TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
OFFICE OF ADVANCEMENT Welcome Center 600 East Fourth Street Morris, Minnesota 56267-2132
Minnesota’s future is bright, thanks to you, our donors and friends. By supporting the campus causes closest to your heart, you are providing life-changing student experiences. You are supporting groundbreaking research. You are strengthening rural economies. And you are providing opportunities for our future teachers, doctors, lawyers, and innovators. You make the University of Minnesota Morris a model for living and learning. Thank you.
Fiscal year 2019 highlights: • $7,136, 230 in new gifts and commitments, a 58% increase over last year! • Creation of a new faculty development fund • More than 1/3 of funding secured for construction of the EcoCenter • Total endowment: $16,692,521
REPORT ON GIVING 2019
A model for beautiful, smart spaces Thanks to the vision and generosity of donors and friends, we are creating an environment where students play a pivotal role in solving the problems facing our world. That environment, the EcoStation, is a resource for the campus community and a research platform for the benefit of all. And its use continues to evolve. Nestled among ponds and prairie grasses, forest and farmland, the EcoCenter for Environmental Stewardship through Research, Reflection, Discovery will affirm the vision for the EcoStation as a premier learning laboratory. Drawing power and beauty from the woods in which it sits, the 4,000 square-foot, net-zero energy-use facility will empower the people of Minnesota to preserve the prairie environment. And it was made possible by donor generosity. Donors like Erik and Rima Torgerson, who first dreamed of the EcoStation. And the Ellen Ordway Trust, which honors a pioneer in entomology and campus history. And the Helen Briggs family, stewards of our first chief administrator’s legacy: “The younger generation is more environmentally aware than ever before; however, I am amazed how few of our college-age kids have actually spent time in the outdoors. One can’t learn it all from a book. They need to get out there and experience it for themselves; it will change their relationship with nature.” —Erik Torgerson
“If we can, by our studies, get people to recognize what they have in terms of native prairie, then maybe we can enable them to recognize the value of what they have.” —Professor of Biology Ellen Ordway, 1927–2018
“Our father would have loved the EcoStation, the campus’s environmental programs, and the vision of taking advantage of Morris’s rural setting to research new ideas in environmental sustainability.” —Briggs Family
Giving to UMN Morris In partnership with the University of Minnesota Foundation, all gifts designated to UMN Morris are received by and invested in the Morris campus. The Foundation serves as the legal, charitable entity for the University system. SUSAN SCHMIDGALL chief development officer 320-589-6160 sschmidg@morris.umn.edu BILL ROBB senior development officer 320-589-6387 billrobb@morris.umn.edu ERIN CHRISTENSEN development officer 320-589-6067 erinc@morris.umn.edu morris.umn.edu/givetomorris
Generous scholarship donors and deserving recipients came together for our first Salute to Scholarships event this fall. When you make a gift to support scholarships, you provide life-changing student experiences. You create opportunities for future teachers, doctors, lawyers, and innovators. Yours is a gift to many—thank you!
The University of Minnesota shall provide equal access to and opportunity in its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, gender, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
Working and giving together: Julia Dabbs Through their gifts, faculty, staff, and retirees make a tangible difference at UMN Morris. Faculty like Julia Dabbs, associate professor of art history, who made a deferred gift to support scholarships for students. “It’s more a case of giving back,” she says, “to all of those around us who inspire, who care, who make us proud, who keep going when it seems so much easier to quit, who lift us up.”
A model for life-changing student experiences Richard Sandberg ’72 says that many things inspired his gift to the University of Minnesota Morris, but the trigger was a return visit to campus a few years ago. “I was really overwhelmed with how beautiful it was, and it brought back so many memories,” says Sandberg. “It [also] made me reflect that I’m not so young anymore, and it’s time to make a difference.” Sandberg’s gift is unrestricted, but he hopes it will help maintain the campus’s academic excellence. “I hope some of it helps young people who are like I was— and gives them the opportunities that I had,” he says. “Education funding is tighter than it used to be, and Morris really does a great deal to support young people who might otherwise have a tough time [affording] college.”
+350 52
%
52% OF STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH WITH A FACULTY MEMBER Compared to 35% nationally
Thanks to campaign gifts to date, approximately 350 additional students per year will benefit from scholarships.
