Tuition Review Advisory Committee (TRAC) Meeting

MINUTES

September 9, 2013

10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

Chancellor’s Conference Room

Members Present: Warwick Arden (Co-Chair), Alex Parker (Co-Chair), Marshall Anthony, Katherine Carroll, Paul Cohen, Shawn Smith (for Krista Domnick), Matt Melillo, Kelsey Mills, Michael Mullen, Rebeca Rufty, Susan Ward, David Zonderman

Others Present: Lewis Carson, Retta Clemons, Steve Keto, Duane Larick, Barbara Moses, Mick Kulikowski, Steve Allen, De-kia Battle, Rick Liston

Duane Larick opened the meeting for Provost Arden who would be running a few minutes late. He called for approval of the September 4th draft minutes. The minutes were approved. Dr. Larick distributed two handouts which had been requested at the September 4th meeting titled: “ Primary Revenue Streams: FY 10-11” / “Comparison of Revenues from State Appropriations per Student FTE to Net Tuition & Fees per Student FTE FY 2010-11” and “3 Year Comparison Total Aid and Aid Distribution.” He called on Becky Rufty to lead discussions for agenda item #2.

Dr. Rufty used a powerpoint presentation to guide her discussion titled “ Graduate Student Support Plan (GSSP).” [Provost Arden arrived from his previously scheduled meeting within moments of Dr. Rufty starting her discussion]. The GSSP discussion sparked several questions and comments.

Key points from the presentation

The Graduate Student Support Plan (GSSP) was started in 1997, and the college landscape has changed significantly since 1997. Initially, funding the GSSP was based on 1997 realities which are no longer valid realities. Assumptions were made in 1997 which have contributed to the current GSSP running annual deficits. These assumptions include: a) thinking there’d be no growth and thus not having developed a sustainability plan; b) not factoring in cost increases for tuition and health insurance; c) assuming the mix of NC/US/International/Masters/Doctorate students would remain the same; and d) thinking US students would convert to NC residency in one year. Given these things that have changed from 1997 to now, the GSSP support package is considered no longer competitive with peer institutions.

The sluggish economy and the federal budget sequester have caused some agencies to pull back support for assistantships, and their offers are more conservative.

The total number of students supported by GSSP in 2012-13 was 3,234.

State funded Teaching Assistants (TAs) have their minimum $8000 stipends supported by central resources (state funds) and thus the number of TAs on the graduate student support plan has seen steady increases from year 2001-02 (653 students) to year 2012-13 (1038 students).

GSSP is used for health insurance (GSHI); in-state tuition (ISTA); and tuition remission (TR). From the year 2007-08 to 2012-13, usage for health care and tuition remission has remained relatively stable. However, the usage for in-state tuition has risensteadily from 2007-08 to 2012-13.

Based on Fall 2013 official graduate student enrollment targets, the projected funding requirement for GSSP is $28,151,596 which yields a projected deficit of $1,288.925.

The minimum stipend of $8000 needs to be increased; it’s not competitive with packages being offered at peer institutions.

Members’ Questions:

Of the approximate $28M centrally funded GSSP, how much would you say is paid out for Masters students versus doctoral students? Response by Dr. Rufty and Rick Liston: A little less than half. . . about 45% for Masters. [By the end of the meeting after researching online documents, the percentage was said to be approximately 35%]
How many of these Masters students are in terminal masters degree programs [meaning that’s the highest degree they can get in the field] versus being in a Master of Science (MS) program and working towards a doctorate? Response: We can’t group them that way. For example, Computer Science graduate students get a M.S. in Computer Science but are really terminal masters. And, in Chemistry all graduate students enter the degree program as doctoral students. I would say it’s a high number.
Is there a way to break out the 45% Masters students on the GSSP to see how many are terminal masters versus how many are going on to doctorate programs? The ones moving to doctorate degrees are ones leading us toward our strategic goal. Response by Liston: Yes, we can get you those numbers.
The Poole College of Management is an example of a college which has a lot of masters programs; approximately ten percent of the college’s masters students are on the GSSP, and Economics is the only degree program not charging a premium tuition.
As a research-extensive land-grant university, we have to ask ourselves ‘are we aligning our GSSP resources to support our strategic objectives’ and ask ‘is it appropriate to be spending 45% of our GSSP resources in a non-strategic direction.’ Supporting 25% of terminal masters might be strategically better than supporting 45%. How can we incentivize this? Response: I’m not sure we can push the button and replace masters students with doctoral students. We can admit to size of class at the undergraduate level. Stipends are key at the graduate level. We realize that the GSSP is not sustainable, and we’re constantly having to bail out the GSSP from other resources. We have to ask ourselves ‘how can funding for graduate education be made sustainable.’ Offering buy-out packages as an incentive might possibly come back as budget cuts in subsequent years.

For the sake of time, Provost Arden stated that we would not plan on discussing agenda item #5 and would save that for the next meeting. He then called on Steve Allen to lead discussions for agenda item #3 “Premium Tuition Request: Poole College of Management.” Dr. Larick distributed the accompanying handout titled “Campus Request for Authorization to Change Tuition.”

Dr. Allen began discussions by describing the structure of the Poole College of Management indicating that most of the college’s graduate students are working professionals, 28-30 years old, already in pretty good paying jobs with more than half whose degrees are employer-supported. He said the MBA degree has been charging a premium tuition since it started. Dr. Allen further stated that the state [North Carolina] funds classrooms and faculty and that other things contributing to the success of the college’s programs are funded by premium tuition. He explained that today’s proposal is similar to the one put forth three years ago which brought the current tuition to $10,500.

Today’s proposal is for three years and requests premium tuition as follows:

$750 for Fall 2014; $750 for Fall 2015; and $1000 for Fall 2015. The degrees covered in the proposal are:

Master of Business Administration
Master of Global Innovation Management
Master of Supply Chain Engineering and Management
Graduate Certificates offered by the Poole College of Management

Dr. Allen completed his presentation and left the meeting at which point Provost Arden proceeded with agenda item #4 “Discussion: Poole College of Management Premium Tuition Request.” Provost Arden asked members whether they had any general concerns or discussion and said TRAC will vote on requests at the end [during its last meeting scheduled for 10/2/2013]. He asked members to read Dr. Allen’s handout between now and the vote. He briefly discussed the criteria TRAC members should consider when deciding their vote. He emphasized that when colleges request premium tuition, the UNC Board of Governors expects that [premium] revenue will enhance the specific programs and will be used to take the programs to another level and not to merely supplant money that’s being lost to budget cuts.

Members’ Questions:

Down the road, do you foresee more plans for more such premiums for other programs? Response by Provost Arden: Premium tuition has mostly been for some of our graduate and professional programs. Architecture is the only undergraduate program charging premium tuition. Yes, I think there could be more down the road.

[A handout distributed at the 9/4/13 TRAC meeting titled “Authorization of Tuition for 2013-14” lists Board-approved tuition increase for professional schools at NC State.]

Does this [request for tuition premium] go to the Board of Governors? Response by Provost Arden: Yes, it goes from TRAC to the Chancellor then to NC State’s Board of Trustees, next to UNC-General Administration, then to the UNC-Board of Governors, and from there downtown to the General Assembly.

When there were no more questions or input, the meeting adjourned.

Next Meeting:

Wed., Sept. 25, 2013

10:00 – 11:15 AM

Chancellor’s Conference Room