It's no secret that Blue Cross and Blue Shield has many ties to the UNC system.

One connection caused some conflict as a UNC search committee zeroed in on Davidson College's Tom Ross, left, as its new president, Eric Ferreri reports on our Campus Notes blog.

Blue Cross CEO Brad Wilson was a member of the UNC search committee and had to avoid participating in the deliberations that led to Ross' selection. And now Ross, who joined the Blue Cross board in March, may have to resign that position.

The health insurer's bylaws require that board members offer to step down if they change jobs. However, the board doesn't necessarily have to accept that resignation, so Ross may indeed remain on that board, Wilson said last week. The matter has yet to be addressed.

As a UNC system search committee zeroed in on Tom Ross as its top choice to run the state's public universities,  one influential member was faced with a conflict.

J. Bradley Wilson is the president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina. He was also a member of the UNC search committee by virtue of his emeritus membership on the UNC system's Board of Governors, which he chaired several years ago.

Ross is also on the Blue Cross board, named to it earlier this year. As such, he would play a role in making employment and compensation decisions that could affect Wilson.

(photo courtesy cednc.org)
So when Ross's name popped up during the search committee's deliberations, Wilson said he stepped out of the room. He declined to participate in Ross's interviews to avoid a conflict of interest.

Now, Ross must offer to resign from the Blue Cross board. The organization's bylaws require that members offer to step down if they change jobs; however, the board doesn't necessarily have to accept that resignation, so Ross may indeed remain on that board, Wilson said last week. The matter has yet to be addressed.

The insurance board is heavy with members familiar with the university system. A second member of the UNC presidential search committee, Walter Davenport, sits on the Blue Cross board as well, but did not sit out the Ross interviews, according to a UNC system spokeswoman. He is not a Blue Cross employee, as Wilson is, and thus didn't have the same conflict.

Harold Martin, the current chancellor at N.C. A&T University, is also on the Blue Cross board. Prior to taking the reins at N.C. A&T, he served as a UNC system vice president.

Other board members include Jeffrey Houpt, the former head of the UNC Health Care system, and Lloyd Hackley, a former chancellor at Fayetteville State University.

Blue Cross hasn't disclosed what it's paying Ross for board work. Other board members were paid $33,047 to $51,314 last year, Blue Cross reported in a filing with the N.C. Department of Insurance.

Ross was hired last week to head the 220,000-student system. He starts work Jan. 1 and will earn $525,000 annually.

Thomas Ross is expected to be elected to the presidency of the state's public university system today.

Ross is the current president at Davidson College.

He's the top choice of a search committee and a North Carolinian with deep political roots.

Here's the story.

Thomas Ross, the current president at Davidson College, is next in line to lead the UNC system.

The UNC system's Board of Governors have called a special meeting for Thursday morning to hire a new president, and several sources tell us that Ross is the choice.

Here's the story.