College of Education case statement

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

F

rom teachers to health professionals, our graduates — as strong, effective leaders and role models — are fulfilling our mission to build better futures for all.

Because This is Auburn is a $1 billion campaign to propel our university forward through a renewed commitment to our students, a continued promise to our state, and a shared responsibility to the world. Your support of the College of Education’s $19 million goal as part of this campaign will help usher us into a new century of service by laying a strong foundation upon which we will continue building a better future.

Since 1915, our work has touched and improved the lives of individuals as we prepare professionals capable of identifying, finding, and applying appropriate, innovative ways to solve societal concerns.

In realizing our mission, our graduates teach and lead in schools, transition individuals with disabilities to the workforce, research health and wellness interventions, and serve in the community. Their success is how we measure the impact of our work.

TOTAL GOAL FOR THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION:

$19 million

“Please join with us to ‘build better futures for all’ by equipping our college with the latest instructional technologies, expanding our research and outreach capacity, and strengthening our collaborative partnerships. At the core of our campaign is securing a new building, which along with increased scholarships, stronger programs, and outstanding faculty, will enhance academic and career opportunities for our students in the century to come.”

— Betty Lou Whitford

Dean and Wayne T. Smith Distinguished Professor, College of Education

PRIORITIES

for the College of Education

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NEW ENDOWED GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS

The launch of the Because This is Auburn campaign marks the start of our second century of service to the state, nation, and world. For 100 years, we have engaged in outstanding teaching, cutting-edge research, and meaningful outreach.

to support Auburn’s largest graduate student enrollment

Our donors have been resolute partners in helping us prepare teachers, administrators, counselors, and other intervening professionals who are able to create significant learning opportunities for all, committed to reasoned decision making, and reflective in their work.

NEW ENDOWED FUNDS FOR EXCELLENCE

Our students’ success and the acclaim we receive for our programs speak to the quality of our teaching, research, and outreach. This campaign not only will garner the support needed to elevate these efforts, but also will lay the foundation for a new century of service with the construction of a new home for the College of Education.

Your support of this new facility will provide the capacity, technology, accessibility, and identity required to build a better future for our students, and in turn, for all.

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to enhance our academic, research, and outreach programs

1

NEW ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIP

to retain and recruit top-notch faculty

Students

$5,700,000

Faculty

$300,000

Programs $6,000,000

Facilities

$7,000,000

1

NEW BUILDING

to serve our students, state, nation, and world

Facilities

Forestry and Wildlife Sciences Building

A new building for our college will enhance our capacity to prepare students for their chosen careers through modern learning spaces that foster collaboration among our students in ways our current facilities do not permit. Along with that, we will better integrate the technology required to ensure the sustainability of our academic programs and that students must master to be competitive in today’s job market. We serve learners of all ages — from children participating in early childhood programs to adults engaged in professional development to laboratory research participants of all ages. A building that is physically accessible to these external and specialized audiences, while at the same time inviting to students, faculty, and staff, is paramount. Finally, having been scattered throughout five or more campus buildings for more than two decades, a new facility will enhance

Hill Dormitories

the college’s identity by boosting our visibility, recruiting initiatives, and collaborative opportunities, while exposing our future educators to the types of professional work environments in which they will find themselves following graduation. Gifts in support of our building can provide donors with potential opportunities to name interior and exterior spaces.

$7.0 million

Programs

Students

Faculty

Our academic programs lead to 60 different undergraduate and graduate degree opportunities — all accredited in their respective disciplines and many ranked nationally or internationally — meaning we offer more degree choices than any other college on campus. Donor support for programs enhances instructional technologies and resources for our students and faculty. It also strengthens research and outreach efforts that provide invaluable handson experience for students. Gifts through this campaign will enable us to share our expertise in community outreach, professional development, health and physical performance, rehabilitation and special education, and educational leadership with schools, communities, and industry.

Financial support — primarily through scholarships and fellowships — is central to recruiting and retaining the best and brightest students so they can, in turn, make their own mark on society. It also lessens their need to rely on loans or employment to pay for college. At the same time, by endowing undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships and assistantships, you demonstrate our degree programs’ value and significance. With more graduate students enrolled in our college than any other on campus, we are especially mindful of the need to expand the availability of graduate support, as only 9 percent of our current endowment provides fellowship and assistantship opportunities for our graduate students.

To retain and recruit top-notch faculty, we must increase the availability of endowed professorships. Because professorships recognize faculty for innovative teaching and exemplary research and outreach, they are vital to enhancing students’ academic experiences and advancing our departments and programs to the next level of excellence. In turn, by enabling the college to retain and recruit the highest-quality faculty in an area of potential strategic growth, our donors will help propel our programs, and the college itself, to a status of excellence nationally.

$6.0 million

$5.7 million

$300,000

Your gift to Auburn has

REAL IMPACT Teaching has always been a part of my family. As elementary school teachers, my mom and aunt exhibited never-ending dedication to their students that still inspires me, proving to me that teachers help build better futures for others. My own teachers have further convinced me of the profound difference I can make as a teacher. They have modeled for me how education transforms lives and creates opportunities.

“Donors have helped ensure I have ‘the knowledge to work wisely’ and that the college ‘trains my mind and my hands to work skillfully.’”

—Emily Leopard

Sophomore, Chemistry Education

When donors give to the College of Education, they affirm for students like me the importance of those attributes and the value of the teaching profession. Donors’ investment in scholarships allows me to follow in those excellent teachers’ — and my mom’s and aunt’s — footsteps.

Donors do more than just provide scholarships; they allow us to learn from exceptional faculty in nationally ranked academic programs.

It’s no coincidence that “education” immediately follows “hard work” in The Auburn Creed. Donors have helped ensure I have “the knowledge to work wisely” and that the college “trains my mind and my hands to work skillfully.” These are the values I hope to instill in our next generation, just as my family and teachers instilled in me.

Above photo (from left to right): Emily; her mother Shane Leopard; and brother Chandler, in Mrs. Leopard’s first-grade classroom at Brookhill Elementary School in Athens, Ala.

I grew up on the poor side of Montgomery. Only one other person in my family had ever been to college. But because I held state and national offices in my high school’s marketing club, I attracted the attention of Dr. Harold Williams in Auburn’s College of Education. He recruited me to Auburn and it was “family” right off the bat.

He arranged for grants, scholarships, and a 20-hour workstudy job to fund my education. As newlyweds, my wife Gail and I worked extra jobs to cover my school expenses. It was tough, but Dr. Williams wouldn’t let me quit. He and others in the college put success in front of me. They showed me what I could be. We’ve been blessed as a result of their vision.

I am the least deserving person in the world, yet Auburn gave me so much. It’s time now for us to give back. Auburn made

“Auburn made our success possible. If we can do that for other deserving students, the family circle is complete.”

our success possible. If we can do that for other deserving students, the family circle is complete.

—Woody Norris ’80

Distributive Education who with wife Gail established an Education scholarship through endowed and planned gifts

Above photo (from left to right): daughter Rachel Johnson; granddaughter Avery; Woody Norris; grandson Liam; Gail Norris; daughter-in-law Erin Norris; son Wil Norris.

College of Education 3084 Haley Center, Auburn, Alabama 36849 (334) 844-5793 | edugive@auburn.edu education.auburn.edu B E C AU S E@AU B U R N . E D U | B E C AU S E . AU B U R N . E D U Auburn University is an equal opportunity educational institution/employer.