As we've noted over the past week, the politics of the UNC system's Board of Governors is changing.

A Republican majority is now running things in Raleigh, and has put its imprint on the UNC system by thoroughly re-making its governing board.

After a slew of new appointments over the last two weeks, Republicans now out-number Democrats 18-13 on the board.

Does it matter?

Well, maybe. We'll see how ideological the board becomes when its new members are seated in July. It hasn't been too political in recent history.

Though the board itself is rarely openly partisan in its decision-making, the process to get there sure is.

Take, for example, the case of Clarice Cato Goodyear.

Goodyear, of Charlotte, is a current board member, named to the board in 2007 on the nomination of a Democratic State Sen. Daniel Clodfelter.

She has been active on board committees and has represented the board in an official capacity at commencement ceremonies for 16 of 17 campuses in the system.

 She concludes her first four-year term later this year, and in recent months has clearly fought hard for reappointment.

The nomination packet she submitted to legislators was far more robust than many; it extols her accomplishments at length and makes the point several times, often in bold print,  that while she used to be a registered Democrat, she's now registered as an unaffiliated, and brings the backing of many influential Republicans.

She notes that she's a fiscal conservative who has spent more than 30 years as an executive with the Cato Corporation, a women's fashion retailer.

She enlists 23 influential movers and shakers to offer endorsements. Several happily point out that she's seen the light by abandoning the Democratic party.

Her four pages of endorsements include these snippets:

General rule of thumb: If you're planning to protest a big decision by a governing body, get there while that body is actually meeting.

This morning, a small collection of students primarily from UNC-Chapel Hill gathered at 10 a.m. at The Pit toting protest signs. They then marched resolutely down South Road to the Spangler Center, where the UNC system's Board of Governors meets.

Problem: They were late. The board did in fact meet Friday, and approved tuition hikes averaging 6.8 percent for public university students. But the meeting began at 9 and was done before 10 a.m., well before the protesters arrived.

Kinda blunts the power of the message, doesn't it?

The small group arrived around 10:20 a.m., chanting "No Cuts, No Fees, Education Should be Free," a noble sentiment, if unlikely.

The UNC system's Board of Governors will get an earful from some student activists during its Friday meeting.

A group from UNC-Chapel Hill and other public universities are gathering Friday to march from the Carolina campus to the system office just off campus on Raleigh Road.

The board is voting Friday on tuition and fee increases, which this student group finds unacceptable.

The student group's demands, according to a news release this week:

1. No tuition hikes!
2. No cuts or layoffs!
3. Full access to education for undocumented students! The UNC Board of Governors must take a stand against HB 11 and use UNC System lobbying power to defeat this bill!
4. Don't balance the budget on our backs! Use UNC System lobbying power to push for closing corporate loopholes in NC and increasing taxes for corporations and the rich!

Tuition hikes are pretty much a done deal this week, and cuts and even layoffs are possible later this year since the UNC system is already planning for five and 10 percent budget cuts. 

And the budget is where the board's attention must remain, chairwoman Hannah Gage said this week.

She doesn't anticipate any discussion of the undocumented student issue. A bill introduced late last month would ban illegal aliens from public colleges and universities.

"That's so far off our agenda right now when we're fighting for our life with budget cuts," Gage said. "We have to protect the quality of our university. That's where we have to put our efforts."

For three decades, James Holshouser has sat on the UNC system's Board of Governors, listening as others spoke.

His silence is so customary, in fact, that at the rare moment when the former governor does speak on an issue, the room quickly falls silent.

Hannah Gage, the board's current chair, likens Holshouser to the character in the old E.F. Hutton commercials. When he talks, people listen.

"He never preaches, never lectures, and he always illuminates our path," Gage said Friday. "He's the rare individual who only talks when he has something important to say."

Holshouser was the center of a quick celebration Friday by the UNC system board, feted both for his 75th birthday the day before and to honor his 30 years of board service. He was presented with a cake with 30 candles, and his fellow board members serenaded him with a warbly version of "Happy Birthday" that made clear that none should quit their day jobs.

Holshouser became governor in 1973, narrowly defeating Hargrove "Skipper" Bowles. These days, Holshouser sits on the board whose top staff member is UNC system President Erskine Bowles, the son of the man he defeated in that gubernatorial race.

Holshouser served one term as governor and not long after became a member of the UNC board, which sets policy for all public universities.

"If you keep your mouth shut most of the time, people will think you're smarter than you are," he quipped. "I throw that out as a piece of advice for some members of this board."

Year after year, UNC Charlotte professor James Cook would be told during his annual review that he should do "less of that service stuff" and concentrate more on publishing research.

Over time, Cook became adept at side-stepping that suggestion while also finding ways to incorporate the work he does as a community psychologist into his research.

It paid off.

Cook, now in his 29th year on the UNCC faculty, received a public service award Friday from the UNC system's Board of Governors.

The award, created three years ago, recognizes one UNC system faculty member each year for public service work. In accepting his award Friday, Cook said he was unapologetic about the time he's spent on the service portion of his job.

