The secondary source of funding for the project is from private donations. However, no donations have actually been collected yet.

Ground was broken on the construction site of the new student center earlier this year. The project has a price tag of $120 million, according to Dan Adams, associate vice chancellor for campus enterprises. It is expected to open in the fall of 2014.

Students – some of whom will not benefit directly from the project – will be the biggest monetary contributors to the project.

Patrick Devore , a senior in meteorology, is the chairman of the Student Senate Tuition and Fees committee. He said that students will pay $5.3 million this year, which comes out to $185 per full-time student.

“That fee will go up to $275 [per student] next year and stay at $290 the following year for at least the next 22 years,” Devore said.

This means if enrollment were to remain static at 28,000 fee-paying students, which is the basis on which the Budget Office currently makes its calculations, students will collectively pay over $8.4 million every year for over two decades.

Devore also said the $120 million price tag does not include interest accrued between now and the time the debt service fee is rolled off.

According to Jonathon Smith, a junior in agricultural education and president of the Student Center Board of Directors, the only way to fund this project is through student fees.

“The state of North Carolina does not fund student-life buildings such as student centers,” Smith said. “Without student fees, there would be no project.”

The secondary source of funding for the project, according to Adams, is from private donations. However, no donations have actually been collected yet.

“Our fundraising efforts will begin immediately following the development of several tools, including the design of a donor brochure, several drawings of the future Talley and a video walk-through of the completed building,” Adams said.

These tools to solicit donors will be completed by the end of November, according to Adams. They could not be completed earlier because the architectural plans for the building have just recently been finalized, according to Smith and Mary Cobb Randall, a graduate student in accounting.

“Identifying spaces [that donors might have an interest in supporting] earlier in the project’s development would have been premature,” Randall said.

After these tools are established, Randall said donations will allow the project to be fully funded.

“Private donations will enable the project to be either enhanced or to reduce the student fee associated with the project,” Randall said.

Smith said this is a crucial time in the fundraising effort for the project.

“We know the scope of the project and we have broken ground, so we are in that sweet spot where we have boots on the ground and a plan so donors have an active project to give to,” Smith said.

Additionally, Campus Enterprises will gain funding for the project from profits from the N.C. State Bookstore, University Dining, space rental lease agreements and naming opportunities, according to Adams.

According to Randall, naming opportunities can be done at any time – even after the completion of the project.

“Our [current] student center was originally named the University Student Center upon its opening in 1972 and was renamed the Talley Student Center in 1998,” Randall said.

Complaints have arisen from students who are dissatisfied with paying for something from which they will never directly benefit, but Jennifer Gilmore, director of marketing and communications for Campus Enterprises, said these types of investments are not new and are necessary to keep the University moving forward.

“Every generation of students has made some sort of sacrifice for the next generation. As a member of the class of 1990, I have seen first hand what student fees have built in the past 21 years.

“Many projects around campus have been completed as a result of student fees, including Health Services, Carmichael Gym and Witherspoon Center,” Gilmore said. “Without these fees, the University cannot keep the campus current.”

Michael Atkins, a junior in political science, said he is in favor of the student fees for the project, as long as students are made aware exactly how the funds are being used.

“The fees are reasonable for the size and scale of the project,” Atkins said. “Having been a freshman during the Rally for Talley initiative, I can say that students were not made aware of what exactly the project would entail. I’m sure students would support the project more if they felt an adequate amount of information had been provided to them.”

Atkins also brought up a controversial issue from the Rally for Talley initiative: the student body vote on the project.

“The student body voted no to the renovations, but for some reason the vote within Student Senate did not reflect this, which points to some major flaws in the type of representation that students are receiving,” Atkins said.

Atkins also said while he agrees investments must be made in the future of the University, he does not think the University is investing correctly.

“A new Talley will benefit future students, but using these fees for the development of academic support and programs is more important and will benefit the students today and tomorrow,” Atkins said.

Stuart Bumgarner, a sophomore in zoology, said he believes the amount of money spent on the project is justified as long as it produces a better atmosphere on campus.

“Certain University policies have turned N.C. State into a commuter campus,” Bumgarner said. “The University needs to do far more to encourage a sense of community here. If the new Talley Student Center does not foster this idea through new programs, venues and opportunities, it will have been a profound waste of money.”

Randall said she hopes the project will turn into a catalyst for student life on campus.

“[The new student center] will be a place that students visit on a regular basis,” Randall said. “This is a place that is all about our students.”

This quality, according to Randall, will be the appealing factor to donors.

“The fact that this project touches so many students will be attractive to donors,” Randall said. “They want to see that their contribution is having an impact and is appreciated.”