BUZZ
As part of a new policy proposal, the University of North Carolina is considering defunding its student legal aid offices system-wide.
Ashley McAlarney, an attorney who leads Student Legal Services at UNC Charlotte, informed student volunteers in her office about the possible closure last week, Niner Times reports.
“If approved, this would mean the closure of UNC Charlotte Student Legal Services, Inc. (as well as our counterparts at Chapel Hill, NC State, and App State),” McAlarney told volunteers, according to the report.
“We do not have a timeline for when a decision will be made or when the regulation goes into effect, if applicable,” she said, adding that the firm will continue “to operate business as usual” for now.
The draft policy revises how student activity fees may be spent, and the funding for student legal services comes out of those fees.
Specifically, the proposed policy bans student activity fees from being used “to provide or subsidize legal advice, counsel, or representation to individual students or student groups, whether delivered through university-employed staff, external counsel, or affiliated entities.”
Other prohibitions in the draft include using the fees for charitable donations and student scholarships or grants.
It is not clear when the UNC Board of Governors plans to discuss the draft policy again, according to the report.
A system spokesperson told The Daily Tar Heel, the student newspaper of UNC Chapel Hill, that budget cuts are propelling the proposed changes.
“The board is looking at ways to contain student costs in every way possible. A draft proposal on fee spending limits has been circulated for comment, but no decision has been made. We look forward to hearing feedback from the campuses,” spokesperson Andy Wallace said.
Meanwhile, McAlarney told Niner Times her office has overseen more than 1,200 students’ cases for free since 2022, including “landlord-tenant disputes, traffic violations, and powers of attorney.”
Immigration services also have become a big part of the legal aid offices’ work, the Technician, the student newspaper at North Carolina State University, reports:
Student Legal Services serves roughly 3,000 students annually, with graduate students comprising over 40% of the nonprofit’s clients. Immigration services are the fastest-growing legal services for the organization, which employs four full-time attorneys, including one immigration attorney.
Each office runs with the money from a small portion of each student’s fee. UNC Chapel Hill’s Carolina Student Legal Services receives $15.76 out of each student’s fees per year, according to The Daily Tar Heel.
Its director, Fran Muse, told the student newspaper that the office provides legal counsel to more than 1,000 UNC student groups, helping them plan events, review contracts, and more.
Student government leaders at UNC Chapel Hill and NCSU also voiced opposition to the change.
“Deplorable” is how UNC Chapel Hill Student Body President Adolfo Alvarez described the draft policy.
“I don’t see the way that this would benefit students,” he told the student newspaper.
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