Legislators on the Board of Governors?
Published 3:52 a.m. today
A proposal that surfaced last week to name state legislators to the UNC Board of Governors would further politicize a board that’s already overly politicized.
It’s not a good idea.
HB455 would allow each house of the NC General Assembly to appoint two of its own members to the Board of Governors. The legislative members would have non-voting positions, and their terms on the board – like those of legislators – would last two years.
The proposal would formalize something that former Rep. John Fraley, R-Iredell and a friend of higher education, did for several years: As a member of the public, Fraley sat in on Board of Governors meetings to be sure he stayed informed on issues confronting North Carolina’s public universities. (Fraley was recently appointed to the Board of Governors after retiring from the General Assembly.)