A member of UMN Morris’s first freshman class (1960–61), Marvin Dyrstad ’64 (College of Pharmacy ’65) fondly recalls former Science and Math Division chair Jim Olson’s skill teaching chemistry and physics, which “made it very conducive to learning at that level.” So did an economic climate that allowed him and other students to put themselves 2019 Gifts by Designation through college by working. Through their A model for life-changing studentthe experiences 19% gift establishing Marvin L. and Joanell A model for faculty leadership 30% M. Dyrstad Science Scholarship, the A model for beautiful, smart spaces 16% Dyrstads—Marvin, a pharmacist, and Joanell, former Minnesota A model foraregional resilience lieutenant 8% governor—honor Olson by expanding educational and career opportunities for promising science students, Unrestricted 26% particularly those with demonstrated leadership ability in community service or related 2019 Donors activities. “We hope to inspire young people to open their horizons, do well, and help the % Alumni next generation in their own way,” says Marv. - 75% % Faculty/Staff/Friends - 22% % Corporations/Foundations/Organizations - 3% Giving total by year FY15 $1.2m 2019 gifts by designation FY16 $3.1m FY17 $4.1m student experiences 19% A model for life-changing FY18 $4.2 FY19 $7.1 30% A model for faculty leadership
16 A model for beautiful, smart spaces %
8% A model for regional resilience 26% Unrestricted
Giving total by year
A model for regional resilience
A model for faculty leadership Imagine you’ve just completed more than 20 years of school. You’ve emerged with your PhD in hand, ready to step in front of a college classroom. Now what? New UMN Morris faculty members have the answer, thanks to Jim and Anne Eidsvold. Loyal supporters of the University, the Eidsvolds recently invested in faculty development because of their personal and family experiences in academia. “Faculty are the lifeblood of campus,” says Anne. “Every student could tell you about a professor who made a big impact on their life,” adds Jim. “If we can strengthen the faculty, it will benefit the student body and campus community.”
99% 99% OF FACULTY HAVE THE HIGHEST DEGREE IN THEIR FIELDS
Larry Ringgenberg identifies with towns like Morris, having grown up in Aberdeen, South Dakota, and gone to college down the road in Brookings. After a long career in lending, six years ago he was asked to be the market president at Dacotah Bank in Morris. “So now I’m a MinneSOtan,” he says in perfect dialect. Dacotah Bank, he points out, is a community bank in every sense of the term. And he feels it’s important to give to the University of Minnesota Morris, another community asset. The bank established the Dacotah Deck in the Cougar Sports Center to demonstrate that commitment and to provide life-changing experiences for student-athletes. Ringgenberg’s goal is to help showcase the Morris community as not just a place to get an education, but as a great place to live. “I don’t really want to think of Morris without a University of Minnesota Morris,” he says.
85.6
$
million
UMN Morris infuses $86.5 million into the state economy each year. 2017 Tripp Umbach
A model for living and learning Since graduating from the West Central School of Agriculture, Carol Dewey-Erlandson ’55, a retired medical technologist, and her husband, Russell Erlandson ’54, a retired farmer, have attended almost every reunion. Among other fond memories, Carol recalls how dormitory life at WCSA—the forerunner of UMN Morris—“taught us how to get along with other people.” A former secretary and vice president of the WCSA Alumni Association Board of Directors, she says the couple’s annual contributions to the WCSA AlumNEWS help the newspaper keep people informed of their fellow alumni’s whereabouts. “Some of the friends I met at WCSA are still among my best friends,” Carol says. “There’s a real bond among all WCSA alumni.”
42
acres
At the heart of the campus is a 42-acre historic district (encompassing the WCSA-era buildings) listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
2019 donors 75% Alumni 22% Faculty/Staff/Friends 3% Corporations/Foundations/Organizations
$7.1m
$4.1m
$4.2m
FY17
FY18
$3.1m $1.2m
#UMNMorrisProud: Bob ’99 and Karen Wottreng ’99 UMN Morris holds a special place in the hearts of Bob ’99 and Karen Graupman Wottreng ’99. It’s where the couple first met and where they both made lifelong friends. It’s also where they received strong educations that served as springboards for their careers. They operate Wottreng Family Dental in Owatonna, where Bob is the dentist, and Karen handles the business side of the clinic. They hope their gifts to the Alumni Annual Fund strengthen the UMN Morris community and help some students reduce their costs. “When alumni support campus initiatives, they send a message to current and prospective students that a UMM education is a worthwhile endeavor,” say the Wottrengs. “We are grateful for our education and are proud alumni!”
FY15
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FY19
University of Minnesota President’s Club
With gratitude, we welcome these new members to the University of Minnesota President’s Club and recognize those Morris donors who reached a new giving level. MORRILL Anonymous Jim and Anne Eidsvold Kirk E. Rovang Erik and Rima Torgerson/Torgerson Family Foundation CHARTER Helen R. and Rodney A.* Briggs HERITAGE Julia K. Dabbs James and Mei-Ying Hoppie Lethe R. Hoxtell Mary Klauda Patrick Larson Helen Jane Morrison and Edward J. Morrison in Memoriam Richard L. Sandberg Larry Traversie Brian R. Williams Susan (Schaeve) Wolf E. Dennis ’69 and Susan Guter Zahrbock ’71 * deceased
93% 93% OF GRADUATES WERE SATISFIED WITH THEIR EXPERIENCES AT MORRIS
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financial information of University of Minnesota Foundation may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll-free, within Pennsylvania, 1-800-732-0999. Virginia: From the State Office of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, P.O. Box 1163, Richmond, VA 23218. Washington: From the Secretary of State at 1-800332-4483. The registration required by the state charitable solicitation act is on file with the Secretary of State’s office. West Virginia: West Virginia residents may obtain a summary of the registration and financial documents from the Secretary of State, State Capitol, Charleston, WV 25305. CONTRIBUTIONS ARE DEDUCTIBLE FOR FEDERAL INCOME TAX PURPOSES IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAW. REGISTRATION IN A STATE DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION OF UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION BY THE STATE.