Medicine:
The Cost
of Expansion
If there’s one thing a growing state
needs, it’s doctors, and Carolina’s
medical school is on the verge of
some serious bulking-up.
Dr. Bill Roper, now in his fourth year
as the school’s dean, said that about two
years ago “some things happened that
made me rethink my longstanding
unwillingness to take that on,” referring
to expansion. In summer 2006, the N.C.
General Assembly authorized a new dental school at East Carolina University,
preceded by some debate about whether
the state needed another dental school.
Also, Charlotte is the largest U.S. city
with no medical school. Roper wondered: Would the Legislature do the same
thing for Charlotte it did for ECU?
He suggested to then-Chancellor
James Moeser and UNC System President Erskine Bowles ’ 67 that they investigate. An internal team concluded that
the best way to satisfy Charlotte and
avoid starting a new freestanding school
was to include satellite campuses in
Charlotte and Asheville for third- and
fourth-year students.
The plan is for UNC to grow its
first-year classes to 230 from 160 students starting in fall 2010.
“This isn’t gonna be cheap,” Roper
said. The good news is it’s less expensive
than building a new freestanding campus. But the numbers are staggering: The
report of the Board of Governors’
approval last spring (which includes
nearly doubling the size of the ECU
school) said it would cost about $450
million over 10 years. Charlotte and
Asheville will need facilities costing
maybe $30 million each. The per-year
addition to the cost of faculty is about
$25 million, not including the satellites.
UNC plans to replace Berryhill Hall,
built in 1970, with a building more than
twice its size. It is looking to the N.C.
General Assembly for the money.
— David E. Brown ’ 75
If you’ve ever wondered whether every dollar truly counts, consider
the cause of Extended Disaster Relief, a student organization at
Carolina founded after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The key word there is
“extended.” The group
began during the
storm’s aftermath,
when the nation
was riveted to the
problems in New
Orleans and the Gulf
Coast region. EDR’s
founders Laura
Williamson ’08 and
Mary Small ’08 pledged to stay focused until help was no longer needed.
Since 2005, more than 350 UNC students, faculty and staff have made 16 trips,
doing everything from gutting houses to tutoring schoolchildren – contributing
more than 21,000 work hours. They have five more trips planned.
EDR exists on a shoestring budget, and
was helped by a grant from the Carolina Center
for Public Service – another organization
that benefits from your Annual Fund
contributions.
Private giving makes all these things possible. Gifts to the Carolina Annual Fund support opportunities
on campus that enrich the lives of students, faculty and staff every day. To support the Carolina Center
for Public Service, or any other campus entity of your choice, visit annualfund.unc.edu.
