The Outlook for Higher Education in NC

A group of 30 Big Heads with the portentous title "UNC Advisory Committee on Strategic Directions" is meeting for the first time today, and a student group has formed to protest the makeup of the committee, which is apparently charged with setting goals and directions for the 16-member University of North Carolina system.

The protesting student group, calling itself N.C. Student Power Union, is upset about the old, rich, white man  lack of diversity on the committee. There's only one student representative. There's only one faculty member representative. There's only one staff employee representative.

The N.C. Student Power Union didn't tell the half of what's wrong with that committee, seeing as how it also includes the power base of the NC Republican Party, particularly the ultra-right, Tea Party wing, the very people primarily responsible for the major, crippling budget cuts to the university system in the last two state budgets (both vetoed by Gov. Perdue, whose vetoes were overridden) and for the general weakening of all public education in the state.

Thom Tillis, Republican Speaker of the NC House, is on the committee.

Phil Berger, Republican NC Senate President Pro Tem, is on the committee.

Lew Ebert, President of the NC Chamber of Commerce, who is very actively supporting Tea Party darling Paul Newby for the NC Supreme Court, is on the committee.

Robert Ingram, former president & chief operating officer of GlaxoSmithKline, who according to OpenSecrets has given some $96,000 to Republican causes, is on the committee.

Fred Eshelman, a  Big Pharma mogul who principally funded RightChange in 2010 and who was therefore directly responsible for much of the sleaze that was directed at Cullie Tarleton and Steve Goss, is on the committee.

Art Pope, the prelate of predatory conservatism, the Death Star of the NC political universe, the Big Boss who bosses around Tillis and Berger (see above) and got his own puppets on the Tillis and Berger payroll, is on the committee.

The very people who have been most consistently and tenaciously critical of a Liberal Arts education in North Carolina are going to be setting priorities for our best institutions of higher education. Students ought to be organizing to call attention to the radical tilt of this crucial advisory committee.

And incidentally, ASU Chancellor Ken Peacock is also on the committee.

Goodbye, Broyhill Inn

Gee, thanks, Dan Soucek and Jonathan Jordan!

E-mail from Appalachian State University Chancellor Ken Peacock that's circulating on campus:

Dear Appalachian Faculty and Staff:

....

Interim Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs Greg Lovins has met with the staff at the Broyhill Inn and Conference Center. He shared that Appalachian’s budget reduction plan recommends eliminating all state funding for the facility. The Management Flexibility Reduction guidelines outlined in Section 9.6 of the State Budget specify that reducing state funding for centers and institutes should be a priority in order to protect “direct classroom services.” I have reviewed several operational models for the Broyhill. Though an extremely difficult decision, given the current funding situation, this action is prudent.

The plan is to convert the hotel portion of the facility to student housing and for the Office of Student Programs to manage the meeting space....

I understand there are questions about reservations and events scheduled at the Broyhill. Our intention is to honor these commitments through the end of the 2011 calendar year.

Thank you for your patience.

With Appalachian Pride,

Kenneth E. Peacock Chancellor

Ken Peacock Makes the Washington Post

But not in a good way.

Epic Fail

"ASU: Cultural museum will not reopen."

The lasting legacy of the current administration.

The Layoffs Coming to ASU

First, they'll try privatization. Appalachian State University Chancellor Ken Peacock says, in an official university press release, that he's looking at out-sourcing some services, which will mean staff layoffs:

"We want to ensure that Appalachian remains a good return on the state's investment in us. But we will do what we have to do to make sure we are one of the most efficiently run institutions in the UNC System. While the thought of outsourcing some services currently performed by our dedicated state employees gives me pause, we have a responsibility to go through an evaluation process in order to make sound financial decisions.”

The Buzz in Boone

None of the local high-fiving about the rehiring of Buzz Peterson as ASU's basketball coach has a peep about what was rumored on April 16 in the Charlotte Observer: "The source said Peterson had been strongly interested in the Appalachian position, but logistics of the move to Boone would be difficult for him, including disposing of his Charlotte-area home in a poor real estate market. Appalachian State is planning to return with a sweetened offer that might include help with disposing of Peterson's home."

That is, buying Peterson's home for $1 million plus? (Some are saying $1.5 mil; others, $1.2 mil.)

Apparently, with Big Banking executives fleeing the Queen City as fast as they can buy bus tickets, million-dollar mansions are just not that easy to unload. Except to regional universities with a Big Sports fetish.

Spokespeople for ASU have been quite vocal in claiming that Peterson's salary will actually be less than former coach Moore's, but that looks like a new species of buffalo dust, since none of this accounting has much to do with perks and "deal sweeteners" and house buyouts.

Ironically, on the same day that this news bubbled up, Chancellor Peacock was writing to retired faculty and staff, telling them that the annual luncheon honoring their years of faithful service has been canceled ... in the interest of budgetary prudence.