With the student fee committee scheduled to meet Oct. 2, the Athletics Department is requesting an increase of $55 in funding from student fees. According to Athletics Director Lee Fowler, the University is last among those in the UNC system in allocating student fees to athletics. Currently, the Athletics Department’s portion of fees is $195, while UNC-Chapel Hill allocates $250 and East Carolina has close to $500. “We’re by far the lowest in the system,” Fowler said. “We have to be competitive with Chapel Hill, who’s right above us. We’re just trying to equal them. We’re not trying to get to what the rest of them have. We know we can produce more revenue from our football and basketball games than the other schools do. Our conference affiliation brings in more money than other schools do. We’re not upset about what they’re getting, we’re just trying to get what UNC has.”
The Athletics Department is splitting its request into two categories — operating costs and capital improvements. Fowler said $25 of the proposed increase would go to the operating costs of non-revenue sports. Currently, 8.5 percent of the department’s $43 million operating budget is funded by student fees. According to Fowler, $30 would be used to generate $11.5 million in borrowed money for facilities improvements.
Fowler said these improvements would include a new playing surface and renovation to the east stands and concourse in Carter-Finley Stadium, renovation of the outdoor tennis facility, a press box and a new entrance to the N.C. State Soccer Stadium, a video scoreboard for Doak Field and a video scoreboard for Reynolds Coliseum. He said these improvements are necessary to keep up with N.C. State’s rivals. “I just like to be on a level playing field with UNC, so that’s why I think it’s very important to us,” Fowler said. “We’re supposed to compete with them, but they’ve had [greater support from student fees] for three or four years now. They’ve been able to get a lot of things done in the last three or four years that we have not been able to.”
According to Student Senate President Greg Doucette, student fees can be raised a maximum of 6.5 percent, which is the equivalent of $73.71 at the current fee levels. But the cap only applies to activities fees. The requested $25 dollars in operating costs would fall under this category, but the $30 in capital costs is exempt as an indebtedness fee.
The Athletics Department is competing with student organizations and other departments for a portion of the fee increase. Students will be able to vote in a fee referendum on Sept. 29 and 30 as to where the money is allocated. The results of the student referendum, along with the student senate recommendations, will be presented to the fee committee on Oct. 2, where a final decision is made. Fowler spoke to the Student Wolfpack Club on Sept. 17 to explain the significance of what a fee increase would do for the Athletics Department. Bobby Purcell, Wolfpack Club executive director, said it is important students vote, regardless what they think.
“We’re just trying to encourage students, just like in the elections, to turn out and be heard, whatever your choice is,” Purcell said. “Obviously we would support the fee increase because it would support athletics.”
Ryan Nilsen, a senior in English, said any fee increases could be put to better use than athletics facilities.
“I think that putting the money toward student organizations on campus or study abroad would have a much longer lasting and significant impact on students’ lives and their actual development,” Nilsen said. “I don’t see how significant funds being put to a new video scoreboard rather than being able to send a lot more kids [on] scholarships to be able to study abroad a semester — I don’t see how you could even begin to equate the significance of those two things.”
Chris Mitchell, a junior in business administration, said athletics is an important part of the University and it should not be neglected funding.
“I am all for money going to make our athletics department better,” Mitchell said. “I think athletics attracts a lot of students. Some people go to school just for their athletics programs, and ours are hurting.”
