TUe. Coajo^Umu ^owwjoJt
:? Volume XII, Number 28
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Cliarlotte, North Carolina
Apiii ri: 19^
No more student lees commission;
Administration creates new body
By Brad Rich
The UNCC Administration, acting
under the authority, of Section 5020-3 of
the Board of ...Governor’s Code, has
abolished the Student Fees Commission
and replaced it With a structure designed
to ‘tighten accountability’ of student
activity money.
The old Student Fees Commission,
composed of six representatives from the
Student Association (two each from the
Media Board, the University Program
Board and the Student Body
Government) and three duly-elected
at-large representatives has been
supplanted by an organization composed
of one representative from each of the
three divisions, four at-large
representatives appointed by the
Chancellor and two non-voting
faculty/staff advisors, also to be
appointed by the Chancellor.
In an emergency meeting of the old
Student Fees Commission Wednesday
night, April 20th at 9:00 pm, Vice
Chancellor for Student Affairs Doug Orr
and Dean of Students Dennis Rash
answered questions from Fees
Commission members as well as members
of the general Student Association, and
explained the reasoning for the sudden
policy shift.
According to both Rash and Orr, the
new Board of Governors’ Code gives the
Chancellor ^the responsibility for seeing
that activity fees are spent honestly and
efficiently; a responsibility not delegated
to him in the past.
Because of evidence turned up by
this year’s University audit that fees were
not being spent as prudently as possible.
Chancellor Colvard created the Student
Activity Review Committee. This
semester, the Committee conducted open
hearings and studied fee allocation
systeitis at other Southeastern
universities, to devise 'a more .efficient
system at UNCC.
According to Rash and Orr, the
Chancellor’s new system utilizes the
Review Committee’s recommendations
with two alterations: one; the Cha’ncellor
will appoint the Chairperson rather than
the Commission itself, and two; the
Chancellor will appoint the two faculty/
staff advisors, rather than the
Commission itself. Also the Chancellor
refused to go along with the Committee
suggestion to put the changes to a
student referendum.
But it isn’t that simple, according to
Michael Evans, Chairperson of the
Review Committee’s Subcommittee that
was devised to recommend a new
structure. Evans, and ex-Student Body
President Rickey Pharr, say the
Sub-Committee had not indeed adopted
any recommendations, rather they had
passed them in order to ‘expedite
matters’. Evans says he and other
committee members had only passed the
recommendations in the subcommittee
under the assumption that they could
vote against incorporating them as the
report from the full Committee to the
Chancellor.
The Administration claims the
Subcommittee has finished its work and
has given its recommendations in a memo
from the Review Committee Chairperson
John Fraley to Dr. Orr. Evans and the
Subcommittee feel the memo clearly
stated that the Committee’s final report
was forth coming, and that the
recommendations in Fraley's memo were
not final. The controversial passage in the
memo reads: “I am submitting the
recommendations as the Committee
approves each portion; however, t will
submit an additional report in its entirety
when the Committee finishes all
proposals.”
Evans and the Committee, as well as
various members of the Student
Association,' feel that a breakdown in
communications has occurred, and that
the issue is certainly not dead. The
Administration feels that Chairperson
Fraley’s memo gave them the authority
to act, as Dean Rash said, “In order to
expedite matters."
At the emergency meeting, the
Student Association voted 6-0-1 in favor
of a motion to initiate a general
letter-writing campaign . against the
change and to investigate the po.ssibility
of taking tire issue to state court.
Student Fees Commission
Chairperson Doug Lerner chaired the
meeting, attended by Student Body
President Chase Idol as well as
representatives from the Media Board,
the Program Board, Student Court and
Student Body Government.
Lerner read from a list of 18
suggested actions for the students to
eonsider in regards to the change. Many
were met with dissaproval, but after a
long debate, the previously mentioned
motion was passed.
Phair looks back on “good year
5 9
By Nancy Davis
With the installation of
Chase Idol as president of the
Student Body, UNCC Student
Government begins a new year.
In Idol’s first official speech
as president to the Student
Legislature, he promised to
commit himself and stated that
he would work hard to create a
cohesive bond in the working
fields of the University.
Before all the attention is
focused on the new president, it
should be remembered that
another man is leaving the same
office after serving for a year as
Student Body President. Rickey
Pharr has had a very busy year,
but according to Pharr it was a
“good year”.
Pharr sees the work with
the student fees as both the
Student Government’s biggest
accomplishment and failure of
last year. In the past, the Media
Board and the University
Program Board got first hand in
the student fees. Student
Government was left with the
remaining amount. Foi the first
time this year. Student
Government got a larger
percentage of the student fees.
Pharr said that it was a big goal
Carolina Journal pholo hy I Asa Laney
that they be “co-equal with the
UPB and the Media Board”.
At the same time, Pharr said
he found it disappointing in
trying to “sell the question of
control of student fees”. Pharr
has worked with the Student
Fees Commission in trying to
enable the students to be in
charge of their fees. He feels
that the announcement by Vice
Chancellor Orr to change the
structure of the Fees
Commission was done without
any negotiation with other
members of the commission.
Graduating this semester, Pharr
is waiting to hear from UNCC
and UNC, where he plans to
attend graduate school in Public
Administration.
The new president is in
office now, and calling for the
strengthening as individuals and
as a University to form a
“strong, unifying relationship”.
The old president is out of
office now and sees Idol’s year
as one that will be very hectic
for him. However, the old and
the new both see the job as very
rewarding.
Pharr said that the decision to
change the committee from six
Rickcv Pharr. Sliidcnl liodv Prcsidi’ii/ for the If-17 vrar
division members (two from
each division) and three
students appointed at-large by
the commission to three division
members and four appointed by
the 'Chancellor was done
arbitrarily.
The biggest personal
satisfaction Pharr said he has
received this year has been
“working with people in the
office.” He added that they
were friends and more than just
political acquaintances.
Chancellor Colvard
Has never read UNCC’s
Student Constitution
By Doug Lerner
Chancellor Dean Colvard revealed
Thursday, in a meeting with Student
Fees Comniission Chairman Doug Lerner
and former Carolina Journal Editor.
Michael Evans, that in spite of the fact
that he maintains there are certain
‘.‘inadequacies” in the Student Body
Constitution,' he has never, in fact, read
the document.
The surprise admission was made in
the middle of a private discussion in
which Colvard was defending the
abolition of the Student Fees
Commission (see related story). Ckrlvard
explained he could “not read the
‘proposed’ Constitution until Student
Affairs submitted ittoliim.’’ Colvard did
not explain how he knew the document,
ratified by the Student Body last March,
was faulty without reading it.
The Chancellor further maintained
that it was “‘unnecessary to hold a
referendum on every little matter that
comes up." This was said in reference to
his directive abolishing the Student Fees
Commission and altering the Student
Body Constitution.
UNCC Chancellor D. W. Colvard