 
President Janelle Ashley, Ph.D.
With your support, this campaign can transform the lives of our students.Your generosity has been so remarkable that we met our campaign goal of $10 million seven months ahead of schedule. Because of your outpouring of support we have taken the bold step of raising the bar. We are seeking to raise an additional $2 million by the end of the campaign on June 30, 2010.
Our students need us to go on—to continue the campaign—to see it through to a new finish line with a better result! Now more than ever, our students need scholarship assistance. Now more than ever, our students need help funding research they are doing with our faculty. Now more than ever, our students need the endowment to continue to grow so it may help the College meet some of the challenges we will face in these uncertain economic times. [ More ] Maintaining our academic excellence during a prolonged period of reduced state funding has resulted in increases in student costs. Scholarships have become vital to reducing the burden on our students—many of whom are the first in their family to attend college and are attracted by our affordability. They help recipients with tuition and fees and build their self-confidence. Your investment in a scholarship is one way you can transform the lives of our students. State funding no longer covers all aspects of academic advancement. New sources of funding for academic enrichment are now crucial to our faculty members’ active engagement with students. They are doing this by involving students in scholarly and applied research projects as well as inviting notable experts to campus to speak to students. Therefore, your contribution to academic development can assist with the intellectual growth of our students in a myriad of ways. The College is not immune from the global financial crisis. To address the fiscal challenge, we have implemented a number of cost-cutting measures, and the entire College community has identified additional areas of future savings or revenues. Further changes may be made during the year. Through it all, we will keep our commitment to our mission. Meanwhile, the Worcester State Foundation endowment is benefiting from the stock market rebound. After seven months of taking special precautions with new gifts, all endowment funds became part of the Foundation’s investment portfolio in June 2009. At the beginning of October, the endowment was up nearly 12 percent over October 2008. This is having a direct impact on the unrestricted fund, which addresses immediate college needs and priorities, as well as scholarship and academic-development funds. I have no doubt in my mind we will reach the campaign’s new $12 million goal. Because it is you, our loyal alumni and friends, who will help us reach this new goal—and give our students “opportunities for a lifetime.” You will help us emerge from these challenging times even stronger than before. [ Less ] | A Message from Bill O'NeilVolunteer Chair, Committee for Academic Development
As the former executive officer of the Massachusetts Council of Presidents and, before that, the president of the Mass College of Art, I have a unique perspective of the challenges and opportunities facing our state colleges. While it is a constant struggle to advocate for the needs of our students during difficult economic times, there is an undisputable, immediate need for high-quality, affordable public higher education that will ensure economic growth in the future. I didn’t hesitate when President Ashley asked me to serve as the volunteer chair of this campaign’s Academic Development Committee. As a graduate student, I benefited firsthand from faculty who were professionally knowledgeable, cared deeply about helping their students succeed, and typically had their doctorate degree. I count myself among the thousands of alumni whose lives were forever changed for the better because of the education we received at WSC. When I later joined the WSC faculty and administration, I helped continue this tradition. Since becoming an active alumnus, I regularly see that the College’s current roster of professors is just as committed as my former colleagues and I were. [ More ] With diminished state support, it is difficult for the College to help faculty stay current in their disciplines and secure state-of-the-art educational tools and equipment. It is more challenging for our faculty to embrace the wonderful trend of including undergraduates in academic research. It hinders faculty’s ability to bring prominent guest speakers and international lecturers to campus. It limits the opportunities for faculty to expand students’ knowledge with foreign study or service-learning. Since my retirement, I have been an active member of the Worcester State Foundation, and I have been nothing but impressed with the quality of teaching and learning that still goes on here. Raising $3 million for academic development through the Opportunity for a Lifetime campaign will open up so many possibilities for WSC faculty and students. It will ensure that today’s students become just as appreciative of the education they receive at Worcester State as I am, and that is very important to me. [ Less ] |
