President Gaertner Discusses Progress, Need For Campaign
 |
| SHSU President Jim Gaertner, center, visits with former
SHSU regent James A. Hayley and his wife, Jane, at one of
three Share the Vision dinners. |
Sam Houston State University and its first-ever capital campaign
are doing well.
That was the
message from Jim Gaertner, SHSU president, in three "Share
the Vision" dinners for more than 400 donors and potential
donors at three Houston area locations recently.
Gaertner said
that less than halfway through the five-year campaign, which
has a goal of $50 million, $38 million has been raised in gifts
and pledges.
"I'd like
to see us break through that goal and surpass it by a significant
amount," he said, citing figures from other universities
that had conducted their first capital campaigns. These include
Stephen F. Austin (27 percent more than $30 million goal), Texas
State (3 percent more than $69 million goal) and Tarleton State
(7.5 percent more than $40 million goal).
Gaertner said
that SHSU is doing well by almost any measure, listing a number
of national awards and recognitions for various programs and
individual faculty. The proof of quality is an enrollment increase
of 22 percent over the past five years, which has made it a growth
leader among public colleges and universities.
"Not only
are we attracting more students, but we are attracting better
students," Gaertner said.
Latest available
figures for SAT scores of incoming students show that SHSU stands
at 1032, which is higher than the Texas (997) and national (1021)
averages.
While enrollment
has increased, he said, the university has worked hard to maintain
a low faculty/student ratio. The current ratio is 1:20, which
is comparable to when 110 students enrolled in the first classes
at Sam Houston Normal Institute in 1879.
More than half of SHSU's graduates are the first in their
immediate family to obtain a degree, about 68 percent of them
receive some form of financial assistance and 80 percent of them
work.
The reason
for the capital campaign relates to that profile, Gaertner said,
and giving more students the opportunity to complete a college
education. Recently announced tuition increases at SHSU and other
universities underscore a change in philosophy when it comes
to legislative appropriations.
The Texas legislature
has gone from regarding a college degree as a "common good," he
said, to considering it as a "private right," with
students paying more and more of the costs and universities being
forced to increase tuition and fees.
Sam Houston
State University now receives about a third of its budget from
state appropriations, he said, when two decades or so ago the
figure was about 70 percent.
"It is
important that no student be denied the SHSU experience due to
lack of financial resources," Gaertner told those attending
the dinners.
He outlined
the campaign's priorities as $10 million for student scholarships,
$18 million for faculty and staff endowment, $14 million for
new degree programs, $5.25 million for construction projects,
and $2.75 million for other campus projects.
In addition
to Gaertner, speakers included campaign leaders Ron Koska, Don
Sanders and National Chairman Ron Mafrige.
Additional information
on the Share the Vision campaign is available online.
—END—
SHSU Media Contact: Frank Krystyniak
Nov. 16, 2007
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu.
|
