By Gregory Childress

gchildress@heraldsun.com; 918-1046

CHAPEL HILL -- Passions ran high Wednesday among UNC Chapel Hill students angry over a proposed 5.2 percent tuition increase for undergraduate students.

Shortly after the UNC Board of Trustees' audit and finance committee signed off on the proposed increase, a dozen or more sign-carrying students attending the meeting spilled into the hallway of The Carolina Inn where some engaged in a terse exchange with Student Government Association President Jasmin Jones, who sits on the board.

The students, who were denied an opportunity to address the committee because they had not signed up to do so, argued for a referendum on the proposed increase and complained that they didn't have a voice in the decision in spite of UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp's assertion that he has spoken to many stakeholders about the increase, which calls for a smaller tuition increase than the other option on the table.

"This process has been undemocratic," said Rakhee Devasthali, 20, a senior from Fayetteville, who said she will go through channels to speak at today's board meeting. "He's not talking to most people."

Jones defended the 5.2 percent recommendation, which the Board of Trustees as a whole will be asked to consider today. She reminded students that the 5.2 percent increase is the lesser of two evils and that no increase is simply not an option. A campus advisory task force recommended a larger increase -- 6.5 percent.

The proposal also calls for a 3.7 percent increase for graduate students. Out-of-state students would also get a 5.2 percent tuition increase. And fees for undergraduate students would increase by 5.5 percent, the equivalent of $96.

Thorp's recommendation for in-state undergraduate students would keep any tuition increase under a $200 benchmark set by the state's General Assembly.

The increase would generate nearly $4 million for the campus, which officials worry will still not cover pressing needs, particularly money for need-based student financial aid and faculty retention.

Fifty percent of the increase would be earmarked for need-based student aid, for which there is a growing demand due to the current economic crisis.

Trustee John Ellison said worries that UNC will lose its luster if it doesn't increase tuition to a level where the university can compete with its peers for top faculty.

"We're going to have a hard time recruiting the faculty we need to stay on top and a hard time retaining great faculty to stay on top," Ellison said.

If the tuition proposal is approved by trustees, it will be sent to the UNC Board of Governors for approval early next year.