More than a month into the 2005 regular legislative session several proposals affecting the University of North Carolina and the community college systems have been introduced by members of both the House and the Senate.

Some of the bills would give tuition waivers to orphans, create new science and mathematics schools across the state, and give the student member of the UNC Board of Governors a vote, among other issues. All of the higher-education-related bills are still in committee and have yet to make it to the floor for a vote.

Here is look at some of the higher education provisions currently under consideration:

House Bill 42: Introduced on Feb. 3 by Rep. Edd Nye, D-22, the bill calls for the state to appropriate $319,747 from the fiscal 2005-06 budget to be used by the Division TEACCH program at UNC-Chapel Hill for administrative and research needs. According to the bill, $132,847 of that funding would go to the Raleigh TEACCH Center, while $149,375 would be used for mandated salary increases. The remainder of the money would go to the administrative staff at the Greensboro TEACCH center and for rent increases in diagnostic clinics.

House Bill 92: Introduced Feb. 7 by Rep. Alma Adams, D-58, the bill would allow the student member of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors a vote on BOG issues. Currently, the student member of the Board of Governors does not have a vote.

House Bill 183: Introduced Feb. 19 by Nye and Rep. Debbie Clary, R-110, the bill would direct UNC and the community college system to undertake studies to increase geriatric care providers in the state. The increase, according to the bill, was recommended by the North Carolina Student Commission on Aging.

House Bill 256: Introduced Feb. 16 by Rep. Joe Tolson, D-23, and Rep. Thomas Wright, D-18, the bill would appropriate nearly $6.7 million from the fiscal 2006 budget to the Board of Governors for capital improvement projects at area health-education centers across the state.

House Bill 371: Introduced Feb. 24, by Reps. Ronnie Sutton, D-47, Garland Pierce, D-48, and Douglas Yongue, D-46, the bill would name UNC-Pembroke as North Carolina’s Historically American Indian University. UNC-Pembroke opened in 1887 as Croatan Normal School, in response to a petition from the American Indian residents of Robeson County.

House Bill 536: The recently introduced bill from representatives from New Hanover County would appropriate nearly $26 million to UNC-Wilmington from the fiscal 2006 budget. If approved, the bill would authorize funding for development and construction of a new building for the School of Nursing. Republican Reps. Daniel McComas and Carolyn Justice, along with Democrat Rep. Thomas Wright are the lead sponsors of the legislation.

Senate Bill 308: Introduced by Sen. Larry Shaw, D-21, the bill would grant tuition waivers to a student, between the ages of 17 and 23, whose guardian or parents are dead or are wards of the state. The tuition waivers would allow the student to attend any UNC institution or community college of their choice for free. The exact cost of the program is unknown.

Senate Bill 413: Also introduced by Shaw, this bill would appropriate $1 million in general funds to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference for student scholarships. The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, based in Greensboro, is a NCAA Division I conference with 11 member schools, including North Carolina A&T. Other member schools include Howard University (Washington, D.C.), Morgan State University (Baltimore, Md.), Hampton University (Hampton, Va.), Florida A&M (Tallahassee, Fla.), Bethune-Cookman College (Daytona Beach, Fla.), South Carolina State University (Orangeburg, S.C.), Coppin State University (Baltimore, Md.), Delaware State University (Dover, Del.), Norfolk State (Norfolk, Va.) and the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore (Princess Anne, Md.).

Shannon Blosser ([email protected]) is a staff writer with the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy in Chapel Hill.