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UNC Board Of Governors Meets At UNC Charlotte

The University of North Carolina

The University of North Carolina System Board of Governors convenes its monthly meeting Thursday at UNC Charlotte. During the two-day meeting, the board will consider a proposal that would close three academic centers.  

The 16 universities in the UNC System are home to 240 academic centers. These centers conduct research and analyze policy. State legislators have asked the university system to consider redirecting $15 million from these centers to core university activities. A board of governors panel recommends keeping most of the centers open. The panel wants individual campuses to review 13 centers over the next 6 to 12 months.

UNC institutions have voluntarily agreed to close eight centers. The panel recommends closing three more: East Carolina University’s Center for Biodiversity, North Carolina Central University’s Institute for Civic Engagement, and UNC-Chapel Hill’s Center on Poverty, Work, and Opportunity.

The director of UNC-Chapel Hill’s poverty center, law professor Gene Nichol, has spoken out against the review process. He wrote an editorial in the Raleigh News and Observer calling it “expensive” and “dishonest.” Nichol claims the move is retaliation from Republicans in the state legislature, of whom he has been an outspoken critic. The UNC System board will vote on the plan Friday morning.