Race Preferences in Disguise?

A controversial program designed to bring “social equity” to the college admissions process may soon be implemented at colleges and universities nationwide. Questions remain, however, over whether the program contains race-preferential policies. The new program is called “Strivers” and was developed by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), which devises the SAT, as a way to account for background factors of prospective college students.



Study Urges UNC to Slow Down on Bond

The Pope Center for Higher Education Policy this week released a Spotlight showing why the UNC system should not rely on bonds to finance the UNC system’s construction costs and highlighting better ways to address construction needs. The report poses questions that it says all citizens and legislators should ask before giving approval to the legislation: Can’t the necessary capital dollars come from existing growth in funding?


UNC Sets Sights on New Funding Sources

The UNC Board of Governer’s meeting on May 14 led to the approval of two financial “tools” that could change the way that UNC pays back construction bonds, according to Associated Press reports. The tools are included in two legislative bills that should reach the General Assembly within weeks.


Will UNC Ever Take Privatization Seriously?

A new study by the Pope Center for Higher Education Policy finds that the UNC system uses criteria that inhibit its ability to contract out various services. These criteria, known as “outsourcing criteria/guidelines,” apply to all UNC-system schools and were recently part of the Outsourcing Steering Committee’s decision not to privatize residential housekeeping services at UNC-Chapel Hill. These criteria also guided the university’s decision not to privatize various other services at UNC-CH, including heating, ventilating and air conditioning, ground maintenance and vehicle maintenance.


Public Acceptance of Lying Extends to the Triangle

According to the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative organization based in Washington D.C., public acceptance of lying in academe has increased in recent years. The May-June issue of AEI’s magazine, The American Enterprise, includes several articles that blame postmodern scholarship on this recent trend.


Report Discourages Privatization of Housekeeping at UNC-CH

According to a report by Roesel, Kent and Associates of Marietta, Ga., privatization of residence hall housekeeping at UNC-CH would not save money and would, infact, cost the university an additional $59,620. To arrive at that figure, RKA & Associates compared in-house and contracting out cost over a five year period.