Earlier this year, Charlotte’s board of trustees voted to add football to its varsity athletics program in 2013. The decision, supported by Charlotte Chancellor Philip Dubois and by the student body, was the result of nearly two years of work by a committee formed to study the issue. The school will also add three women’s sports; the committee recommended lacrosse and field hockey with a third to be decided later. Athletics Director Judy Rose, who called it an “honor” to begin implementing the plan, answered questions for The NCAA News about the future program.

Q  Why is football important to Charlotte?

Rose: It is important for many reasons, including the long-term stability for our athletics program, hopefully in the Football Bowl Subdivision down the road. That is where all the decisions are made from an NCAA governance standpoint. We are one of the largest public institutions without football, and the planned growth for our university is to have 35,000 students by 2020. Football will add tremendously to the campus life for our students and help engage our alums who will have a reason to return to campus on six Saturdays a year. We believe football will help instill greater pride in our students and alumni, as well as creating greater ties between the university and the Charlotte community.

Q  What kind of feedback have you heard from the community – students, fans and alumni – since the decision was announced?

Rose: The university community is ecstatic. Charlotte is a vibrant city, and the corporate community has always supported university initiatives that enhance the entire community. Students turned out in large numbers for a football pep rally before the chancellor’s announcement of his recommendation, a feasibility committee that included Charlotte leaders unanimously recommended the addition, and we have exceeded preliminary goals in terms of the numbers of reservations from individuals who not only want but have pledged to purchase season tickets.

Q  Are you concerned about raising the funds in this economic climate? Why or why not?

Rose: Certainly I am concerned about the state of the economy; however, philanthropy usually continues when there is a recession. It will be up to us to state our case and do our homework and hopefully the recession will improve quicker than we think. We have five years before we would field a team. The overall goal is to raise $45.3 million, but if we raise half of that we will be able to handle starting football; the remainder would be for an on campus stadium and that is certainly one of our goals.

Q  Where will the team play?

Rose: At this time, we are not sure. We are researching both on- and off-campus options, but ultimately we want to play our games on campus.

Q  How do you think the addition of football will change the campus?

Rose: Campus spirit will be the main impact. There is an excitement around football that no other sport can rival. Hopefully it will connect more alums, and once connected, they will continue to give back and return to the university for functions. Like I said, students have overwhelmingly voiced their desire for football, and more than 70 percent of the preliminary reservations for 49er seat licenses have come from alums. 

Q  You also plan to add three women’s sports after the football program is begun. How were those chosen, and what are your hopes for them?

Rose: We again did a great amount of research. We first looked at the women’s sports that the Atlantic-10 Conference sponsors that we currently don’t sponsor. We also looked at what other area universities sponsor in regard to creating competition schedules that make sense geographically. We looked at sports that field large numbers to help us in regard to satisfying the needs of Title IX. Nothing is concrete at this point, so we have time to tweak if the climate and interests change.

Q  What is the timeline for hiring a football staff, beginning the recruiting process and other milestones?

Rose: The coach will be hired in 2011, and he will begin to assimilate his staff. The first class of athletes will be on campus in 2012.

Q  What are the expectation and hopes for the team?

Rose: Naturally, we would like to be as competitive as possible, but we will be a start-up program and folks have to realize that it takes time to get where you ultimately want to be.

Q  What has been most surprising to you about this process?

Rose: Starting any new sports program is a challenge, but football is such a large sport with so many issues that the time demands on me and my staff seem endless. We still have our regular responsibilities of running the entire athletics program, and now we have the additional responsibility of football, and in particular the fund-raising to support football.

Q  What advice do you have for other schools thinking about adding football?

Rose: Do your homework and have a good business model in place. If you do these things, then you know what you are getting into and there will be fewer surprises. We realize that this is extremely challenging in light of the economic issues at hand nationally, but I am optimistic that we are on the right path.