- Mr.

Chair, you may begin.

- Thank you very much, Ms. McCullen.

Welcome everyone, good afternoon.

Thank you for joining us virtually today.

We've had a very busy morning of committee meetings, and I feel certain, or I hope, that we'll move through today's agenda fairly quickly in respect for your time.

Meeting by way of Zoom gives me pretty bad flashbacks years ago.

So if I had known it was gonna gimme this sort of memories, I might have decided we all need to go to Raleigh, but anyway, here we are now.

Before I call on Governor Sloan for the invocation, I'd like to ask us to observe a moment of silence to remember those lives lost in ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Europe.

[no audio] Thank you very much.

Governor Sloan, could I call on you for the invocation, please?

- [Governor Sloan] Thank you, Chair Ramsey.

If we all could bow our heads, please.

God of heaven and earth, author of all truths, creator of this beautiful day, we pause to thank you for who you are and for the very high privileges serving you in the place that you put us.

Thank you for the transformative role higher education has played in each of our lives as we seek the same experience for over 200,000 students on our campuses.

May we embrace our calling with wisdom, with integrity, and with purpose.

For our faculty, we pray for wisdom and insight as they teach and mentor.

For our administrators, vision and understanding, as they lead our institutions, and for our staff, strength and purpose, as they deal with the day-to-day operations of our campuses.

This we pray to the one who never lets go, whose mercy never ends, whose strength is always available, whose presence is our courage, whose joy transform our sorrow, and whose peace calms our hearts?

In Christ's name, we pray, amen.

- [Governor] Amen.

[indistinct] - Appreciate you doing that.

I will say [voice cutting out] get into this agenda at all, it's always of a bit challenge seeing people on Zoom.

If you want me to recognize you throughout the day, you can try to text me, and I'll look for that, or put it in the comments over here.

I will be trying to monitor those as well, so I appreciate your patience with me.

I now ask Ms. McCullen to call the roll.

- Chair Ramsey.

- Present.

- Vice Chair Murphy.

- Here.

- Secretary Burris-Floyd.

- Here.

- Dr. Barnes.

- Here.

- Mrs. Blue.

- Here.

- Mr. Bradley.

- Here.

- Mr. Brown.

- Present.

- Mr. Byers.

- Here.

- Mr. Chatterjee.

- Present.

- Mr. Clark.

- Here.

- Mrs. Coward.

- Here.

- Mr. Davis.

- Here.

- Mr. Ford.

- Present.

- Mr. Fraley.

- Here.

- Ms. Gordillarivas.

- Here.

- Mr. Holley.

- Good afternoon.

- Good afternoon.

Mr. Holton.

- Here.

- Mr. Hutchens.

- Here.

- Mr. Mitchell.

- Here.

- Ms. Nichols.

- Good afternoon.

- Mr. Pope.

- Present.

- Mr. Roberts.

- Here.

- Mr. Sloan.

- Present.

- Mr. White.

- Present.

- Mr. Williford.

- Here.

- Mr.

Chair, you have a quorum.

- Thank you, Ms. McCullen.

[voice cutting out] Effect on January 1st, 2007, under the voting members of the Board of Governors are covered by this act.

Under the act, we have a duty to avoid conflicts of interest and appearances of conflicts.

Looking at today's agenda, does anyone know of a conflict of interest or interests that would give rise to appearance of a conflict of interest?

If so, please let me know now.

Hearing none, we'll move right on.

Again, thank you everybody for, for meeting with us today.

Obviously, we have had a lot of work that's gone on already this mornin', and we will continue that throughout the next bit.

Those of you who are on Zoom, if you will keep your microphones muted, it might help others be able to hear, and we certainly will address you or recognize you if you need to be.

As a reminder, our next board meeting will be held November 15th and 16th at UNC Greensboro.

I saw Chancellor Gilliam earlier on here, and I sure hope they're ready for us, because we're kind of a rowdy bunch.

In all seriousness, we're very excited to visit our Spartan family and experience the great work bein' done on UNCG's campus, and I know that everyone will have a great time there.

Another important note I wanna make mention on is on Tuesday, November 14th, we'll hold our Board of Trustees workshop at UNC Greensboro.

This event is a great opportunity to meet with Board of Trustee colleagues and learn more about how they serve our institutions.

