In taking over as artistic director of UNC-Chapel Hill's PlayMakers Repertory Theater four years ago, Joseph Haj faced a $500,000 budget hole and presumed cutbacks.

But rather than reduce shows to save money, Haj figured the repertory theater should do more.

He was right. There's no more debt and the theater is thriving.

Dave Hart has the details in Sunday's Chapel Hill News.

Following on a blog post from last week...

The Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill will pay former Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina CEO Robert Greczyn up to $50,000 for his work as a visiting professor there.

Greczyn became a visiting professor Oct. 1 and will lecture on insurance, health care and health care reform and is expected to serve as a policy advisor and resource for the school and its students.

His exact pay depends on just how many classes he teaches and projects he works on, but will likely be less than $50,000 for the year, said Ramona Dubose, a spokeswoman for the school.

He's on a one-year contract renewable for a second year and will be paid from private funds, Dubose said.

There's a lot more going on at UNC-Chapel Hill than just a football investigation.

That's one message that comes through in Chancellor Holden Thorp's annual State of the University address, which he released this morning via video.

(His predecessor, James Moeser, used to present the speech live)

In the roughly 8-minute address, Thorp talks about a pile of good things going on at Carolina - like new Rhodes Scholars, stellar research funding and a new innovation initiative intended to better harness university research and find better uses for it.

But the football investigation does get a mention, near the end. It's short and, by now, familiar.

Thorp says in part:

I’m convinced that we can be both an academic powerhouse and field a competitive football team without sacrificing our integrity.

That’s the only way we’ll do it, and I know everyone involved is committed to that. We know you expect us to uphold Carolina’s values, and we will.

You can read a transcript of Thorp's address here, or view the video below.

A day after UNC President Erskine Bowles urged the public university system's governing board to focus on deferred maintenance, that board's chairwoman did so as well.

Hannah Gage told her fellow board members Friday morning they should heed Bowles' recommendation that the next UNC system budget be short on expansion and construction requests while focusing on addressing a massive repair and renovation backlog.

It's tough for campus leaders not to leave their mark on their universities, and a repaired roof or steam pipe is decidedly un-glamorous, Gage said.

"Every chancellor wants to be remembered for new buildings and new programs that's the exciting stuff," she said. "But saying no and tapping on the brakes takes tremendous courage."

The UNC system has more than $2 billion in repair and renovation needs that have been deferred over the last decade, according to this recent News & Observer report.

N.C. State economist Michael Walden is this year's winner  fo the UNC system's Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Public Service.

The ubiquitous Walden, a perpetual presence in the North Carolina media, was honored Friday for his work bringing complex economics principles to the masses in simple terms.

Walden has been at NCSU for 32 years. A professor of agricultural economics, the oft-quoted Walden delivers his own radio show, has delivered more than 1,200 public workshops, written 700 columns and appeared on more than 600 television programs.

His knowledge of consumer economics has been tapped by legislators, governors and local government leaders.

"He makes the complex simple," said Hannah Gage, chairwoman of the UNC system's Board of Governors.

Walden is the fourth winner of the public service award, which carries a $7,500 cash prize.

UNC system President Erskine Bowles said this morning the university should focus on paying down its massive backlog of deferred maintenance before approving any new facilities across the 17-campus system.

Speaking this morning during a meeting of the UNC system's Board of Governors, Bowles has painted a fairly bleak budget picture for the upcoming year. He said he's told campus chancellors to plan for 10 percent budget cuts.

With that as the economic backdrop, Bowles is recommending against new construction, particularly since the university has a backlog of deferred maintenance totaling $2.1 billion.

He must have read the News & Observer Sunday.

The Duke University campus has been abuzz over the past week over one female student's faux thesis - published on the Internet - in which she studies, compares and evaluates the sexual prowess of her bedfellows.

Yes, it's salacious. The student, who has graduated, created a painstakingly detailed report detailing her sexual dalliances with 13 male Duke athletes.

And then she ranked them. Yikes.

You'll be shocked to learn that this report has blazed through cyberspace at warp speed, thanks in large part to its prominent display on Deadspin.com. You can find it there.

And this morning, it prompted a story from The Today Show, which identifies the student as Karen Owen.

The whole thing has a "what was she thinking" tinge to it. In the Duke Chronicle, a student columnist makes the argument that Owen is not a "crusador for feminist principles."

And Owen herself told another website, jezebel.com, that "I regret it with all my heart."

Here's what Duke spokesman Michael Schoenfeld has to say on behalf of the university:

"Our foremost concern is to provide for the well-being of our students, and to respect their privacy.  We’ve been reaching out to those who’ve been affected by this incident and will continue to support them.   

