UNC-CH officials develop health fee reduction plan

Oct. 19--CHAPEL HILL -- After the size of UNC-Chapel Hill's health fee and its use for sexual health education programs raised the eyebrows of some UNC-system governing board members earlier this year, Chapel Hill leaders developed a three-year plan for paring it back.

At a meeting in February, the UNC-system Board of Governors approved the 2014-15 school year tuition and fees for system institutions except for the student health fee at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In a memo to the budget committee sent before the meeting, board member Steve Long called for a $20 fee reduction in the school's health fee. He said UNC-Chapel Hill's fee was comparatively large, it was being used for needs other than for student health, and it was placing an "undue emphasis on sexual health at the expense of more pressing issues for students."

In particular, Long highlighted the use of fees by the health advocacy department Student Wellness for "non-essential programs and services" including support for staff to run a theater group called Interactive Theatre Carolina that used drama for education on wellness issues; for hiring three part-time "sexperts" to provide sexual health information; and for sponsoring a sexual education seminar called "Orgasm? Yes Please!"

"Approving this proposed decrease would underscore the desire of the BOG that funds be used only for their intended purposes and that we are seeking to make education more affordable and more effected," Long said in the memo.

In April, the board acted to set UNC-Chapel Hill's health fee at $416 -- which was $20 less than the fee inthe prior school year. According to meeting minutes, they also directed the campus to conduct an "extensive external review" of student health services.

After forming a group that included health care professionals, students, alumni and trustees, and administrators, UNC-Chapel Hill officials started the review in the summer and fall of the health fee and of Campus Health Services.

"We were asked by the Board of Governors to review our health fees and services to ensure that we were providing our services in as effective and efficient a manner as possible," said Winston Crisp, UNC-Chapel Hill's vice chancellor for student affairs, in an email.

They came up with a proposed plan that, if approved, would cut the fee by another $36 in the next school year and by another $10 in the 2016-17 year. That's in addition to the $20 reduction for the current year.

The plan ultimately has to be approved by the Board of Governors. Joni Worthington, a spokeswoman for the UNC system office, said it will go before the board during the normal tuition and fee approval process this winter.

In the email, Crisp said the university will not have to cut health programs because of this year's $20 reduction. However, he said the university has stopped using student health fee revenue to cover certain sexual health education programs. He also said Student Affairs is no longer sponsoring the particular program "Orgasm? Yes Please!" Regarding the other programs he said their review is ongoing.

He said "legitimate questions have been raised" about whether the health fee was the most appropriate funding source for the sexual health programs.

"In response to that, we have removed those programs from the health fee while we determine the most appropriate funding sources for them and for the scope of the programs," Crisp said.

Ken Pittman, chief operating officer for UNC-Chapel Hill Campus Health Services, said that while campus officials agreed that the naming of the "Orgasm? Yes Please" was "a somewhat provocative title to get students to their program," he said it was "related to sexual health education, STI prevention, and those kinds of topics, and healthy relationships as well,"

And regarding the drama program, he said it is used as a way to educate students about relationship issues, sexual violence prevention and other topics. He said those programs operate under the direction of Student Affairs.

Regarding Campus Health, Pittman said there are no expected service changes because of this year's fee reduction. He said Campus Health has been operating at a profit through revenues from the health fee and from billing insurance for certain services, and has put surplus in a fund largely earmarked for new student health building.

"As we have grown over the years relative to the scope of our programs and services, we've really outgrown the building that we currently occupy," he said.

In the current year, he said they have budgeted for an expected "small" surplus even with the current-year fee reduction. He said with the future cuts, their ability to put money toward the capital project will be "minimized."

They have more than $10 million of surplus for the expected more than $50 million project, but he said that if that project were to be prioritized, they would look to raise the money at that time

He said health officials have also discussed additional possible revenue streams such as opening the pharmacy for faculty and staff to generate additional revenues. Currently, he said services, such as counseling, are provided free-of-charge to students to prevent co-pays and co-insurance costs from keeping students from accessing health services.

"Our position at this point is that there will always be a value in having a health fee, which allows student health centers to provide a baseline level of service that creates maximum access for our students to make sure that that health care (cost) is not a ... barrier for students," he said. "What that scope of service is I think is flexible and may always be under discussion."

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