NC State Athlete Dorm Draws Concern from UNC Board of Governors

A new residence hall for basketball players at North Carolina State University caused contention at the UNC Board of Governor’s Meeting on Friday.

Three members of the board – Marty Kotis, Bill Webb, and Thom Goolsby – voiced objections to a proposed residence hall, tentatively named Case Commons, because of the building’s price tag.

NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson defended the $15 million proposal for the 62-bed facility.

“Mr. Kotis, I agree 100 percent. And I certainly wouldn’t have approved this project if it was a standard residence hall,” he says. “But the reality is what we’re building is, for lack of a better term, a boutique residence hall.”

The main objection focused on the per-bed cost, checking in at more than $240,000, when compared with the only other new residence hall that has been approved by the board – a 350-bed dorm at Appalachian State with a $32 million projected cost – translating to a nearly $92,000 per-bed cost.

Woodson added the small size of the project is making it more expensive per bed, and he said he wouldn’t have approved the proposal if it were to impact student fees.

The facility will be paid for by what Woodson called “private donors” also known as the NC State athletic boosters – the “Wolfpack Club.”

Per NCAA rules, more than 50 percent of the residence hall must be designated to non-athletes, but Woodson says Case Commons would house the men’s and women’s basketball teams. Woodson adds the residence hall will be located next to athletics support services to allow for easy access to academic assistance for student-athletes.

Ultimately, the board approved the proposal.

There are still more hurdles to be cleared before construction can begin, but design work is scheduled to begin in February. It could still be more than a year-and-a-half before shovels are turning any dirt on the NC State campus for the boutique residence hall for the basketball programs.

Goolsby and Webb, who voted against the residence hall, were two of the members who were at their first Board of Governors meeting. The North Carolina Senate appointed both to four-year terms earlier this year.

System President Tom Ross welcomed all of the new board members during his address.

Ross added his thanks for the lobbying that board members had done in anticipation of the state budget.

“Like the rest of state government, we are eager to see a final state budget put in place,” he says. “But based upon what is going into the conference committee for consideration, we believe that what will come out will eventually provide us with the best university budget we’ve seen in years.”

We are now more than a month into the new fiscal year with no finalized budget plan coming from the legislature. The House and Senate agreed to a continuing resolution in late June to allow the government to continue operating, but that is scheduled to expire on Friday.

Board member R. Doyle Parrish was not in attendance at the meeting as he has taken a leave of absence from the board until the resolution of domestic assault charges. He is due in Wake County Court on August 26.