UNC President Margaret Spellings issued the following statement in response to the General Assembly’s 2017-19 Biennial Budget:
“The final budget released last evening signals greater investment in and strong support for the University and furthers many of the goals of the UNC Strategic Plan—including accessibility, affordability and efficiency, and student success.
Funding the modernization of our data systems is an important first step in improving institutional and student performance by increasing transparency and accountability across the University. By fully funding enrollment growth, the General Assembly is making higher education more accessible for the students and citizens of North Carolina. And by increasing salaries for our faculty and staff and making a greater investment in our Faculty Retention Fund, we will be able to reward and retain the top talent so critical to our enterprise.
This is a good day for the University, and we thank the General Assembly for their leadership and support. We look forward to final approval of this budget later this week as we continue our work on behalf of the students, faculty, staff—and taxpayers—of North Carolina.”