 
President Janelle Ashley, Ph.D.
With your support, this campaign can transform the lives of our students.Our best and most valued assets are our students and faculty. It is for them that we need your involvement with this campaign. They need your support now more than ever. 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—as state funding has decreased. 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. [ More ] Our faculty deserve having what they need to teach effectively, efficiently, and inspirationally. They are hardworking, dedicated, and highly skilled. They care deeply about their students. Academic enrichment funds have become vital to their active engagement in elevating the field of knowledge in their discipline. Your investment in their work is another way you can transform the lives of our students. The College is not immune to the global financial crisis. To address the fiscal challenge, we implemented a number of cost-cutting measures in late 2008, and the entire College community helped identify additional areas of future savings or revenues. Further changes will be made as the fiscal year comes to a close. Through it all, we will keep our commitment to our mission. We are also obligated to be good stewards of our donors’ commitments to our students and faculty. New gifts to the campaign are being protected from volatile market fluctuations, and the endowment portfolio is invested conservatively. So far, the endowment, which does not assist with the operational budget, has not declined as much as some private colleges have reported. Right now, education is the one thing that retains its value. Investing in scholarships, academic enrichment, faculty development, student and faculty research, and more with a gift to this campaign supports our mission at a critical time. [ Less ] | A Message from Gregg RosenVolunteer Chair, Committee for Endowment
One of the goals of this campaign is to increase the Worcester State Foundation’s unrestricted endowment, and I am proud to lead the committee dedicated to this effort. It is very important that this campaign increase the unrestricted fund to 25 percent. The flexibility of the unrestricted endowment allows the Foundation to meet changing needs of the College—beyond what is supported by the operating budget. These range from scholarship aid for students to faculty research projects, campus enhancements, and new equipment. The larger the unrestricted fund is, the larger the number of pressing needs it can fund in any given year. This campaign is about helping Worcester State students. It’s more than the typical bricks-and-mortar capital campaign. We’re not only raising money for the unrestricted endowment, but also student scholarship funds and academic development funds. All of these will further the success of the College and thereby the success of our students. [ More ] I grew up a mile and a half from Worcester State College, and today I still see it as my hometown college that perfected my ability to learn, grow, and fulfill my dreams of owning my own business. Like many Worcester State students, I come from a hardworking family. My father was a baker, and his work ethics guided me to be the person I am today. He and my mother gave my siblings and me all the encouragement we needed to do our best in school and our extra-curricular activities. When it came time for my siblings and me to go to college, it would have been impossible were it not for financial aid and working part-time. In the first decade of WSC’s business program, it had developed a great reputation. I was ecstatic to get the chance to pursue this degree so close to my home. But I really didn’t come into my own as a business student until my junior year. That was when I reactivated the Business Executive Club. As president of the club during my junior and senior years, I worked closely with the esteemed Dr. Felix Masterson, who passed away in 1999 after many decades of inspiring students like me to learn. I still believe in Worcester State’s mission, and thanks to the success of my business, I have an opportunity to lend my support. My wife, Pam—a WSC alumna—and I have made a significant contribution to this campaign. We believe in the “opportunities for a lifetime” that Worcester State offers because we ourselves seized them. We have a lot of company, but there is still a healthy way to go before we reach $10 million. Gifts of all sizes will get us there. (Sizable gifts also offer the chance to select a naming opportunity.) I know that 2009 will be a challenging year, but I urge you to keep Worcester State students among your philanthropic causes you continue to support. Please join me in making a gift to the campaign—above the gift you make to WSC every year. Thank you!
[ Less ] |
