Role of the University of North Carolina
The Code makes clear that the President of the University is the chief executive and administrative officer. Additionally, the President has control over the budget of the University and the preparation and submission of the budget to the Board of Governors. WCU develops its budgets in response to priorities established by the UNC-system within an established budgetary process (501 B.7). It is a requirement that WCU adhere to the long-range planning process established by the University and adopted by the Board of Governors. Long-Range Plans are developed and approved at the institutional level and at the UNC-system level on a five-year cycle, with plans for 2006-2011 in progress
(http://intranet.northcarolina.edu/docs/aa/planning/reports/longplan/LRP2006-2011.pdf).
In January of 2004, the Board of Governors adopted a long range planning framework that updated the 2002-2007 University’s Long Range Plan (adopted 2002) and set the planning process for the subsequent five years. The campuses were expected to demonstrate the integration of budget, facilities, enrollment, and academic mission. Additionally, the campuses had to consider the impact of increased enrollment on their institutions through resident and distance learning programs and how these programs served the needs of students in North Carolina and their respective regions. Three related data processes were integrated into the information flow for these planning processes and mandated (HB 1264, Staying a Step Ahead: Higher Education Transforming NC’s Economy; the contracted NCHEMS Peer Study – http://intranet.northcarolina.edu/docs/aa/reports/economy/StepAhead.pdf; and establishing benchmarks for Strategic Directions) to assist the campuses have research-based information in setting directions. Specifically, a study was undertaken to “assess the educational needs, both programs and facilities, for economic development in North Carolina” (Regulations on Long-Range Planning, 2006-2011, page 1). Additionally, as part of its ongoing mode of operating and budgeting, the University has extensive data and expansion budget request requirements for the campuses. Examples of key planning related requirements include several data and reporting templates, a student credit hour funding model by CIP classification, academic program review, and proposal processes for articulating how funding of capital and supplemental expansion budgets tie to campus and system-level strategic directions (please contact the WCU Office of Institutional Research and Planning for a review of data, reporting, and financial and planning templates required by the University system).