UNC’s Federal ‘Overhead’ Left Untouched — For Now

Last year, 15 universities comprising the University of North Carolina system (excluding the N.C. School of the Arts) received $123.6 million in what are known as “overhead receipts” from federal research grants. That money, which the UNC system prefers to call “facilities and administrative receipts,” is money given on top of the actual grant amount that is intended to defray the administrative and institutional costs in conducting the actual research.


The latest dip in the roller-coaster ride of N.C. State’s library improvements

Hours and services will be restored to D.H. Hill Library on the campus of North Carolina State University, school officials have announced. Public pressure, student activism, work between library officials and the provost’s office, and the state legislature’s joint conference committee budget report all contributed to a restoration of library services, which will be effective Oct. 16.




UNC-TV Needs $65 Million

On Wednesday, less than ten hours before UNC-TV aired a documentary showcasing UNC’s facilities needs, UNC-TV director and general manager Tom Howe told the Joint Select Committee on Higher Education Facilities Needs that UNC-TV needs $65 million in state money to meet a federal mandate.


Community Colleges Need More Funds, Consultant Says / College Seniors “Don’t Know Much About History”

N.C. Community Colleges will need upward of $1.2 billion for capital expansion if they are to meet projected enrollment growth for 2000-2005, according to Kent Caruthers, a consultant with MGT of America, Inc. in Tallahassee, FL. The recommendation is part of a preliminary report on the North Carolina Community College System’s (NCCCS) funding needs that was presented to Board members last week. Since 1996, MGT has worked with Community College officials to assess the needs of NCCCS and consider ways to approach the General Assembly in asking for more funds.


Spending Priorities of UNC-CH Hard to Pin Down

At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, “high priority” projects and “emergency” needs apparently mean two different things. Even as buildings “crumble” and outdated labs go unrenovated — those things deemed “emergency” needs for UNC-CH under a $3 billion bond proposal to the General Assembly last July — UNC-CH announced last week that it will use $28.6 million in unrestricted grants (a gift from 1949 UNC-CH graduate David B. Clayton) to fund “high priority” projects. These projects differ drastically from the school’s “emergency” needs as outlined under the $3 billion bond proposal. And, in fact, none of the grant money will be used to fund such “emergency” needs.


Study Predicts Shortfall for UNC

North Carolina is one of 39 states likely to face a shortfall in higher education spending in the next several years, according to a new report by Harold A. Hovey, a state budget and tax expert with the California-based National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.