Personally, I look forward to participating in this event, and I hope that we'll get a great showing of our Board of Governor members as well.

As you all are well aware, North Carolina has enacted a budget that makes historic investments in the UNC System.

President Hans, I know you're gonna talk about the specifics, so I won't steal your thunder, but I can't underscore enough how much public support like this helps the UNC System live out our mission of education, research, and public service.

In a time when college affordability is the top issue for students at our universities, we've held resident tuition flat for seven years, and we're pushing to do that for an eighth year.

That restraint means that North Carolinians are graduating with less debt now than they did before the pandemic.

Accomplishments like this require vision, but they also require action.

And the financial support of our state lawmakers is what allows us to act on our constitutional commitment to provide affordable higher education to all North Carolinians.

Our universities are opening doors for anyone who wants to take an opportunity to build a better life.

It's a privilege and a responsibility, and one that we should all take very seriously.

I wanna personally thank Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore and all of our lawmakers.

We'll continue to steward these resources for the good of our students and their families.

I appreciate you being patient with my remarks.

I would now call on President Hans for his remarks in open session.

- Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would like to take just a few moments to celebrate that remarkable level of public investment in the budget passed by state lawmakers last month.

Wasn't quite ready when we were last together, but now you can see many green check marks on the board's legislative priorities and UNC System initiatives.

Now that list is long.

Faculty retirement incentive, the performance weighted enrollment change, cybersecurity, distinguished professorships, faculty recruitment and retention, support for athletic departments, and numerous campus-specific requests, vetted by the board are just a few of the highlights.

Chair Ramsey and I spoke at length in May about our efforts to pair ECU Health and UNC Health in a focused collaboration to improve rural care in North Carolina.

$420 million will be invested in that project.

Additionally, and relatedly, the legislature set aside $320 million for a new children's hospital with an emphasis on behavioral health, along with funds for rural residencies, nursing salaries, and healthcare workforce program expansions.

So much more to follow on this fund soon.

Budget will allow our campuses to continue a golden era of campus modernization and renovation that we started two years ago.

As you can see from our history of capital funding, we've seen a massive infusion of state funding to take care of our aging facilities.

This building boom, totaling billions of dollars, will also contribute to the state's economy for years to come.

And finally, our faculty and staff will receive healthy salary increases, 7% over two years.

Cumulatively UNC System employees paychecks are nearly 14% higher than they were in 2021.

Faculty and staff work hard, serve our students and our mission, and we need to compensate them, particularly given inflationary pressures.

You'll notice a trend in both of those charts.

State funding picked up considerably at the beginning of the decade when the board and the system aligned their goals and objectives.

I'll leave it to you to determine if that good fortune is a timing coincidence or not.

But we've talked a lot about falling confidence in higher education nationwide and the long-term trend of other states reducing support that has led so many public institutions elsewhere to raise tuition and place more of the burden on the students and families.

It gives me so much pride as a North Carolinian to tell you that the compact around public higher education is alive and well in this state.

We've kept costs in check and tuition low.

In return, our lawmakers have made generational investments.

The result is one of the strongest, most affordable university systems in the country.

The compact worked because of earned trust.

This board has proven its ability to focus on our core mission, on delivering the bread and butter of a high quality education at a price North Carolina's families can afford.

And together we continue the patient work of creating a more effective model of higher education.

So amid all the noise and the churn, we've stayed focused on the things that matter for the people of North Carolina, and our state leaders have noticed.

We should honor that trust by holding the line on costs, by continuing to invest in access in quality and economic impact, and by continuing to serve students of all beliefs and backgrounds.

Thank you all for your part in this success.

I'm genuinely excited about the work ahead.

I appreciate it, Mr. Chairman.

- Thank you, Mr. President.

Very appropriate remarks, and I think your charts did a very nice job of pointing out what have been accomplishing and where our higher lawmakers are supporting UNC System.

So I'm very grateful.

We will now move to item five on our agenda and consider items on the consent agenda for today.

Are there any items members of the board would like to have removed for discussion?

Hearing none, I would entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda.

- So moved.

- Second.

- Governor Bradley and Governor Davis, thank you very much.

Is there any discussion or debate?

If not, all those in favor of passing the consent agenda please [voice cutting out] aye.

