with Passion & Purpose The Campaign for SUNY Oswego
A Defining Moment
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e are at a defining moment in higher education. The need to remain affordable, relevant and student-centered has never been greater. To meet those challenges, SUNY Oswego is intensely focused on keeping costs within reach of all families, promoting student learning and development, and preparing and motivating graduates to lead productive lives and enrich their times.
That is our passion and our purpose. Now, we embark upon a campaign that is true to Oswego’s enterprising spirit. With your generous support, we will amass the talents and secure the resources needed to transform lives and inspire our graduates to go on to achieve their greatest dreams.
Deborah F. Stanley President
with Passion & Purpose
| SUNY Oswego | With Passion and Purpose
The Power of SUNY initiative has a collective vision for making New York the best it can be and embraces the special role of public universities. At SUNY Oswego, we are opening our doors wide to provide an exceptional college education for a diverse community of talented students. True to our roots, we are a deeply dedicated institution where accomplished professors teach and guide students from all backgrounds, where together faculty and students find and translate new knowledge, where graduates leave prepared for professional success and active citizenship.
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With Passion
O
ur college, this noble and enduring endeavor that we call SUNY Oswego, grew out of the dreams and devotion of one man, Edward Austin Sheldon, our founder. Tireless and tenacious, he was driven by a single aim — to raise this institution “to its highest degree of usefulness.” The first class of nine met in a cloakroom. Now, thanks to the work of many minds and hands across the generations, SUNY Oswego has matured into a dynamic and unique community of students, scholars and educators. Today, the college is Oswego County’s largest employer, our programs span the globe and our 79,000-plus alumni hold leadership positions in virtually every profession.
| SUNY Oswego | With Passion and Purpose
Oswego mattered in Sheldon’s time, it matters today and it will matter even more in the future. Our vision is to be a premier institution that provides a transformative experience to a diverse body of students, empowering them to live ethical and meaningful lives and build a better world.
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and Purpose We are poised to deliver. Buoyed by a spirit of passion and clarity of purpose, we stand ready to navigate the realities of the ever-changing, ever more complex world in which we live. We will advance intellectual rigor. We will keep a SUNY Oswego education accessible and affordable to all qualified students. We will prepare graduates to thrive in a global marketplace. And we will engage with our community and advance the quality of life for all our citizens. To succeed, we must align our resources with our aspirations. The Campaign for SUNY Oswego seeks to secure $40 million in private philanthropy to support our priorities outlined in this document. Now is the time to work together to shape the SUNY Oswego of tomorrow.
| SUNY Oswego | With Passion and Purpose
With Passion and Purpose.
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The Case for SUNY Oswego A
t SUNY Oswego we know you make careful choices with your giving. We will use your generous support wisely, to make a difference, to produce remarkable results. We offer that which is best about public higher education today:
• Unmistakable momentum. We’ve undergone sweeping changes in the last decade — revamping our curriculum to take on a more global outlook, forging new partnerships in the region and worldwide, hiring new faculty in emerging areas of strength and more — all to support student-centered learning. Most notable is the renewal of our lakeside campus, with $772 million in investments. Our spectacular $118 million science and engineering complex showcases the college’s efforts to advance science education and scientific inquiry.
| SUNY Oswego | With Passion and Purpose
• Clear direction. The college’s new strategic plan, Tomorrow, will lead the way to greater educational excellence and success, firmer identity and reputation, increased institutional effectiveness and assured sustainability for SUNY Oswego for generations to come. No longer assuming beneficial impacts to the greater good — now, through Performance Drivers, Key Indicators and Impacts, we will connect the dots. Impacts designated in this plan each describe what our work ultimately means in terms of: 1. attracting, nurturing and launching students and graduates, 2. fostering a learning-centered and experiential education ecosystem, 3. enriching and strengthening our communities and partnerships, 4. protecting and advancing the institution and 5. providing solutions to grand challenges of our time.
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Oswego’s Mount Kilimanjaro expedition
• Community engagement. There’s no ivory tower syndrome here, by history or by design. We’re in the community and of the community — physically, academically, civically — and our futures are tied together. Our emphasis on connecting learning and scholarship with the needs of our region and world marked a milestone in 2011 when the Carnegie Foundation awarded SUNY Oswego its prestigious “community engagement” classification.
