Winston-Salem State University Centennial Campaign Case Statement

I wrote the capital campaign case statement for Winston-Salem State University’s $25 million Centennial Campaign.

The Case for Winston-Salem State University

A Regional Public University for Our Community

They did it in Charlotte

A short time ago, several Charlotte business and community leaders discussed the future of their city. One participant maintained that Charlotte needed a comprehensive, full-service, public university of superior quality. The group agreed Charlotte could build such an institution. They just needed to make up their minds to do it. The rest is history!

We can do it in Winston-Salem

As a community resource, Winston-Salem State University can become the regional public university the Western Piedmont so urgently needs to secure its economic future. But just as the leaders of Charlotte played a pivotal role in turning the University of North Carolina at Charlotte into the invaluable regional resource it is today, the community leaders of Winston-Salem must do their share to enable Winston-Salem State University to realize its vast potential as the Western Piedmont’s only regional public university.

It will take leadership

In the August 11, 1989, issue of the Winston-Salem Journal:

“This community needs, now more than ever, some visionary and forceful leadership adept in building consensus, setting tasks and managing results. The resources of this community are bountiful, using them wisely and well is the trick.”

It will take commitment

From the July 29, 1984, issue of the Winston-Salem Journal:

“This is a community that moved a small school (Wake Forest) to Winston-Salem and created a major university. This is a community that can make a school of the arts out of thin air. This is a community that gets things done.

“Commitment—that’s the whole thing.”

Our Only Public University

Since its founding as Slater Industrial Academy in 1892 Winston-Salem State University has fulfilled its promise of a better quality of life for thousands of students who might otherwise have been denied access to a college education.

Just a few of WSSU’s more prominent alumni are Selma Burke, noted sculptor, Calvert Smith, president of Morris Brown College, Jim Garner, mayor of Hampstead, New York, and Tim Newsome, professional football star. Many other WSSU graduates are doctors, lawyers and business leaders, as well as teachers, nurses and scientists—all making substantial contributions to society. Today, under the leadership of Chancellor Cleon F Thompson, Jr., WSSU serves more than 2,500 students of increasingly diverse ages and backgrounds. The university offers bachelor’s degrees in 31 majors and, through its Graduate Center, master’s and educational specialist’s degrees.

As one of the 16 schools that make up The University of North Carolina, WSSU is the only public university serving the 450,000 people living in the Western Piedmont’s Forsyth, Davie, Stokes, Surry and Yadkin counties, and the only comprehensive public post-secondary institution within a 50-mile radius of five area community colleges.

Expanding its Market

In the future, WSSU will continue to serve qualified low-income minority students who have traditionally relied on WSSU for a college education. At the same time, WSSU is committed to broadening its appeal to attract an increasingly diverse student body, including a growing number of students who are now leaving the region to pursue their educations elsewhere, nontraditional students, and graduates of two-year institutions. This initiative is dependent upon an effort which emphasizes specific recruitment strategies and articulation agreements with two-year institutions. A further focus, continuing education and public service programs, will ensure expanded access to individuals who wish to enrich their personal and professional experiences.

Keeping Area College Students at Home

More than 81% of Forsyth County students who attend state universities enroll in schools outside our region. Fewer than one percent of state college students from Yadkin and Surry counties, five percent from Davie County, six percent from Stokes County and four percent from Davidson County choose WSSU.

Instead, these area students are choosing UNC-Charlotte, UNC-Greensboro, UNC-Wilmington and Appalachian State University in ever-increasing numbers. For example, of the 121 students from the 1989 graduating class at R.J. Reynolds High School who chose to attend state-supported schools, only two chose WSSU, while 13 chose UNC-Charlotte, 21 chose UNC-Greensboro and 14 chose UNC-Wilmington.

When asked their reasons for selecting a competing school over WSSU, most students said the competitor offered a better financial aid package, particularly through scholarships. Other reasons mentioned were the perceived quality of programs, students and faculty and the desire to attend a larger university.

Industry Needs Strong Public Universities

While Winston-Salem State has always maintained ties to industry, the need for strengthening the relationship between the university and the area business community has never been more critical than it is today.

For WSSU, association with business means increased funding and the ability to attract and retain better-qualified faculty and students.

According to the 1988 Battelle report, “An Assessment of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Resource Base,” industries look for strong, diverse educational programs when choosing locations. For the business community, WSSU’s educational programs and technological resources can make the difference between success and failure in recruiting new firms, expanding existing companies, supporting entrepreneurial ventures, strengthening competitiveness and, ultimately, enhancing the economic climate for the entire region.

The University as an Economic Force

Located on 85 acres and valued at $55 million, and with an annual budget of $24 million, Winston-Salem State University exerts a major impact on the local economy, contributing more than $50 million yearly in institutional purchases, construction and consumer spending by employees, students and visitors.

With better utilization of WSSU’s considerable resources, its role as an economic force will become even more significant in the future of the Western Piedmont.

Responding to Opportunities

To prepare for its future as Western Piedmont’s regional public university, WSSU has undergone an extensive period of self-examination and planning. With past problems identified and specific, measurable, attainable goals detailed in The Strategic Plan 1990—2000, university administrators and trustees are confident WSSU is ready, willing and able to respond to opportunities facing the Western Piedmont.

Programs to Address Area Needs

With the Western Piedmont’s increasing shortage of qualified teachers, WSSU’s highly-respected Division of Education will play a crucial role m developing and re-certifying teachers to serve the area.

As Winston-Salem continues to expand as a major medical center, the need for qualified graduates in nursing and allied health is increasing. Following a period of careful scrutiny and problem-solving, WSSU’s Division of Nursing and Allied Health is now emerging as a key resource for the region’s thriving health-care industry.

