bill in a second vote today before it moves to Governor Mike Easley for final approval.