Broken Procedures and No Public Records: Validity of UNC Executive Double-Dipping Policy Repeal in Question.
The UNC Board of Governors named then-interim chancellor Lee Roberts to the permanent chancellor position on August 9, 2024, issuing him a work agreement on the same day.
Screen shot composite of Lee Roberts’ UNC System work agreement, obtained by public records request from the UNC System.
In Item 2 of Roberts’ work agreement, the Board of Governors explicitly requires Roberts to abide by UNC Policy 300.2.2.2[R], the 25-year-old policy against executive double dipping.
The Board of Governors had repealed this policy two months prior.
View the full UNC Policy 300.2.2.2[R].
Records request for “any documents which reference the repeal of this policy […] any meetings in which the repeal was discussed, and any documents naming attendees present at these meetings; [any] communications, including emails and text messages, between involved parties which reference the repeal” returned no records, and the following response from the UNC System Office:
“We have conducted an exhaustive search and have concluded that there are no written communications that would be responsive to why 300.2.2.2[R] was moved.”
Following this response, the policy disappeared from the index of the UNC Policy Manual and Code, the governing policy document for the UNC System.
Screenshot from the UNC Policy Manual and Code index with notation showing where 300.2.2.2[R] - Regulation for Senior Academic and Administrative Officers on External Professional Activities for Pay and Honoraria has been removed.
According to the same Policy Manual, policy changes can only be made by the Board of Governors, according to established procedures—at publicly-announced, publicly-held meetings with a quorum of directors.
No Board of Governors meeting was held on the day the Board of Governors repealed 300.2.2.2[R].
The Board of Governors held a meeting the day after 300.2.2.2[R] was repealed.
In contrast, pages from a January 2024 Board of Governors meeting illustrate the process by which the Board of Governors made legitimate modifications to Section 1100.1 of the UNC Policy Manual—including meeting minutes naming the policy to be discussed for revisions, outlining the committee discussion and recommended revisions, including review legal counsel, and text changes noted in red within the policy itself.
North Carolina Open Government Coalition director Pate McMichael questions the validity of the policy change, emphasizing that “unless I'm missing something, the procedures matter quite a bit.”
