Zachary Weaver
      Staff Writer

The year of 2015 marked the halfway point of the biennium budget period. The budget, which ends in 2017, covers vast sections of the state’s funds and their destinations.

A biennium budget is one outlined and issued as a two-year plan, although many emerge as two one-year plans, as seen in the state North Carolina budget. The ultimate goal is a balanced budget, meaning that spending does not exceed income.

For UNC-Greensboro there are four proposals to draw from: UNCG’s plan, Gov. Pat McCrory’s proposal and the respective plans from the House and Senate.

The budget proposal, as outlined by McCrory, includes 13 sections relating to the UNC system, seven of which impact UNCG. Chancellor Franklin Gilliam listed the relevant items in a September 2015 Budget Central message, as can be seen in the infographic below.

Ultimately, it was the House budget that was passed over the Governor and state Senate’s budget plans with net appropriations of $143,459,427 in 2015-2016 and $145,858,090 for 2016-2017, which is the total amount of money the federal government allows UNCG to spend.

The plan is to expand funding slightly next year to encourage enrollment growth. Some of these funds are being diverted from the flexibility budget.

The purpose of the flexibility budget is to provide more versatility than a static budget; this allows the university to better adapt to changes in budget activity.

“It is positive for UNC-Greensboro that enrollment growth was funded,” Provost Dana Dunn said in an email. “Our recent growth has generated new resources for the university to begin to reinvest in academic programs. For example, for the first time in many years, we have been able to allocate new faculty positions to several high growth areas.”

This is evident in the increase in overall appropriations over the next biennial budget period.

The current budget has not been without criticism, however.

“Unfortunately no new funds were provided for faculty and staff salary increases,” Provost Dunn said. “That is a serious problem, in that increasingly, we are faced with losing talented and hard-working faculty and staff, whose salaries have not kept pace with those at other institutions.”

She also commented that many of these staff members left for other states, leading, in some cases, to a dearth of qualified individuals to fill important positions.

The budget’s recommendation of increasing efficiencies by reducing senior and middle management positions and its call for an increasing cut in funds for the UNC system over the next two years have been met with criticism.

This has been a point of contention previously, with former UNC President Tom Ross criticizing the cuts.

“North Carolina has a long history of strong support for the University of North Carolina,” Ross said in a 2014 statement. “This budget proposal, however, calls for further reductions to the University’s budget.  In the context of a growing economy where other states are re-investing in their public universities, this is an issue of competitiveness.”

Ross continued to criticize these plans by highlighting the increase in tuition costs.

“While the University is operating more efficiently and has become more accountable, we have been forced to raise tuition in order to maintain the excellence for which we are known,” Ross said. “ While we will continue to search for additional efficiencies and savings, we cannot continue to shift the costs of higher education from the state to students and their families.”

Despite some challenges with the budget’s funding, UNCG’s chancellor and provost remain optimistic.

Gilliam expressed confidence in past growth and potential for the future.

“While this news is challenging, I am confident that we are moving in a positive direction, especially given the fine work that has already been done to stabilize our enrollment,” Gilliam said in his conclusion to the Budget Central briefing. “Every indication is that we will meet or possibly exceed our enrollment predictions for the year.”