- [Governors] Aye.

- Are there any opposed?

Very good, consent agenda passes.

I'll now call on Governor Roberts for the Committee on Budget and Finance.

- Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, before coming to the committee report, I hope you'll indulge a brief comment.

We learned this morning that North Carolina lost, last night, dedicated public servant, Dr. Linda Combs.

It's not an exaggeration to say that Dr. Combs was one of the most accomplished public servants that North Carolina has ever produced.

She was a native of Granite Falls in Caldwell County.

She earned both bachelor's and master's degrees from Appalachian State as well as a doctorate from Virginia Tech.

After serving on the Forsyth County School Board and as Education Advisor to Governor Martin, she went on to earn five presidential appointments and served under Presidents Reagan, Bush 41, and Bush 43, including a CFO of the U.S. Department of Transportation, CFO of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, CFO of the U.S. Treasury Department, and as Controller of the United States within the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

She also served in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Education.

In her, quote unquote, retirement, she returned to North Carolina and served a seven-year appointment as State Controller, where many of us worked with her and greatly respected her acumen, warmth, judgment, and absolutely unparalleled wisdom and experience.

Please join me in recognizing this exemplary record of public service and sending our sincere condolences to Dave Combs, Linda's husband of more than 54 years, and in keeping the entire Combs family- [governor clearing throat] Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, sorry.

- Mr. Chairman, I would just like to second that.

I had a chance to work with Linda as well, and first-class lady.

I mean her knowledge and experience was second to none, and we spent some time together as well, and she's gonna be missed, no question.

- Thank you, Governor Brown.

Members of the Board Governors, during its meeting this morning, the Committee on Budget and Finance received details from Senior Vice President Jennifer Haygood on the recently approved 2023 Appropriations Act.

As President Hans mentioned earlier, the state budget included significant investments in the UNC System, which will help advance our strategic plan.

The committee approved the 2023-24 operating budget allocations, which were included on today's consent agenda, approved by the full board moments ago.

These allocations, the President's delegated authority, and a summary of special provisions were available in full detail on BoardEffect.

Committee approved amendments to sections 1000.1.1, Policy on Tuition Rates, that provide consistency in the methodology used to define and calculate cost of attendance for all system universities.

We also approved amendments to Section 1100.1, Policy on Intercollegiate Athletics, that are designed to enhance oversight of state-appropriated athletic funds, ensuring they are used to provide economic benefits to the institutions and the regions, as well as promoting student affordability and financially sustainable operations.

The revisions to both policies have been provided in your materials for today and will be presented for consideration to the full board at its next meeting in November.

Next, Vice President Catherine Lynn presented the 2023-24 SKIF Repair and Renovations Allocations to the committee.

As delegated by the board, the committee approved 85.2 million to be allocated as follows: 35.2 million to fund the inflationary increases and the design and construction of specified projects and 50 million for maintenance R&R to be distributed in accordance with the approved R&R allocation model.

The committee also reviewed and approved several routine capital improvement requests, including the authorization of 9.3 million for five new capital projects at three institutions and 10.8 million for increased authorizations at three institutions.

These requests were also approved by the full board through the consent agenda moments ago.

Lastly, the committee received a report from Ms. Haygood on the 2023-24 NC Promise Tuition Plan Annual Report, as well as additional information on the five-year actual general fund expenditures and revenues.

These full reports are available on BoardEffect.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

This concludes my remarks.

- Thank you, Governor Roberts.

That was a great report.

A lot of good work went on there.

Certainly Ms. Haygood and her staff have been very busy since we got our budget.

Are there questions for Governor Roberts about budget and finance and the work that's been done there on his report today?

- Yeah, I got a question, Mr. Chairman.

You know, I'm just curious to know, I saw in the budget the Assembly and the Senate has approved 500 million for Innovation Fund.

Is their Board of Governors are also being interested to see how that fund would be spent, or who is taking the responsibility?

Or is it come under Board of Governors?

Or it is a different branch?

- I'll make an attempt.

I think the President would like to take it.

If you wanna take it, Mr. President, please go ahead.

- Absolutely, if you'll backstop me, Mr.

Chair.

Mr. Chatterjee, the 250 million a year over two years to the NC Innovation effort is set up as an independent private entity.

The members of that board will be appointed by the House and Senate.

