The folks looking for a replacement for UNC system President Erskine Bowles need some help.

Got a potential candidate? Like maybe one of these guys?

Thanks to tight budgets, university officials won't travel the state this year soliciting input from the citizenry - as they've done in the past.

But Hannah Gage, in an open letter, asks for your help anyhow. 

She writes:

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE CITIZENS OF NORTH CAROLINA:

University of North Carolina system President Erskine Bowles is stepping down at the end of 2010 after five years of dedicated and innovative leadership, and the UNC Board of Governors is deeply grateful for his service to the University and to the citizens of North Carolina.  Our task now is to identify the next leader of our 17-campus system. 

As we go about this critically important work, we need and want your input.  Feedback from citizens across the state will be invaluable as we search for the right leader for our public university system, which today enrolls more than 220,000 students.

In 1795, the University of North Carolina became the first public university in America to open its doors to students.  For more than two centuries, through good times and bad, the people of this state have built and sustained the University and made our system one of the very best in the country.  

More than ever before, North Carolina’s economic future will depend on the teaching, research, and public service our UNC campuses provide, so the importance of this search cannot be overstated.

 All of us involved in the search process share a deep love of the University and a strong commitment to finding a dynamic leader with the proven capacity and vision to further the mission of UNC and its service to the state.  Please let us know what you think.  I encourage you to offer feedback via a simple form found on the search website at www.northcarolina.edu/2010presidentialsearch. You may also respond by email to unc-presidential-search@northcarolina.edu.  We welcome and need your input.

Hannah Gage
Chair, UNC Board of Governors
 

The UNC system's governing board said goodbye to five members Friday whose terms expired.

Stepping down are Ray Farris, Brad Adcock, Craig Souza, Frank Grainger and William Smith. 

Two other members whose terms expired - Jim Phillips and Brad Wilson - will remain on the board as emeritus members because each spent time as the board's chairman.

Farris, Adcock, Souza, Grainger, Wilson and Phillips each came aboard in 1997 and spent 12 years on the board, which makes policy for the state's 16 public universities.

Public higher education in North Carolina has changed dramatically since they began their tenures. The system has more than 215,000 students now - 56,000 more than 12 years ago. That's essentially like adding a student body the size of UNC Chapel Hill's. Twice.

And perhaps most notably, the physical plant has expanded immensely through the $2.1 billion bond campaign for higher education, which brought a wave of new construction to college campuses.

The seven vacated spots will be filled by some names familiar in the state's political and higher education circles. The new members, who begin work July 1, are Burley Mitchell, Bill Daughtridge, Franklin McCain, John Blackburn, Walter Davenport, James Deal and Paul Fulton.

Mitchell is a former chief justice of the N.C. Supreme Court. Daughtridge is a former state representative, and Fulton is a current trustee at UNC Chapel Hill.

McCain chairs the board of trustees at N.C. A & T University, Davenport chairs the Elizabeth City State University board, and Blackburn does likewise at Appalachian State University. Deal is on the Appalachian State board as well.