News > May 1, 2008

By Caitlin Brooks | Staff writer

From renovation plans to new staff and administrators to controversies that got students talking, the 2007-2008 academic year was one of change for the university.

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University President Nathan O. Hatch addressed the university senate in April to discuss the many changes the university will undergo in upcoming years. (Alison Cox/Old Gold & Black)

Tuition and fees will rise on a number of levels.

Undergraduate tuition will go up 6.8 percent to $36,560, an increase of more than $2,300 over this year.

There will also be increases for law, graduate, summer school and study abroad fees. A new student health fee of $315 will be charged to all undergraduates and most Reynolda campus graduate students.

On-campus parking fees will jump to $500, up from the previous $325.

Housing costs will rise 2.9 to 10 percent, depending on the type of room.

The Old Gold & Black estimates total cost per average student will exceed $47,000 per year.

To defray rising costs, the university pledges more financial aid, promising that any family with an income of less than $40,000 will not have to take out more than $4,000 in loans.

The university suffered a terrible loss over the summer with the death of Head Basketball Coach Skip Prosser and faced the 2007-2008 season with the appointment of Dino Gaudio’s as new head coach of basketball.

Gaudio had long been the behind-the-scenes support for Prosser’s coaching staff as the former associate head coach for the last six years.

Prosser and Gaudio had worked together for a total of 17 years, so their styles are most certainly intertwined.

Prosser will always represent an era of Wake basketball and his memory will go with this team and many squads to follow. Wake Forest University and BB&T Corporation reached an agreement to change the name of Groves Stadium to BB&T Field.

The 10-year deal was announced Sept. 5 and was honored between the first and second quarters of the Nebraska game Sept. 8.

The deal is just another in a long line of steps to increase the profile of the Demon Deacon football team.

The stadium will be known as BB&T Field in all publications and announcements but will not officially be changed over until the beginning of the 2008 season, which coincides with the new Deacon Tower, slated to be completed in July.

Deacon Tower, which began construction in late 2006, will be seven stories tall and will give the stadium a new press box and club section, as well as box seats.

It is reported to cost around $45 million.

On Sep. 26, the administration announced the realignment of the Calloway School of Business and Accountancy and the Babcock Graduate School of Management under a single dean.

“It will be the new dean’s responsibility to think and plan strategically for business and management education – to capitalize on our strengths, promote collaboration in teaching and scholarship and create innovative opportunities to ensure that our students have the most comprehensive and forward-looking experience possible,” Tiefenthaler said in a press release.

Steve Reinemund, former PepsiCo chief executive officer and chairman, was announced as the university’s new dean of business April 22.

University President Nathan O. Hatch gave the first annual state of the university address on April 8 in Wait Chapel where he assured faculty, staff and administrators of all the university’s campuses that, “we propose to continue the university’s practice of moderate growth.”

This will include increasing enrollment by 80 students in the fall and increasing the total size of the university by a maximum of 500 students over the next five years.

This increase set the campus abuzz with concerns about its implications for ease of class registration and the university’s reputation as a small, intimate community. Feb. 11 brought the news of impending eviction to the residents of Faculty Apartments in the form of a letter slipped under their doors.

Residents of all 10 apartments would have to vacate their homes by May 25.

Each apartment would be given a one-time $500 stipend to help allay moving costs.

The move stemmed from a demand of the Strategic Plan that outlined the need for increased student housing on campus.

“Campus housing is at capacity, leaving the university with no options when, for various reasons, more students want to live on campus ... Second, a recent study by the Arts and Sciences research group indicated that our aging residence halls need significant improvements and renovations. If we are to make these changes, we must have alternate on-campus student housing while construction is underway. Finally, if at any time in the future the trustees approve an enrollment increase – even a very small one – we must be prepared to accommodate it,” the letter by Vice President of Student Life Kenneth Zick read.

Many residents felt that the move was steeped in secrecy and demonstrated a lack of professional respect.

“I feel that I have been lied to. I have not been respected as a professional,” one resident said.

“I’ve been going over the whole situation in my head; who do I blame for all the lies?”

The ensuing controversy and subsequent debate shook the campus as many faculty, staff and students rallied behind the residents of Faculty Apartments.

In a March 4 letter to the university, Hatch announced the administration’s final verdict on the apartments. Residents of buildings six, seven and eight must move out by May 25, either to another of the buildings or off campus.

If they choose to leave, the university will compensate them a total of $3,000, in addition to local moving expenses.

The majority of residents, those living in buildings 1-5 and 9-10, have the option to move out by June 30 and receive $2,500 plus moving costs, or they can choose to stay through the end of May 2009 at the latest.

At that point, all the apartment buildings will be made into student housing.

“We were never asking for money. We want respect and openness in decision making and real commitment to fostering community,” wrote a group of apartment residents in a statement given to the Old Gold & Black March 5.

“Dr. Hatch, please publicly admit that you and your administration were wrong to carry out discussions whose implications were so far-reaching, without consulting those to be affected.”

The Benson University Center Food Court will see major renovations, as announced in a Feb. 12 statement from the board of trustees.

Shorty’s will remain a restaurant, but the proposed plan aims to update and expand the eating place in order to incorporate a fully-functional kitchen and offer more food options.

The university is hoping that this will increase the popularity of Shorty’s around campus.

The university is also considering keeping the restaurant open for later hours if the demand goes up as they expect.

Shorty’s neighbor, Bodega, a store that currently offers a variety of snacks and beverages, will be converted into a deli.

During these renovations, Shorty’s and Bodega will be closed.

Benson will re-open to students in spring of 2009 when the first phase of the Benson renovations is projected to have finished.

Phase two of the renovations will begin during the summer of 2009.

Phase two plans propose redoing the rest of the Benson Food Court, including the seating area.

The plans suggest bringing in a wider variety of food options.

It is projected to include both international foods (which would rotate from day to day with options like Thai, Mexican and Greek) and local cuisine.

Chick-fil-a will remain in the food court.

The university’s Pizza Hut, located on the building’s second floor, closed on March 18.

The copy center, which is currently located across from Pizza Hut, will be moved into the space.

Meanwhile, the current copy center space will become extra seating for patrons of the Benson Center’s food court.

Though the closing is being incorporated into renovation plans for the Benson Food Court, Pizza Hut closed of its own volition.

Construction will begin over the summer to remodel ZSR’s two 24-hour study rooms – one to be converted into a coffee shop and the other into an updated study space. They plan to complete work by fall.

Some within the administration are exploring bringing a Starbucks to that location.

“There has been discussion, but there has not been a decision made as far as what coffee shop it will be,” said Kevin Cox, assistant vice president for public affairs. The campus is torn over which coffee shop should be put into ZSR.

The advisory board of Campus Grounds, the student-run coffeehouse, believes a starbucks in the library would put them out of business.