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President tells trustees about successful campaign, endowment exceeds $1 billion
He also told the trustees that UD’s endowment during the Campaign grew to $1.066 billion, as of the day of the meeting. That total, he said, is more than double the total of $474 million in 1990, and includes an increase of $140 million this year alone.
“When the Campaign for Delaware was kicked off a little over five years ago,” Roselle said. “we thought that the announced goal of $225 million would be a stretch, but here we are in December 2003, and we have raised more than $375 million!” Both the Campaign and endowment totals drew a loud round of applause from the trustees. Recalling that UD first crossed the $30 million fund-raising mark in 1997, Roselle said the original Campaign for Delaware announcement promised that UD would do 50 percent better than it had ever done in a single year, and that it would sustain that effort over a five-year period. “We thought this was also a stretch because of the size of Delaware,” Roselle said. “When you divide the original goal of $225 million by our state population of 750,000, you end up with a bigger per capita contribution than has been attained by any state-assisted institution.” Now, just a little over five years later, Roselle said, UD has received 269,512 individual gifts to the Campaign for Delaware. An important part of the success of the Campaign, Roselle said, was the growth the number of Delaware Diamonds Society members, which grew from 980 in 1998 to a current membership of 2,721. Delaware Diamonds Society members contribute $1,000 or more annually to the University. “This is really important, because if each one of those people gave $1,000 in 1998, you would start off your campaign with $1 million in the bank,” Roselle said. “Now, the Delaware Diamonds are responsible for starting off the year with $3 million.” Roselle also noted the importance of the contributions of the Legacy Society, whose numbers have increased from 120 in 1988 to a current figure of 400 individuals who have indicated that UD is in their estate planning. Roselle also credited the efforts of the Development Office who he described as “keeping our case before an awful lot of individuals. We are very proud of the people who have worked so hard on this Campaign. They have done a great job.” As a result of the successful Campaign for Delaware, Roselle said funds earmarked for scholarships have grown from $17.4 million in 1990 to $92.2 million in 2003. Endowments for named professorships rose from $4.9 million in 1990 to $50.1 million in 2003, he said, noting how important this “fourth rank” of professor is to the recruitment and retention of top-quality faculty.
A yearlong extension of the Campaign for Delaware was authorized by the trustees, with the principal beneficiary being the planned Center for the Arts. “What we are going to do is run a victory lap, like the track athletes in the Olympics do,” Roselle said. “We are going to extend the Campaign for one year and make the poster child the Center for the Arts.” The $42 million Center for the Arts, to be constructed off Orchard Road in what is now the Amy E. du Pont Music Building parking lot, will provide new performance spaces for music and theatre, plus an indoor practice venue for UD’s Marching Band and smaller practice rooms for music students. The 92,000-gross-square-foot performing arts facility also would encompass a 200-seat recital hall, a 300-seat orchestra and a proscenium theatre that would accommodate 450 persons. Architect for the Center for the Arts, which is expected to open in 2006, is Ayers Saint Gross of Baltimore. “The reason we need this kind of facility is because we have been successful. The students now coming to UD are academically gifted, and such students are more likely to play music,” Roselle said. “Our current practice facilities are very inadequate for the number of students who are music majors or are majoring in other subjects but are also taking instruction in music. “”We need the space for the Marching Band,” Roselle said. “If we didn’t have Heidi Sarver and all her wonderful success with the Marching Band, we wouldn’t need the big space for them to practice, but we do.” The grassy area where the Marching Band currently practices will be the site of a new parking deck that will be accessible from Elkton Road and Amstel Avenue. Construction of the 715-vehicle facility will begin in spring 2004. New Pencader Residence Hall Complex Another major construction project announced by Roselle is a new 1,000-bed residence hall complex to replace the 12 Pencader dormitories and three commons buildings that currently house 750 students between Clayton Hall and Christiana Towers on UD’s Laird Campus. Roselle said the new buildings, which would replicate the feeling of UD’s central campus, were needed to address several issues associated with the 33-year old Pencader complex. “The Pencader dormitories were built inexpensively with the corridors outside. One thus enters directly into the dormitory room. This has real disadvantages. One is security, and another is that there is decreased interaction among students,” he said. Work on the $70 million project is expected to begin in the spring of 2004, with the construction of a 509-bed dormitory on the site of the current playing courts in front of the Christiana Towers. The playing courts will be relocated. “When that first building is constructed, we will then go in and tear down eight dormitories and two meeting places,” Roselle said. “Then, we will start the construction of the other two dormitories there and that will add 502 more beds.” An eight-foot-wide pedestrian footbridge will connect the area to Ray Street. UD ranked 12th nationally in Kiplinger’s report In his remarks, Roselle also explained the significance of the recent Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine that ranked UD as the 12th best value among public institutions of higher education, based on cost and quality. “There are two reasons why I am pleased with this report,” Roselle said. “One is that we got a good rating, and the other is that it is objective, not subjective.” Unlike U.S. News and World Report, which includes such variables as “reputation,” Kiplinger’s rates a college on what they are doing. In his report, Roselle noted the administration chose 31 peer institutions to see how UD ranked among them in terms of admission rate, student/faculty ratio, graduation rate, resident cost after aid, percentage of cost met by aid and the average student debt at graduation. The average resident cost at UD after financial aid is $7,666, compared to a peer-group average of $8,934. The average debt for UD students at graduation as $13, 610, compared to a peer group average of $16,236. “UD beats the average in terms of resident cost after financial aid and student debt at graduation,” Roselle said. “This goes a long way toward explaining UD’s ranking of 12th in the nation.” UD earned above-average rankings among its 31-school peer group, and it was ranked first in the nation in the ratio of faculty per students, Roselle said. “That is good,” Roselle said. “The reason for a larger than average student/faculty ratio is because our faculty teach. When students come to the University of Delaware, they are taught by bona fide members of our faculty more often than is the case at most of our competitor institutions.” Faculty recognition Achievements of UD faculty also were recognized in a report by UD Provost Dan Rich, who cited the newest group of named professors as well as some of the award-winning faculty at UD. “We now have 91 named professors,” Rich said, “who serve as models for the entire faculty. Their teaching, scholarship and public service define what excellence means at the University of Delaware.” The list of newly named professors included Carole Haber, Richards Chair in History; Howard Johnson, Alumni Distinguished Professor of History and Black American Studies; James G. Richards, Distinguished Professor of Health, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences; Mary Dozier, Amy E. du Pont Chair of Child Development; Debra Hess Norris, Henry Francis du Pont Chair of Fine Arts; and Roberta M. Golinkoff, H. Rodney Sharp Chair of Human Services. Junior faculty also recognized at the meeting were Adam Marsh, assistant professor of marine studies, who received an Early Career Development Award for $531,000 from the National Science Foundation; Mary Ann Huntley, assistant professor of mathematical sciences, and Shuaib Meacham, assistant professor of education, who both received National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards; and Kristi Klick, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, who was awarded a 2003 Beckman Young Investigator Award by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation. Board action In formal action, the Board of Trustees approved the major construction projects described by Roselle and also passed resolutions expressing thanks to donors for major contributions that have established named chairs and professorships as mentioned above, as well as scholarships, student prizes and the support of the effort to acquire a new research vessel for the College of Marine Studies. The board also approved a resolution changing the name of the College of Arts and Science to the College of Arts and Sciences; and authorized the president to confer degrees at Winter Commencement on Jan. 10. Article by Jerry Rhodes To learn how to subscribe to UDaily, click here. |
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