UNCC Trustees Approve Football; Students To Bear Large Cost

The Univ. of North Carolina-Charlotte (UNCC) board of trustees Friday agreed to "move ahead with starting a football team by 2013, supporting a plan that means students may pay up to $320 more in annual fees," according to April Bethea of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. The plan, unanimously approved by the board, could make UNCC's student athletic fees the "highest among other public universities in the state once fully implemented in fall 2014." Student fees were "always expected to cover a large share of the annual operating costs," but UNCC officials "hoped to rely more on private donations to pay for the stadium, field house and other facilities." However, fundraising efforts "have been hampered, in part, by the poor economy." More than $5.6M "has been committed so far through personal gifts from trustees and others and the sales of football-seat-licenses for the stadium," but seat license sales have fallen "short of a goal set by the chancellor last year." The trustees said that they "hope private gifts pick up," but until then the board has "agreed to charge students an additional $120 annual debt service fee to pay for the construction costs." North Carolina lawmakers still "need to approve construction of a 15,000-seat stadium," which "could later be expanded to up to 40,000 seats." The plan also "calls for building a permanent stadium, fieldhouse, concessions area and restrooms from the onset, instead of renting some of the facilities." UNCC, "to comply with federal Title IX rules," also would add "three women's sports, including likely field hockey and lacrosse" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 12/12).

FULL SPEED AHEAD: In Charlotte, Ron Green Jr. noted the timetable for "creating the new program is filled with various ... critical steps." The "first priority will be the construction of a 38,000-square-foot building that will be home to the football program," and UNCC AD Judy Rose estimated that that facility will cost between $12-13M. Rose "expects it to be easier to raise money despite the difficult economy ... with the commitment to a football program now a reality." She "anticipates hiring a head coach by July 2011, giving the coach and his staff two years to create a team" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 12/12). In Charlotte, Scott Fowler wrote the "only things that could derail" the program now "will be if somebody does something really stupid or if we all unexpectedly enter another, even worse economic freefall" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 12/12).

CUTTING COSTS: Hofstra Univ. AD Jack Hayes said the school's decision to drop its football program was the result of a "reallocation of resources; it wasn't an economic crisis." Hayes: "The program that was ultimately looked at was the one that was most expensive and the one that provided the most resources to be utilized for other areas of the institution." Hayes added he "would imagine there are a lot of schools looking at what Hofstra did or what Northeastern did" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/13).