This is an unfortunate and highly visible reminder that anything you create or send in digital form can find its way to the web, where the media have an insatiable appetite for the outrageous and your privacy and reputation can be shredded with a few clicks."

Robert J. Greczyn Jr., the retired CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, is now a Gillings Visiting Professor at UNC-Chapel Hill's Gillings School of Global Public Health.

The appointment was effective Oct. 1.
 
In his new role as visiting professor of health policy and management, Greczyn will share his health care experience with faculty and staff members and students throughout the school, according to this UNC news release.

He will lecture on insurance, health care and health care reform and serve as a policy adviser and resource for faculty members and students.  School leaders will call upon Greczyn's experience and creative problem-solving to help catalyze and shape North Carolina's focus on reducing obesity.
 
"Bob Greczyn is known around the country for creating incentives, programs and innovative quality initiatives to encourage positive health behavior," said Barbara K. Rimer, the school's dean. "In a period in which we seek to understand the impact of health reform on health insurance and on people's health, having Bob Greczyn among us will be a tremendous asset. We're delighted to have him here, sharing his experiences in health care management and finance."
 
Greczyn earned a Master of Public Health degree in health policy and administration from UNC's public health school in 1981. He also completed the executive program in health care finance management at UNC.
 

Scott Ralls, president of the N.C. Community College System, will be in Washington D.C. today for the first White House Summit on Community Colleges, an event hosted by Jill Biden, wife of vice president Joe Biden. Jill Biden teaches at a community college in northern Virginia.

The summit, which will be streamed live on the White House website, will bring together a collection of community college administrators, faculty and students as well as business leaders to discuss federal and state policy issues concerning higher education.

Ralls spoke to the News & Observer Monday about the summit. Here are excerpts.

This is the first community college summit. What is the significance of that?

There's been more discussion about community colleges in the last 12 to 18 months than maybe in our previous years of existence. We've seen the growth of interest nationally over the last few years when presidents started mentioning them in State of the Union speeches. I think we've grown out of the shadows in higher education.

Why?

A couple of things. Community colleges are so jobs-focused that because of the recession, the attention on community colleges rises. Secondarily, but related to long-term economic prosperity - there's been  a lot of attention on college completion rates, the need for citizens broadly to gain post-secondary credentials, which for us means diplomas and industry certifications as well as degrees.

Because of that need, almost half of undergraduates are community college students. There's a realization that to meet national goals, it requires community colleges.

What can the federal government offer community colleges?

Like any part of government, we have funding challenges. I don't know that I or anyone else expect a great deal of funding resources, but I think the federal government plays a role in higher education funding. Community colleges have not received a great deal of federal funding in the past, but I think there are opportunities for the federal government to support community colleges.

There's a great network of workforce development and there's an opportunity for more in that regard. One of our greatest challenges right now is facilities. As much as we've grown in the last two years, and in North Carolina we've grown 23 percent in the last two years, we still face great capacity issues, which limit our abilities to reach more citizens.

Can you do some of it online?

Community colleges are typically the ones most out in front in distance education and that's the case in North Carolina. On average, our degree students take at least two classes online. Part of that is due to our student population.on average, our students are closer to 30 years of age than 20, so distance education is a way of life. But you can't do everything through distance education.

We don't teach distance education welding classes. Most classes can be made more efficient by distance education and many can be taught entirely by distance education, but many require experience in shops and labs, hands-on experience.

 What is the primary challenge facing community colleges that you hope gets discussed in Washington?

Duke and Carolina are playing nice again.

The two universities have announced a new partnership aimed at promoting student-initiated projects linking the two institutions. The Kenan-Biddle Partnership is a $150,000 venture funded by the William R. Kenan, Jr., Charitable Trust and the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation.

Students on both campuses will write proposals for collaborative arts, sciences and humanities projects intended to have a productive affect on both campus communities. Each project must include at least one public exhibition, presentation or performance and preference will be given to proposals made jointly by students from both campuses.

Funds can be used flexibly for project support, salary, as well as materials. Grant requests should be for about $5,000; however, larger requests may be considered depending upon the scope and impact of the project. This total awards competition will grant up to $50,000 annually as part of a three-year grant by the foundations. The projects are expected to run for a calendar year, with possible renewal.

The proposals will be reviewed by an advisory committee of students, faculty and administrators co-chaired by Ronald Strauss, executive associate provost at UNC, and Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs at Duke.

Though rivals, the two universities have created collaborative projects before, perhaps most notably the Robertson Scholars Program, a merit scholarship program allowing students to take courses on both campuses.

Proposal applications may be submitted now. The deadline is Nov. 15. Decisions will be made by Dec. 10 for a Jan. 1, 2011 start. Applicants should visit www.studentaffairs.duke.edu/kenan-biddle for more information.