"I'm a community psychologist," he said. "It's what I do."

Cook received a $7,500 cash prize for his efforts.

For decades, Cook has worked with poor and mentally or physically disabled people in the Charlotte area. He has served as a link between the university, city and county  agencies and community organizations who support those in need of help.

He's been a board member of Mecklenberg Open Door, which service adults with mental health problems, for 23 years and has also served as president of his local mental health association.

And in his classes, all students take on some form of public service.
"The students learn how to solve problems in the community," he said.

One of his goals, he said Friday, was to make the world a little smaller for folks who need help but don't know where to turn. UNCC and other universities have a lot to offer, but can be difficult to navigate, he said.

We're massive institutions," he said. "It's hard for people in the community to know where to go lots of times."

Cook has spent a great deal of time over the years writing grant proposals to raise money for community projects. The result: About $25 million in external funding for projects serving the homeless and mentally ill, officials said Friday.

East Carolina needs to spend a half-million bucks on new dorm doors.

The university has asked the UNC system to authorize a $564,000 new capital project to replace 310 doors on Aycock Residence Hall.

That's 300 doors to dorm rooms and 10 entry doors.

The doors on this dorm, which was built in 1960, are in poor shape and require some customization, according to a UNC system memo.

The work will include the installation of new hinges, new doro closers and new, ADA-compliant hardware. Until the doors are replaced, the dorm won't meet state life safety guidelines set by the state building code.

Quoth the UNC system memo, in part: "ECU's maintenance history shows that residence hall doors must withstand slamming, kicking and general horse play by residents."

The UNC system's governing board will have a lot to talk about when it reconvenes Thursday after its summer break.

 The recent passage of the state budget will surely be on the minds of some campus leaders.

And a Thursday workshop discussing the controversial "retreat rights" issue should be interesting as well. 

In case you missed it - UNC system leaders are expected this week to curtail a policy that offers university higher-ups a tidy perk upon their retirement - full pay for up to a year to spend re-tooling to prepare to go back to teaching.

Here's a link to our coverage of that issue.

And the board may make a significant change to its health insurance policy for students. 

As we reported earlier this year,  health insurance offerings for students differ from campus to campus, and leaders want to standardize it to get better rates. The proposal would require all students to health insurance unless they can prove they already have it.

Click the attachmen t below for a memo on the issue.

The board meets Thursday and Friday. It will discuss the health insurance issue at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, with a workshop on the retreat rights issue to follow at noon.

Documents:

Across North Carolina, state agencies are grappling with budget cuts, and Gov. Beverly Perdue has asked them to prepare for reductions of up to nine percent in next year's spending plans.

UNC system President Erskine Bowles wants to go in another direction. While the university system has been working on budget-cut scenarios of up to seven percent, Bowles now is asking state leaders to limit the university's damage to five percent.

And he doesn't want those cuts to be permanent, either. When the economy sours, public agencies generally start with one-time cuts, which basically just reduce spending for a single budget year. Permanent cuts require the elimination of programs and often bring about layoffs.

In a letter to members of the UNC system's governing board, Bowles writes this week than the university simply cannot withstand cuts greater than the five percent level, and they should only apply as long as the economic downturn does.

"I am sure that no members of the legislature would cut education to the extent they may have to if they did not face a severe economic crisis," Bowles writes. "Again, that is why I have suggested making the duration of the cuts match the length of the crisis - so that when the crisis ends, we will have the economic resources to spring forward and give our students the education they need to compete with the world's best and brightest, wherever they may be."

The UNC system has absorbed $175 million in cuts this year, Bowles writes. A 7 percent cut next year would prompt the elimination of 1,600 jobs across the 17-campus university system, 1,000 of which are currently filled. Translation: 1,000 layoffs.

 The UNC system's board meets next week. You can click on the attachment below to read Bowles' entire, four-page letter. 

Documents:

Winston-Salem State's desire to move to Division I athletics was dealt a blow recently.

The UNC system's governing board declines to approve a massive increase to the athletics fee the university wanted to charge its students - a fee that campus leaders said was critical to close a gap in the athletics budget.

WSSU wanted a 31 percent increase in the athletic fee, from $579 to $760 a year for each full-time student.

That was too much for UNC system leaders to stomach.

The details.

How's this for unusual?

Christian Kucab, a Raleigh native and graduate of Appalachian State University, recently aced the LSAT, the law school admissions test.

Aced it. As in perfect score. 

About 125,000 people took the test when Kucab did, recounted Hannah Gage, chairwoman of the UNC system's Board of Governors, which recognized Kucab Friday. Of that, fewer than 25 got a perfect score, Gage said, prompting a boisterous round of applause.

"We're so proud of you," Gage told Kucab, a graduate of Raleigh Charter School. "You represent the brightest and the best and are the reason we do what we do."

Kucab took a year off after graduating from Appalachian State and is working now for a law firm in Raleigh. He plans to attend law school in the fall. He has not decided where to attend. With that score, he'll probably have a few to choose from.