With a new student Steering Committee and a feasibility study, the university is moving to make good on President Harris Pastides’ State of the Union promise to renovate and repurpose the Carolina Coliseum.
A new student space is sorely needed, according to Student Body President Ross Lordo. USC hasn’t added student space since 1976 — the longest time in the SEC by almost 25 years. Since the Russell House Student Union was built 42 years ago, enrollment has gone up more than 30 percent.
"So we've had more groups, we have more students, we have more need for space, but we have not added any," said Kim McMahon, the director of Campus Life and the Russell House University Union. "So that pushes some of that student life and activity off campus."
The Steering Committee will include seven or more students from various years and backgrounds. They'll work together with the university administration and WTW architects, experts in designing student unions who are contracted for the feasibility study, to create a collective vision for the space.
There aren’t any finalized plans for what might be included, but Lordo said he definitely wants more space for student organizations, such as ballrooms and meeting spaces. The location will also likely include dining facilities and study space. Lordo said the additional space would save money for organizations that typically rent Colonial Life or the Alumni Center Ballroom, which cost thousands of dollars. Renting the Russell House Ballroom currently costs anywhere from $345 to more than $800 for student organizations, depending on the options chosen.
While space usage of Russell has been fairly consistent in recent years, student organization use of academic space has increased dramatically since 2010.
Students can request rooms in various academic spaces around campus, as well as some residential spaces like the Honors Residence Hall and 650 Lincoln. Requesting rooms in Russell for peak times has to be done weeks or even months in advance.
USC is third-to-last in the SEC in student space at around seven square feet per student — Vanderbilt has more than 30. The Council for Academic Standards recommends at least 10.
On-campus space encourages large events like Dance Marathon, McMahon said.
"That's what a student union building does and what it is," she said, "that pulse of where you get and give information and you get connected every day."
The Steering Committee, which will be formed after the Jan. 19 application deadline, will go on several visits to other university’s student unions in addition to forming three subcommittees and meeting monthly.
According to the application, the committee will come up with: “ideas for the programs, services and organizations to be housed in the new union; data reports outlining facility and space needs and trends for the new union; marketing and branding messages to share the project with the university community.”
And with progress on the new union comes cost — a $10 fee for the project has already begun, with increases coming in the future. Case studies for the USC project, like University of Kentucky and North Carolina State, have included fees up to $290. The final fee structure depends on on how much of the final project is funded exclusively by student fees, according to interim associate vice president of Student Life Anna Edwards. Edwards and McMahon couldn't say when the renovation might be completed, but Lordo said students can expect to see a renovated Coliseum open in less than 10 years.
"We've got to look [at] the student body of 2025," Edwards said. "What will those students need to be successful?"