With the demand for qualified personnel far exceeding the available supply, the opportunities awaiting computer science graduates are nearly limitless. WSSU’s Computer Science Program is widely recognized and respected for its quality. Program graduates have achieved major success in the job market in positions with major businesses and government agencies throughout the United States.

Nowhere is WSSU’s direct benefit to the business community more evident than in its Division of Business and Economics. With more than 90% of former students from this, the university’s largest division, reporting full-time employment, WSSU’s business division is making substantial contributions to the area economy through outstanding teaching, research and community service.

Reaching Out to the Community

Located on the WSSU campus is one of North Carolina’s Small Business and Technology Development Centers. In 1988 alone, the WSSU branch counseled more than 600 clients from start-up and existing small businesses in the area.

The John R. and Lillian B. Lewis Microelectronics Center provides area students, researchers and businesses access to the state’s major research and educational centers through a closed-circuit microwave network.

WSSU Joint Ventures Program, a part of WSSU’s Office of Continuing Education, helps strengthen the region’s labor and management pool through programs aimed at businesses, professionals and governments.

Urgent Needs

In spite of Winston-Salem State’s significant strengths, the university faces a number of urgent needs.

Qualified area students are choosing other schools because of a lack of scholarships and programs to meet their needs. Faculty salaries are not competitive. The older dormitories on campus are not cost-efficient and were not designed to meet the needs of today’s college students. Teachers and researchers need better-designed and equipped classrooms and laboratories. Throughout the campus, buildings are being used to accommodate programs and activities for which they were never intended.

The current student union was built to accommodate half the number of students now enrolled at WSSU.

The cafeteria, built in 1939, suffers from significant deficiencies in storage space, an inadequate sewer system and an unsightly appearance.

Hill Hall, where life science and physical science programs are now located, suffers from an outdated heating and cooling system, inferior electrical systems and inadequate research and classroom space.

The Early Childhood Education Center is too small and needs extensive renovations.

As these examples show, WSSU must meet a number of challenges before it can become the institution our region so vitally needs. With projected construction costs at $33 million and an additional $22 million needed for endowment, the university needs a total of $55 million.

Encouraged by the scope and vision of WSSU’s Strategic Plan, the Board of Trustees will request $17 million in state appropriations, $13 million in self-liquidating funds and raise $25 million from private sources to secure the $55 million total.

In endorsing WSSU’s fund-raising campaign, the Board of Trustees has made stewardship of these funds a high priority. By applying rigorous funds management methods, secure investments will be made. In addition, careful management practices will ensure that gifts are used as their donors specified and that private dollars supplement, rather than replace, public appropriations. Monies received by the campaign will be managed by the WSSU Foundation, Inc., and the WSSU Board of Trustees Endowment Board.

Results

With the opportunities identified and with their goals and strategies for achieving them detailed, the leaders of Winston-Salem State University are confident of their potential for success. With the community’s generous support, WSSU fully expects:

• To keep more qualified students from leaving our community in search of educational opportunities.
• To attract and retain the qualified, committed faculty members who so directly and fundamentally influence the quality and character of the institution.
• To stimulate economic growth by making our community more attractive to industry and by continuing to contribute dollars directly to the local economy.
• To ease shortages of qualified educators and health care professionals as WSSU graduates pursue their careers.
• To secure additional state funding based on the community’s tangibly-demonstrated commitment to WSSU’s further growth and success.
• To extend campus boundaries to accommodate accelerating program development and increasing demand for classroom buildings, energy-efficient dormitories and other facilities to serve the school well into its second century of service.
• To enjoy a sound, functional, attractive campus with new facilities built and with much-needed renovations to existing facilities complete.

Ultimately Winston-Salem State University expects to emerge as a major force in the mainstream of community life as both leader and servant in the vitally-important field of post-secondary education.

Investing in Our Community’s Future

If Winston-Salem State University is to fulfill its potential as the Western Piedmont’s regional university, and if WSSU is to achieve growth and success comparable to that realized by our state’s leading public institutions, a strong public-private partnership must be forged immediately.

As other areas of the state and region have shown, strong public universities are essential to strong local economies. If we are to strengthen and revitalize the economy of Winston-Salem and the Western Piedmont, we must invest in Winston-Salem State University and the innovative academic programs, imaginative research and effective public service initiatives detailed in WSSU’s Strategic Plan.

We can, and must, commit ourselves to making Winston-Salem State University into the strong regional public university our economy so critically needs. We just need to do it!

Key Projects

Private Support

• Endowment for Faculty Enrichment
• Endowed Merit Scholarships
• Endowed Program Enrichment
• Endowment for Institutional Advancement
• Endowment for Campus Enhancement
• Endowment for Staff Enrichment
• Land Acquisition (25 acres west of campus)
• The University Center (18% of total)

State Appropriations

• The University Center (49% of total)
• New Life Science Building
• New Physical Science Building
• New Early Childhood Education Center
• F.L. Atkins Building Addition, Renovations
• C.E. Gaines Complex & Environs Additions, Renovations
• Carolina Hall Renovations
• Hall-Patterson Building Renovations

Self-Liquidating Funds

• The University Center (33% of total)
• New Women’s Dormitory
• New Men’s Dormitory
• New Married Student Housing
• Student Health Center Renovations

Private Support (45%)	$25,000,000
State Appropriations (31%)	17,000,000
Self-Liquidating Funds (24%)	13,000,000
Total	$55,000,000

The $55 million in funding for WSSU includes $25 million in private contributions, $17 million in state appropriations and $13 million in self-liquidating funds.

WSSU will use $32 million for buildings $22 million for endowment and $1 million to buy land adjacent to campus.

Endowment	$22,000,000
Buildings	2,000,000
Land	1,000,000
Total	$25,000,000

All of the $32 million for endowment and the $1 million for buying land must come from private sources.