The Shineman gift helped inspire Oswego County resident and education enthusiast Lorraine Marano to bequeath $7.5 million — the largest private gift in the college history — to SUNY Oswego through an estate gift. In recognition of the gift, the Campus Center has been named in honor of Lorraine and Nunzio Marano.
| SUNY Oswego | With Passion and Purpose
• Stewardship and accountability. Donors at all levels of giving are gravitating toward SUNY Oswego as a prudent investment in public higher education. Here, they can see the impact of giving in tangible ways. Here, they know that gifts of every size go a long way. Here, they can track the 10-year performance of the Oswego College Foundation and see that investments in our endowment pool have out performed industry averages in nine of those years (source: 2013 National Association of College and University Business Officers). That’s just one reason why Dr. Barbara Palmer Shineman ’65, M ’71 and the Richard S. Shineman Foundation recently made a $5 million gift — the largest cash philanthropic gift in the college’s history — to name the Richard S. Shineman Center for Science, Engineering and Innovation.
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“Education is an enabler
… it enables you to pursue your dreams and gives you the confidence in your ability to achieve success. The more resources the college has, the better it will enable students to reach for their dreams.
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| SUNY Oswego | With Passion and Purpose
– Dr. Barbara Palmer Shineman ’65, M ’71 Campaign Honorary Chair
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Richard S. Shineman Center for Science, Engineering and Innovation
Campaign Priorities W
e are justifiably proud of what we have achieved at SUNY Oswego in these early years of the 21st century. Our prospects are surging: we have a smart, engaged, diverse student body, a renewed physical campus, and a clear and far-reaching plan for tomorrow. Now, to continue to build a dynamic academic community — and have a transforming impact on our students, our region and our world — we must secure significant private support to fund our topmost priorities.
The goals for The Campaign for SUNY Oswego, reaching into every corner of the college, are threefold: • Build an endowment that invigorates our intellectual environment. • Increase and diversify scholarship funds, experiential learning opportunities and student success programs. • Sustain day-to-day excellence through support for The Fund for Oswego.
dedicated to an inspiring global vision, intellectual vigor and access to the highest quality education and experience. Now — ‘With Passion and Purpose’ — together, we can seize this opportunity to shape our college’s future.
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– Mark Baum ’81 Campaign Chair
| SUNY Oswego | With Passion and Purpose
“More than ever, our Oswego family is
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PRIORITY #1:
Invigorate Our Intellectual Climate
| SUNY Oswego | With Passion and Purpose
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Oswego’s quest to create an exceptional intellectual community begins with recruiting and retaining extraordinary faculty — that rare breed of “teacherscholars” who are passionate about mentoring students and advancing meaningful research. In addition, we remain committed to investing in programs that further the discovery and application of new knowledge and prepare students for purposeful lives in the real world. Such commitments bring challenges. We must position ourselves to compete favorably for the most talented and committed faculty, provide the robust academic offerings students seek and secure the new equipment necessary to optimize the educational impact of our state-of-the-art facilities.
Sample Gift Opportunities • Endowed professorships
There is no better strategy to attract and retain first-class faculty than to offer them the prestige and support that come with an endowed professorship. These honors signal that our faculty members are among the most prominent in their fields and increase our stature relative to peer institutions. Named professorships offer donors a naming opportunity to support excellence that endures across generations.
• Seed grants for new programs
In today’s rapidly changing world, the flexibility to support curricular innovation areas of emerging need and opportunity has never been more essential. As we track, anticipate and respond to these needs in consultation with partners in business and industry, every discipline benefits, from science and technology to media and the arts, from business education to teacher preparation. Gifts to the campaign will keep SUNY Oswego nimble against this backdrop of an ever-shifting landscape.
• Endowed lecture series
To augment learning and discovery in the classroom, SUNY Oswego strives to bring leading thinkers to campus to enrich discussion and debate about key issues of our time. We seek to secure funding to endow a collection of new signature lecture series to bring the best, the brightest and the most thought-provoking leaders in government, business, science and the arts to our campus — and our community. Gifts will support ongoing funding for multi-year programming.
Oswego’s distinctive Global Laboratory offers students opportunities to conduct problem-solving research in international laboratories. It combines the research connections of our faculty with the talents and curiosity of undergraduates to advance knowledge and improve the quality of life for people worldwide. Currently students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics work with experts on every continent. With additional financial support, we will be able to expand to new locations and additional areas of study.
• New technology and equipment
The massive makeover of Oswego’s science facilities — highlighted by the new Richard S. Shineman Center for Science, Engineering and Innovation — is our most ambitious capital project to date. This dynamic, learning-centered environment will promote innovative science teaching and student-faculty collaboration. Our goal is to outfit the center with the most up-to-date research tools to kindle exploration and inquiry that will lead to research discoveries that benefit our community, state and world.