We would anticipate those decisions being made within the next few weeks.

We will hopefully will be the beneficiary of that investment, particularly at research institutions outside of the triangle.

There's particular emphasis right now on ECU, Western Carolina, A&T, and UNC Charlotte, but the money will not flow through the university system itself.

I hope that answers the question.

Mr.

Chair, anything you'd add to that?

- No, the only thing I would've added is exactly what you said, Mr. President, is that this board has no responsibility over it, but it certainly is potentially very beneficial for some of our campuses.

- Correct.

- Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. President.

I think you answered it properly.

I got the answer, thank you.

- Thank you, sir.

- Yes, sir, thank you.

Appreciate the question.

If there are no other questions, I'd call on Governor Bradley for the report on ED Planning, Policies, Programs.

- Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

At our meeting today, the Committee on Educational Planning, Policies, and Programs considered a request to approve a revised mission statement for the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics.

Committee also considered a request to renew the agreement between Pitt County Schools and East Carolina University to operate the Innovation Early College High School.

Both requests were approved and submitted to the board through the consent agenda.

The committee next reviewed and proposed revision to Section 600.2.3 of the UNC Policy Manual involving statutory changes made to the Distinguished Professor's Endowment Trust Fund by the General Assembly.

The revision authorizes the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics to participate in the program and includes a modification that designates participation in the DPETF program be designated solely for scholars for degree programs in STEM subject areas.

That would be science, technology, engineering, and math.

Committee then discussed implications of the STEM modification, a related discussion of the more flexible and monetary significant faculty recruitment and retention fund will be presented at the November meeting.

The revision to 600.2.3 of the UNC Policy Manual was approved and will be submitted to the board through the consent agenda at the next board meeting.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

This concludes my report for the Committee on Educational Planning, Policies, and Programs.

- Thank you, Governor Bradley.

Are there questions of Governor Bradley from members of the Board of Governors?

Hearing none, I will move along and recognize Governor Blue for the report on Committee on University Governance.

- Thank you, Chair Ramsey.

The Committee on University Governance voted to nominate Dr. Carolyn Maynor to fill a partial term vacancy that will end on June 30, 2027.

That will be in Congressional District 9 seat on the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Board of Trustees.

That biographical information can be found in BoardEffect.

On behalf of the Committee on University Governance I move to approve the nomination of Dr. Carolyn Maynor to a partial term ending June 30, 2027, for the Congressional District 9 seat on the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Board of Trustees.

- Members of the Board, you have heard the motion.

Comes from committee, so does not require a second.

Is there any discussion or debate regarding this?

Okay, none at all.

[indistinct] - Mr. Chairman, I've got a quick question, because I'm new to the Board of Governors.

What is the system, I know the Board of Governors is responsible to recruit the Board of Trustees.

So what is the normal procedure?

I just want to know the protocol so I know how to respond next time.

- Yes, sir.

The [voice muffling] process is one that starts at the campus level, and the campus sends us a list of potential candidates.

Candidates are also brought forward by the Board of Governor members, and potentially even the staff could suggest someone.

The Governance Committee handles the going through of each of these applications, and oftentimes works hard to try to find a particular talent for one of our Boards of Trustees.

As an example, I think Elizabeth City State University now has some aviation experts because of the explosion of our aviation program, which has been so successful.

As you know, we are responsible, the Board of Governors is responsible for eight of the appointments on the Boards of Trustees, and our legislators are responsible for the other four, except in the case of NC State and Chapel Hill, which they'll be responsible for eight going forward.

But we also have many other appointments.

It includes school science and math, which as you heard, has to have a board member from each congressional district.

We also appoint to the Arboretum Board, UNC Press, and numerous other boards.

But the nomination process typically starts on the campus, but certainly goes on within the Board of Governors, and you are always welcome to bring forward a person for consideration to the Governance Committee.

Does that answer your question?

Or does anyone wanna add anything to that?

Okay, so we have a motion on the floor.

Any additional discussion or debate?

Hearing none, all is in favor, if you signify by saying aye.

- [Governors] Aye.

- Is anyone opposed?

Thank you very much, Governor Blue.

The motion passes.

- And I may add that Dr. Maynor, she and her husband are parents of three graduates of the School of Science and Math, and from what I understand are really involved and givers to the institution, so that's always a plus.

