Chancellor William R. Woodson was warmly welcomed at the Board of Trustees meeting Feb. 18, held at the Dorothy Park Alumni Center, Student Body President Jim Ceresnak said.
”It was really an introduction for [Woodson],” Ceresnak said.
According to Ceresnak, this was the first time Woodson was able to interact with the trustees and he attended every single meeting in a series which spanned two days.
Ceresnak said this served as an introduction for Woodson to the functions of the University.
”[Woodson is] beginning the process of understanding the grand scope of the University,” he said.
According to Ceresnak, one of the most significant topics discussed by the board, aside from Woodson’s introduction, was the next University fundraising campaign, which is being headed by Vice Chancellor Nevin Kessler.
Kessler’s presentation to the Board of Trustees, entitled “Funding N.C. State’s Aspirations: The Next Campaign,” indicated there is an annual funding gap of $4 to $5 million between what schools similar to NCSU, like Texas A&M, raise and what NCSU raises.
Kessler’s presentation said N.C. State has never had a long-term plan for funding advancement.
Ceresnak said this next fundraising campaign would change that.
The presentation gave a rough timeline for the campaign and the goals the board is hoping to meet.
The campaign will begin with a silent phase to raise $1.5 to 2 billion for the school between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2021 with a different focus on building endowment than the previous campaign, “Achieve,” which raised $1.3 billion.
Kessler’s presentation said a goal for the campaign was to double the amount given to the school by donors from $90 million to at least $180 million.
The campaign also seeks to actively engage deans, faculty, staff and volunteers in participating in the effort to raise money and in developing funding priorities. Another goal is to increase the number of donors to the campaign from 66,000 to more than 130,000.
“We need to increase our endowment,” Ceresnak said.
According to Ceresnak, increasing the University’s endowment is important because it acts like a financial cushion when times are tight.
Having a larger endowment allows the University to do more things like provide students with more scholarships and attract high-quality faculty with better incentives, he said.
Currently, the University receives more than 50 percent of its funding from the State, he said. The board wants to make NCSU less dependent on the state legislature.
This is particularly relevant this year, according to Ceresnak, because University finances are tight. Woodson is expected to be the champion of this next campaign to increase University funds.
The board is proud of student efforts in the HOWL for Haiti campaign, Ceresnak said.
The board meeting minutes can be found online at the University Web site but have not been posted at the time of this report.