| SUNY Oswego | With Passion and Purpose
• The Oswego Global Laboratory
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PRIORITY #2:
Increase Access, Experience and Success
E
ducation begins with access. As part of the State University of New York system, SUNY Oswego charges in-state residents less than $20,000 for tuition, fees, room and board, about half the average cost of a private college or university. For out-of-state residents, costs total approximately $30,000. Still, the cost of a SUNY Oswego education — one of the largest investments our undergraduate and graduate students will ever make — exceeds what most students and their families can afford. Over 80 percent of our undergraduate students receive financial assistance, but not nearly enough to keep them from borrowing at high levels. The fact is, more students require need-based scholarships than ever before. And more must be done to ensure that access to a SUNY Oswego education is based on performance and potential alone. U.S. News & World Report recently named SUNY Oswego one of the nation’s “Top Up and Coming Schools,” Princeton Review called us one of the “Best Northeastern Colleges” and Colleges of Distinction honored us for high marks in four categories: engaged students, great teaching, vibrant communities and successful outcomes. A core component of our distinctiveness, all agreed, is a commitment across disciplines to authentic experiential learning — learning through experience.
| SUNY Oswego | With Passion and Purpose
Today, we are poised to advance our reputation as a national leader in this area by creating and multiplying real-world learning opportunities for all students. Sustained funding of several core programs will weave them more closely into our curriculum and scale them to more fully meet student demand. Our goals: to integrate classroom study with hands-on experience, give students a head-start toward their careers and strengthen relationships with the communities we serve.
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However, coursework and hands-on learning opportunities only benefit our students if they receive the support they need to succeed. As the expectation to attend college increases — particularly in traditionally underserved populations — the need to build academic safety nets to ensure success will grow to unaffordable dimensions without new sources of support. Investing in student support will enable SUNY Oswego to continue to attract outstanding students, including many who are the first in their families to attend college. Programs that assist students in the transition to college life will lead to successful academic outcomes and a more vibrant intellectual climate.
| SUNY Oswego | With Passion and Purpose
We will achieve these goals as we build on our longstanding success with internships, practicums and community engagement by developing the growing opportunities in cooperative education and pioneering initiatives such as clinical and residency-based learning models.
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Sample Gift Opportunities • Possibility Scholars
The Possibility Scholars program packages all the qualities of a SUNY Oswego education into a transformative life experience for selected students in science-related disciplines who demonstrate significant financial need. Scholarships cover all tuition, fees, room and board for up to four years, in coordination with any other grants or scholarships awarded. Recipients are assigned a faculty mentor even before they arrive on campus as freshmen. They spend summers pursuing research under faculty guidance, participate in Oswego’s Global Laboratory program abroad and begin to envision careers of great impact. Your gift will broaden the reach of this program to benefit greater numbers of able students in need.
• Presidential Scholars
For more than a decade, the Presidential Scholars program has attracted top performing students to Oswego in increasing numbers. Awarding these merit scholarships to the most talented students does more than reward individuals for excellent academic work and future promise. Above all, it brings us passionate learners whose academic focus and ability raise the level of intellectual vitality and rigor in the classroom and across the entire campus community. Increased funding will position us to award more of these scholarships as we elevate our academic profile and attract student-scholars who often take on leadership roles in the arts, athletics, student government and community service.
| SUNY Oswego | With Passion and Purpose
• Student success programs
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Several SUNY Oswego programs — including pre-college preparation, advising and tutoring, “learning communities” and our math and writing centers — assist students as they transition to campus life and adapt to the challenges of college study. Our research shows that the guidance these programs provide is a critical factor in keeping students enrolled and helping them attain their degrees. Investing in and expanding this support system ensure that we will always wed access to success, with the goal of improving retention and graduation rates.
• Graduate assistantships
SUNY Oswego is a destination for smart, self-directed, ambitious graduate students. Even as our 30-plus graduate programs continue to grow in size and quality, we must always be strategic in positioning our schools and colleges to attract the best students — those who bring fresh ideas and insight to the classroom and laboratory. Their choice of where they will study is often influenced by personal finances. That’s why graduate assistantships are vital. Additional funding — providing stipends for living and educational expenses — will keep graduate study at SUNY Oswego within reach of all deserving students.
• Cooperative Education Program
SUNY Oswego’s Cooperative Education Program is the first multi-disciplinary co-op program within the SUNY system. This innovative program gives students the chance to alternate academic study on campus with paid work experience relevant to their long-term interests. Participants say the program has enriched their educational experience and their career prospects, while also helping to cover the costs of their education and reducing the need for loans. Gifts to establish an endowment will provide permanent support for what one student has called “the most meaningful educational experience of my life.”
• Community outreach
SUNY Oswego reaches out to disadvantaged populations in surrounding communities through formal curricula and degree programs, and by deploying scores of student volunteers to serve the region. One example: the recently launched “Mentor-Scholars for Middle School” program provides academic and social development support to Oswego area middle school students with the aim of increasing high school graduation rates. We plan to recruit and train 150 students each academic year who will serve as mentorscholars for underserved and at-risk youth. Creating an endowment will provide the long-term funding needed to expand our outreach and strengthen our communities.