So next, the committee review proposed amendments to section 1100.1, and that is the Policy on Intercollegiate Athletics of the UNC Policy Manual.

The proposed amendments are designed to enhance oversight of the intercollegiate athletic programs by requiring the chancellors to make available certain athletic-related agreements to the Board of Governors and provide the President notice of and a financial plan for any agreement which would result in the constituent institution transferring, leaving, or joining an athletic conference association.

The purpose of this notice is to provide the President the opportunity to weigh in on the potential impacts of that agreement, including those which may impact the financial health of the intercollegiate athletics program, contract risk, and/or any legal risk associated with that agreement.

Further, the revisions provide the Board of Governors an opportunity to review the agreement and financial plan with legal counsel such that it can inform the constituent institution of any legal risk which might flow from that agreement.

The amendments to this policy will be on the governor's agenda for a vote at our November meeting in Greensboro.

Finally, winter commencement ceremony information was provided to the Committee on University Governance through BoardEffect.

Board liaisons will have the opportunity to confirm their participation for winter commencements over the next week.

Once confirmation is received from each liaison, any remaining vacancies on the commencement ceremony signup sheet will be shared with the full membership of the board ,and participation at commencement ceremonies not already filled by those respective liaisons will then be on a first come, first serve basis and then be communicated to the Office of the Secretary with final approval by myself as chair of this committee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

That concludes my remarks for today.

- Thank you, Governor Blue.

Are there any questions or comments from Governor Blue about the committee on University Governance?

- Mr. Chairman?

- Yes, sir, Governor White.

- Hi, good afternoon.

I attended that meeting, Governor Blue, and I appreciate the expeditious way you handled it, and the September meeting.

This is an important conversation, and I hope that in November we will hear, if it's okay, from Andrew Tripp or others, about the history of the systems delegating authority over athletics to constituent campuses, and whether or not that was done in the wake of the NCAA power and authority that they were growing at the time.

And I hope some context about how the landscape of college athletics has changed in the last five decades and accelerated that change in the last few years.

I know I would benefit from that as a new member.

I think the state of North Carolina and the people that watch this with great interest would benefit from understanding how this system delegated that authority to the constituent campuses, and whether or not there should be any re-delegation.

Those would be my comments.

I hope that'll be talked about in November.

- Mr. Tripp, I would think that we could provide some of that information actually prior to, correct?

Just a little bit of history for board members, if the Chair so wishes.

- [Andrew] Yes, we'd be glad to.

- Thank you, Governor Blue.

I will say, Governor White, that this is certainly a topic that everybody's got a lot of interest in.

We're already getting some feedback from the campuses, from others, which I think is very helpful, and that's the reason we wanted to bring that up in this meeting was to get feedback and get thoughts.

You know, whether we go forward with a policy or not is something this board will decide going forward, but it is something that I think will be widely discussed over the next, between now and our November meeting, and I feel certain we'll put a lot of time in it in November, so thank you for your comments.

Okay, any additional questions for Governor Blue?

Hearing none, thank you very much, Governor Blue.

Very nice job as always.

I'll now ask Ms. McCullen to read the language so we might move it into closed session.

- Mr.

Chair, the board needs a motion to move into closed session pursuant to North Carolina general statute sections 143-74a and 143-318.11a 1, 2, 3, and 6, for the purposes stated in the written motion that was included in the meeting materials, which have been publicly made available.

- Thank you, Ms. McCullen.

Members of the board, you've heard the language of the motion.

Do I have a motion to go into closed session?

- So moved.

- Thank you, Governor Bradley.

Is there any discussion or debate?

Hearing none, all is in favor, please signify by saying aye.

- [Governors] Aye.

- There any opposed?

Thank you very much, we will move into closed session, and Ms.- - [Ms. McCullen] Mr.

Chair, you may continue in open session.

- Thank you very much, Ms. McCullen.

That concludes our business for today, members.

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Governors will be Thursday, November 16th, 2023, at the University of North Carolina Greensboro in Greensboro, North Carolina, and we look forward to seeing you all there.

[voice muffling] We stand adjourned, and I thank you very much for your participation today.

I know it's been a long day for everyone.

Take care and have a great weekend.

- Thank you, Chairman.