The Board of Trustees unanimously approved the construction of a $3.5 million house overlooking Lake Raleigh for Chancellor-elect Randy Woodson at its Feb. 18 meeting. The function of this house is to provide a venue for the chancellor to entertain donors, Marvin Malecha, dean of the College of Design, said.”It will be a residence for the chancellor, but a home for the University,” he said. According to Nevin Kessler, vice chancellor for University advancement, the funds for the house came from gifts and pledges made by private donors, mostly alumni. The majority of the required funding — $3.2 million, thus far — has already been raised. The University is continuing to work with donors of “in-kind” materials like gravel and bricks to raise the rest, said Kessler. According to Kessler, the Board of Trustees recognized the need for a new house six years ago. The old house on Hillsborough, though a beautiful home, has inadequate parking and space for entertaining donors.”The chancellor is the University’s chief fundraiser,” Kessler said. “His home is a special place to be invited. Public spaces like Talley [Student Center] or the [Park] Alumni Center don’t have the same significance to a donor.”According to Malecha, the house is designed to be approachable. It isn’t one big massive house, but a series of smaller buildings linked together. The architecture, though modern, is influenced by local architectural traditions and by the people who built the University.The house will accommodate large groups of people but can be manipulated to feel intimate, Malecha said. The house will also be energy efficient with solar panels, a geothermal heating and cooling system and, possibly, a windmill.From a financial standpoint, students aren’t affected by the construction of the chancellor’s new house, Jim Ceresnak, student body president, said. “The chancellor has expressed a desire to engage with students, so I’m sure he will welcome students into his new home,” Ceresnak said.I hope students and faculty will have many opportunities to visit, Malecha said.Chanel Neal, a junior in chemistry, said as long as the house isn’t funded by student money, it would be fine with her.Brittany Haws, a freshman in biomedical engineering, said, “If it helps get donors to come see campus, it’s probably worth it.”Everyone did not seem happy about the new house, though.Brittany McKinney, a freshman in chemical engineering, said, “They should have had more info about it for students.””I don’t think he should build a new house just for fundraising,” Yormeri Silva, a freshman in psychology, said. According to Kessler, the Chancellor’s new house will improve the effectiveness of the University’s fundraising efforts.In the next fundraising campaign, NCSU is seeking to raise more than $1.5 billion, most of which will be used to increase the University’s endowment.Kessler said the endowment will make the University more competitive because endowed scholarships and faculty positions are the primary tool used to recruit faculty and students who may be courted by other institutions.