More than just streaming media of campus academic, cultural, social and athletic events, the SUNY Oswego Network will establish a global presence and immersive experience for alumni, parents and friends to engage, share and celebrate SUNY Oswego. This student initiative will connect the digital dots and put viewers in the middle of our vibrant campus. When fully developed, the SUNY Oswego Network will provide live and on-demand access to the essential Oswego experience building a digital media archive, preserving the past while connecting the present to Oswego’s lifelong learners around the world. Establishing an endowment will provide baseline support and expertise to launch the network and evolve this new exciting endeavor.
| SUNY Oswego | With Passion and Purpose
• SUNY Oswego Network
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The Fund for Oswego
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ith Passion and Purpose, The Fund for Oswego is our vital annual source of funding beyond tuition revenues. It supports all aspects of student life at SUNY Oswego, inside and outside the classroom and therefore supports all of the foregoing campaign priorities. Gifts to The Fund for Oswego benefit every student, every day, in the year they are given. Increasing current-use support during the campaign is a most important endeavor. This key source of funding is essential as we strive to sustain our present high level of quality and take steps to secure an extraordinary future for SUNY Oswego. Including The Fund for Oswego as part of the campaign means that every gift, no matter the size, moves us closer to our goal. In fact, collectively these gifts — from alumni, parents, friends, faculty, staff and others — will represent one of the largest contributions to the campaign.
| SUNY Oswego | With Passion and Purpose
Your generosity will support a wide range of initiatives. In a typical year, these might include: • Supporting current students and families who require financial aid • Funding innovative campus-wide faculty/student collaborative projects • Making investments to keep our classrooms, laboratories and library at the leading edge of technology • Connecting students with alumni for career networking and internship opportunities
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“The Fund for Oswego is the cornerstone
of private support for the Oswego experience. Every gift — by every donor — makes an impact on the success of The Campaign for SUNY Oswego.
– William Spinelli ’84 Oswego College Foundation Chair
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The Campaign at a Glance Invigorate Our Intellectual Climate • Endowed professorships • Seed grants for new programs • Endowed lecture series • The Oswego Global Laboratory • New technology and equipment • The Fund for Oswego
$18 Million
Increase Access, Experience and Success • Possibility Scholars • Presidential Scholars • Student success programs • Graduate assistantships • Cooperative education program • Community outreach • SUNY Oswego Network • The Fund for Oswego
Total Working Campaign Goal
$40 Million
| SUNY Oswego | With Passion and Purpose
$22 Million
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Meeting the Challenges of a New Day
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Oswego’s strength lies in the promise of our historic mission: to prepare our students to contribute to the common good. The Campaign for SUNY Oswego embodies our enduring belief in that mission even as we embrace the challenges of a new day.
| SUNY Oswego | With Passion and Purpose
We are charting a course where our impact will be more profound, where our outreach will be wider, where our students — transformed by the power of education — will gain the knowledge, skills and perspectives needed to find personal success and help build a better world.
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We have the institutional capacity and resolve to make it happen. It will take bold action. It will demand passion and purpose. And it will require increased philanthropic support, made possible by the success of this campaign. I have had the privilege of serving at Oswego for 30-plus years, and more than 15 years as president. I’ve invested time, energy and resources without reservation. Why? Because I see the return every day in the confidence, competence and character of our students and alumni. Now I invite you to join us in this bold endeavor by giving generously — again or for the first time. Together, we can inspire current and future students, the leaders of tomorrow who will carry forth our hopes and legacies.
with Passion and Purpose, Deborah F. Stanley President
April sunset by Brandyn Peters ’14
“R
emember back to when you first landed on the shores of SUNY Oswego . . . You came into Oswego’s harbor as a small ship with an empty hull. You needed Oswego’s safe harbor to help build you up into a bigger, stronger ship to prepare you for the big waters ahead of you. While at Oswego, you moved from dock to dock, meeting new people, learning from faculty and building relationships that would help you forge yourself into a stronger vessel. You suffered through the rough waters of term papers and the high tides of finals. Perhaps some ships wandered out of the harbor to rougher waters, but Oswego was always there, guiding us back into its safe waters to get us to the point we’re at today . . . Oswego has completed its part in this building process. It has provided us with a strong knowledge base with which to build our vessel, the confidence of self sewn into our sails and the light from the Torch of Learning to be the beacon that guides us forward . . .
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Remember to point your compass in Oswego’s direction and to return to its shore. Remember to give back to Oswego to help strengthen the vessels of future students and to allow Oswego to remain the guiding lighthouse that it once was for you.
– Meghan Milewski ‘11 TORCHLIGHT REMARKS EXCERPT
Office of University Development 215 Sheldon Hall SUNY Oswego Oswego, NY 13126
alumni.oswego.edu/campaign