The land has been marked, the buildings are being built and N.C. A&T students will have new student housing for the 2001-2002 school year.Student housing construction is among the 40 projects university officials have begun since the passing of the state bond issue that gave $153.8 million to A&T.David Hoard, vice chancellor, development and relations, said that all those projects including housing should be complete within seven years.”We project that all student housing as well as all the other projects will be complete within a five- to seven-year period,” said Hoard. “If you really look at all the university is doing, that’s a pretty short time to get everything done. But we’re going to do it.”The university’s main priority at this time is student housing, said Hoard. “When the chancellor came in, that was one of the first things he wanted to address. He wanted students to not just have a place to stay, but a nice place to stay,” said Hoard. “With the chancellor’s vision and his aggressiveness, things are getting done.”In its entirety, the private housing projects and the renovations to each dorm will cost A&T about $41 million. Renovations will begin this summer with the tearing down of Haley Hall. The A&T Oaks will no longer be in service to students. University officials decided not to renew the three-year contract due to the new privatized housing provided by the foundation. The Aggie Suites, which will be able to house up to 804 students, will be available by the beginning of August. The Aggie Inn will remain open until its contract expires in three years, and all dorms will remain open until the summer of 2002 when Scott Hall and Curtis Hall will be renovated completely.So who is responsible for all the privatized housing being built? They’re called the North Carolina A&T Foundation Inc., composed of six university officials who are separate from the university, but are here to support the university. The foundation is in its 45th year of its existence, and its main objective is to provide the university with support financially or in any other way needed.Hoard, who is also the executive director of the foundation, said that the foundation is responsible for the new privatized housing on campus. He also says that they are really trying to suit the needs of the students.”We (the foundation) are here for the students, just as the university is here for the students,” said Hoard. “We saw that there was a need for student housing so we decided that we would hire a few private contractors to build what you see behind Holt Hall, Aggie Suites.”The foundation strictly gets its money from donations and investments. No state funds are allocated to the foundation.”We’re part of the university but we’re separate,” said Hoard. “We’re here to support them in any way we can.”Hoard and the foundation have more than done that by raising half a million dollars for next summer’s project, the renovation of Scott Hall. They have also raised money to build more privatized housing.”The completion of the housing project will include five new housing units, and renovations of all the dorms on campus,” said Hoard. “The special thing about the new privatized housing is that it’s not just a place where students will rest until the end of the year, but it’s a place where they can stay their entire four years at A&T. “They are fully furnished, with a computer lab for everyone, and there are no extra costs. The price to stay in these housing units include phone, cable, free Internet access, utilities — so students are really getting a bargain and we’re making them affordable to any student who wishes to stay in them.”The foundation has also help raise almost $20 million for university uses other than housing this year — a number that has almost quadrupled from previous fundraising efforts.The new projects begun by university officials and the foundation have students pretty excited about what the university will look like when it’s all said and done.Tyvon Petway, a senior business economics major, says that it’s great to see the university evolve into something really great.”Students should be excited about what’s going on, and the fact that what we actually asked for the university is doing,” said Petway. “The chancellor has really done what he said he was going to do, and that pleases me as well as students. I wish I could be here to see it all come together, but that’s okay I’ll see it when I come back a few years later for Homecoming.”Though the university has made moves in revolutionizing the campus, the goal is still far from being reached, said Andrew Perkins, interim vice chancellor for facilities.”The renovation process of each dorm is going to take some time, but we’re going to reach our goal. It’s just going to take some patience on everyone’s part,” said Perkins.Perkins, who is now in his second year at A&T, said that a main objective for the renovating of campus dorms and buildings is to make the campus pedestrian-friendly.”We’re really trying to get students not to drive so much, but have everything easily available to students,” said Perkins. “I also think that the parents of the students would like that so they won’t be pressured in buying cars for their children, and when parents learn what the dorms provide for students they’ll really be convinced that A&T is working to meet the needs of its students.”