News and Observer reports on the bloated UNC admin system and quotes Erskine as saying cuts are in the works:

This decade has been good for associate vice chancellors at UNC-Chapel Hill. Their numbers have nearly doubled, from 10 to 19, and the money paid to them has more than tripled, to a total of nearly $4 million a year.

The university now admits that some of these people were in jobs that were not vital. They represent the rapid management growth in the 16-campus UNC system that has added tens of millions of dollars to annual payrolls.

Now, with a tough economy and sinking tax revenues, UNC officials and state lawmakers say these jobs need cutting first.

Related.

But as long as they expand “early childhood education” I guess no one will care …

Carolina Journal:

UNC President Erskine Bowles stumbled into some ethics issues when he joined the N.C. State University Board of Trustees in supporting first lady Mary Easley’s pending $180,000-per-year, five-year employment contract at the university.

Bowles has a business relationship with NCSU Board Chairman D. McQueen Campbell, and Campbell’s company has used Bowles’ position as UNC president in real estate investment promotional material. State law prohibits a public official from knowingly allowing his public position to be used in advertising activities that might generate financial gain for him or others.