BOT may take up signage

More than a year after discussions began regarding advertising in UNC sports venues, officials still are mulling over the possible effects of instituting corporate signage at the University.

UNC's Task Force on Signage in Athletic Facilities passed a resolution in May endorsing the idea of allowing corporate signage, but further research still must be completed before the University's governing board grants its stamp of approval.

Some expect members of the UNC Board of Trustees to discuss the developments in signage during a closed session in one of their meetings this week.

"We're still in the process of sorting out what parameter we are willing to consider," said Director of Athletics Dick Baddour, chairman of the task force. "It is still very much in the formulation stage. We certainly wouldn't expect to have anything this year."

Baddour said that if the resolution is passed, athletic facilities could begin displaying advertisements as early as next fall.

"We're not sure if it's definitely coming," Baddour said. "We've got to decide as an institution what we think would be permissible."

The need for finding different areas to fund athletic scholarships is a result of recent tuition increases.

For the first time in its history, the Educational Foundation - the booster club that funds student-athletes' scholarships - failed to cover all its scholarship obligations last year, falling several hundred thousand dollars short of the total cost.

Baddour said the scholarship budget for athletics has increased $3 million during the last five years. This year, $8.3 million was awarded in athletic scholarships, Baddour said.

The athletic department supports the scholarships through $600,000 in revenue from ticket sales and other services.

Baddour said the athletic department is not looking into other avenues of raising money.

The University has held a long tradition of steering clear of corporate advertising, and members of the community are concerned about its effects, said Doug Dibbert, president of the General Alumni Association.

"People are proud of the fact that we never have (had corporate signage)," Dibbert said. "That degree of commercialization in college athletics is something that should be avoided, if at all possible."

Officials said most other universities already have brought such fund-raising measures to their campuses, and they are researching these efforts.

"We've just really looked at who has placed signs in the past," said Associate Athletic Director Norwood Teague. "We can certainly look at other schools and what the market will bear."

Once the athletic department completes its research, a recommendation will be sent to the BOT, and members will look for tastefulness and limiting the amount of signage, said Trustee Rusty Carter.

"It's been a very cautious and deliberate evaluation to make sure that if anything is agreed upon, it will be consistent with good taste and a scope and context that will hopefully be acceptable," he said. "If it's not, it will not be accepted."

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