Just two years into the five-year Campaign for Delaware fund-raising drive, the University has reached 98 percent of its $225 million goal, President David P. Roselle told the faculty at a Nov. 6 meeting.

Addressing the semiannual General Faculty Meeting, Roselle said the University plans to continue the campaign through the announced five-year period–to 2003.

The restated goal of the Campaign for Delaware is to create opportunities and meet needs. In all events, it is now clear that the final tally will be well in excess of the initial financial goal, he said.

Roselle also summarized for the audience some of UD's accomplishments during the 1990s, in a presentation titled "A Decade of Progress." Among the highlights were:

• Numerous innovations to make the University more student-centered.
• An unprecedented rise in the number of partially endowed faculty positions.
• A threefold increase in UD support for undergraduate scholarships and a doubling of the number of graduate fellowships.
• The construction and renovation of new buildings and other campus improvement projects.
• Growth of external grant support from $40 million in 1990 to an expected $100 million in 2001. "The faculty has been very successful and has done a great job," Roselle said.
• Improvements in the employee compensation system and in family-friendly policies.
• Increased and improved use of technology for administration and instruction.
• High student satisfaction, as measured by national surveys in which UD participates. "Our students are especially pleased with their access to faculty, and such access is the very essence of college," Roselle said.
• A successful and ongoing deferred maintenance effort.

–Ann Manser