WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY ANNOUNCES FIRST EVER COMPREHENSIVE CAMPAIGN WITH $78 MILLION GOAL
Contact Bob Skipper, director of Media Relations, at (270) 745-4295 or at [email protected]
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- For Western Kentucky University to reach its vision of being the best comprehensive university in Kentucky and among the best in the nation, it will have to find additional resources. Those resources will come from a $78 million comprehensive campaign announced April 27 by President Gary Ransdell.
"Investing in the Spirit: the Campaign for Western Kentucky University" will continue through June 30, 2003. The university has already raised $42.3 million toward the goal during the campaign's two-year quiet phase. Dr. Ransdell made the historic announcement during the President's Circle Gala, an evening donor recognition event.
"Western's first-ever Campaign will focus on obtaining support for those people, places and programs which make Western unique and which best exemplify the Western Spirit," Dr. Ransdell said. "In addition, we will focus our efforts on obtaining increased private support for those premier programs that enhance our quest for national prominence. An emphasis will also be placed on endowed support for faculty positions and student scholarships."
In 1998, the University launched a strategic plan called "Challenging the Spirit." The plan contains a set of quantifiable goals to be reached by 2003 that will guide Western to its vision. The goals are focused on increasing student learning and assuring a high quality faculty and staff. They further outline the University's commitment to developing the student body while enhancing responsiveness to constituents and improving institutional effectiveness.
"However, substantial private support will be necessary for us to reach those ambitious goals," Dr. Ransdell said.
This is a time of transformation for Western, he said.
"Western has been and is a good university," he said. "Our strategic plan, backed by the resources we will raise through the Campaign, will allow us to grow to a great university and place us among the best comprehensive universities in the country."
Tom Hiles, vice president for Development and Alumni Relations, said this is the second-largest announced campaign goal for a public institution in Kentucky.
"Western has emerged as a leader in the state by saying 'Look where we're going compared to where we've been,'" he said. "This campaign will put us in the same context as other nationally-recognized universities with which we compare ourselves."
A change in thinking
Dr. Ransdell said the Campaign will "forever change" the thinking and the attitudes at Western. "State support will allow us to be a good university," he said. "That's not good enough for Western."
Hiles said private support for a public institution is necessary because Western receives less than 40 percent of its operating budget from the state.
"While public funds secure a base of funding, private philanthropic support is essential as we create a margin of excellence that will produce exceptional achievements and ensure the best faculty and the brightest students," Hiles said. "To enjoy continued success, we must look to loyal Western alumni and friends who share a bold vision for the future."
Dr. Ransdell said campaigns to raise private funds at public institutions are a relatively new phenomenon in Kentucky. Before setting the goal, the University had to establish where it wanted to go, and what its development capacity was. Achieving the goals of the strategic plan and the fund-raising campaign will do much for the self-esteem of the University family, he said.
Building on success
Beginning the public phase of the Campaign with $42.3 million already accounted for means there is a good chance the University will meet or exceed the $78 million goal, Dr. Ransdell said. But raising that much during the first campaign is still a stretch, he said.
The success is already evident:
Cash flow in 1999 reached $5.7 million, a 90 percent increase over two years.
The University's endowment has reached nearly $36 million, up 55 percent in 18 months. This includes 12 new endowed faculty positions created since 1998 and 34 new endowed scholarships in the last year. The goal is a $50 million endowment by 2003.
"Endowments are vital to the permanence of a university," Dr. Ransdell said. "Buildings, people, programs may come and go, but an endowment is forever. It will create a permanent source of revenue for that program, professorship or scholarship."
The University has received 14 commitments of $1 million or more. Before Dr. Ransdell was named president in 1998, Western had never received a $1 million gift.
Corporate giving has increased more than 100 percent in less than two years.
Membership in the President's Circle, which includes donors who have given $1,000 or more, has increased 93 percent to 724 members in less than two years.
Western was the first comprehensive university in Kentucky to utilize all of the matching money provided by the state Regional University Excellence Trust Fund for faculty endowments.
In conjunction with the Campaign Kickoff, Western announced an additional $2.3 million in gifts.
"We are pleased with the progress we have made in our development program in the past two years, and this gives us the confidence that we have the capacity to succeed with 'Investing in the Spirit,'" Dr. Ransdell said.
Where will the money go
The money raised during the Campaign will be designated for people, places and programs.
People
Student scholarships, fellowships and awards $17 million
International education endowment for students $ 1 million
Endowed faculty positions $20 million
Visiting scholar endowments $ 2 million
Faculty excellence endowments $ 3 million
Goal total $43 million
Total raised to date $26.2 million
Places
Main campus facilities $2.5 million
Extended campus facilities $ 1 million
Campus beautification $ 1 million
Goal total $4.5 million
Total raised to date $1.735 million
Programs
Academic program endowments $5 million
Gifted Studies $2 million
University Libraries $1 million
Kentucky Museum $1 million
Public Broadcasting $1 million
Student Life $1.5 million
Cultural enhancement $1 million
Instructional technology $1 million
Athletics $5 million
Goal total $18.5 million
Total raised to date $10.125 million
Other $2 million
Total raised to date $200,000
Annual giving, restricted and unrestricted $10 million
Total raised to date $4.055 million
OVERALL GOAL TOTAL $78 million
TOTAL RAISED TO DATE $42.3 million
Campaign Leadership
A network of volunteers will be assisting the University during the Campaign. The Campaign Cabinet will be led by co-chairs Mary Nixon of Louisville, vice president of Tricon Global Restaurants, and Don Vitale of Bowling Green, chair of Manchester Capital.
"A strong Western Kentucky University is absolutely critical to the overall future prosperity of our region," Vitale said. "This Campaign will generate support that will place Western in an even stronger position than ever before."
Vitale said higher education is what separates winners from losers in today's high-tech economy. "Never have a top-flight university and a first-class education been more important to the economic well being of the Commonwealth and the region," he said.
Other members of the Campaign Cabinet include:
Jerry Baker, Bowling Green, chair, AirGas of Mid-America.
Gordon Ford, Louisville, retired founding partner, Yeager, Ford & Warren.
John Grider, Bowling Green, partner, Baird Kurtz & Dobson.
Rick Guillaume, Louisville, vice chair/CEO, Bank of Louisville.
Lowell Guthrie, Bowling Green, president/CEO, Trace Die Cast Inc.
Rick Holton, Nashville, president, Holton, Goodman and Blackstone PC.
Romanza Johnson, Bowling Green, home economist/Johnson consultant.
Sandy Jones, Bowling Green, president/CEO/owner, Quality Personnel.
Bob Kirby, Bowling Green, investment broker, Hilliard Lyons.
Biff Kummer, Bowling Green, WKU physical education and recreation professor.
Bud Layne, Glasgow, president/CEO/owner, Span Tech Inc.
Pete Mahurin, Bowling Green, branch manager, Hilliard Lyons.
Leon Page, Franklin, chair, Franklin Bank & Trust Co.
Hays T. Watkins, Richmond, Va., chairman emeritus, CSX Railroad.
Denny Wedge, Bowling Green, owner, Wedge Insurance Agency.
-WKU-
For more information, contact Tom Hiles, vice president for Development and Alumni Relations, at (270) 745-6208. More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu, click on "WKU News."
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