RALEIGH -- University of North Carolina system President Erskine Bowles plans to talk to his chancellors Monday about his requirement to make administrative jobs take the brunt of upcoming budget cuts.
In an e-mail obtained by The News & Observer of Raleigh, Bowles told the chancellors earlier this month that a report on administrative growth by the newspaper was "an absolute embarrassment."
"In the conversations that we will be having with you regarding your 10 percent budget reduction plans, we will be looking for absolute PROOF that you have focused FIRST on administrative reductions and solid evidence that you have taken steps to shore up our academic core," Bowles wrote.
The UNC system took a $171 million cut to its budget in the current year, and next year will likely have to cut another $246 million with much of the blame coming from excessive spending on management costs and on hundreds of academic centers and institutes, said state Rep. Ray Rapp, D-Madison.
"Some programs have grown like unchecked, without adequate supervision," Rapp said. "It is on our radar, and I think it's fair to say it's on Erskine Bowles' radar as well."
The Raleigh newspaper reported earlier this month that the 16-campus system had 1,623 administrative jobs last year, up from 1,269 five years ago. The 28 percent growth rate is higher than the 24 percent growth in faculty and other teaching positions and the 14 percent growth in student enrollment.
Bowles sent his e-mail the same day the story came out.
In recent years, leaders at the UNC system's campuses have been given more power. Many hiring decisions don't need to be approved by system administrators.
The growth in the administrative payroll likely stems from the flexibility give to those campus leaders during better economic times, said Hannah Gage, chairwoman of the UNC system's Board of Governors.
"As the system has grown and more autonomy has been given to the campuses, there has been an assumption that the judgment of the campuses will reflect the philosophy of the university system," she said. "The campus oversight was not strong enough."
