Charlotte football heads to Plan B
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:46 pm
So much for that meteoric rise to I-A while leaving ASU and I-AA football in their smoldering wake.
/schadenfreude
Also an editorial:
/schadenfreude
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/423/story/640442.html49ers review football Plan B
By Ron Green Jr.
rgreen@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Thursday, Apr. 02, 2009
charlotte 49ers
Turning commitments into payments for Charlotte 49ers football seat licenses is off to a sluggish start while school officials are reconsidering the overall scope of the football initiative.
The difficult economy led chancellor Philip Dubois to present a scaled-back ‘Plan B' for the start-up program to board of trustees during a February meeting.
The new plan would require approximately $20 million rather than the $45 million called for the original plan. The scaled-back model would still allow the program to begin play in 2013.
The new plan would include a sports complex using a pre-engineered structure. The plan would also add approximately 11,000 bleacher seats to the 4,000 seats around the Belk track complex to create a football stadium.
"It gets you started," Dubois said Thursday.
No vote was taken on Dubois's Plan B proposal. A vote on the plan is expected at a later date.
Also an editorial:
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinio ... 34616.htmlCan UNCC have it all in a recession?
$45 million sought for football even as endowment shrinks.
Posted: Wednesday, Apr. 01, 2009
In the midst of a deep recession, UNC Charlotte is at work raising $45 million for a football program.
There's nothing wrong with that. Nothing, that is, until you consider the fact the endowment it uses to fund academic scholarships is under great strain. It's one thing to stretch your fundraising muscle. It's another to do it at a time when the loss of student scholarships is all but inevitable.
Speaking in March about UNCC budget cuts to the governing board for the University of North Carolina system, Provost Joan Lorden said the university's foundation for private giving has taken a big hit since Wall Street's tumble. Such foundations are key assets for public universities, who depend on the investment income they earn to augment academic programs.
“One of our largest concerns is the loss of money in endowed scholarships and endowed professorships,” she said.
Here's the real eye-opener: Lorden said UNCC currently funds 52 endowed scholarships. If current conditions persist, she told the board that number would be down to 19 in three years time – unless donations increase to make up the gap.
