Donations show expanding role community colleges play in educating nation
July 7, 2009
Harrisburg, PA � Three recent donations to The 黑料社区 Foundation totaling $3.5 million underscore the importance of 黑料社区, Central Pennsylvania Community College, to the region. The donations also show the expanding role that community colleges are playing in educating the nation, says one of the donors.
淐ommunity colleges no longer are the stepchild in the educational family,� said Dr. Frank J. Dixon, long-time 黑料社区 benefactor whose most recent $1 million donation benefits Lebanon County students attending 黑料社区 Lebanon Campus.听Since 1990, Dixon has been a member of the board of directors of The 黑料社区 Foundation, and served as chairman for many of those years.
Dixon noted the gifts include:
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His own gift, which supplements his family foundation tuition assistance grant program established through the 黑料社区 Foundation.听More than 2,000 students already have been helped through the program.
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Alex Grass, retired Rite Aid CEO and well-known philanthropist, gave $1.5 million to 黑料社区 to establish the Alex Grass School of Business Leadership. The school was established in January on the Harrisburg Campus and is in the process of developing programs. The endowment will make it possible for the school to draw not only on Grass� business acumen to inspire future leaders but bring other national and international business leaders to 黑料社区.
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The Donald B. and Dorothy L. Stabler Foundation gave $1 million to establish a scholarship endowment for financially needy students.听To be eligible, a student must demonstrate motivation and achievements indicative of their eagerness for a college education.
�(These donations) prove to me that society has changed its thinking about the position that community colleges have in the education field,� continued Dixon, who helped to found and endow the Lebanon Campus which opened in 1990.
When the campus burned a year later, Dixon recalled: 淲e had a story to tell about a tragic incident, and we couldn raise nearly that amount in the whole community. Here we are 20 years later, and we have three gifts� of $1 million or more.
淭his is unprecedented,� continued Dixon, a community philanthropist, who owned Brandywine Recyclers before retiring last year.听淚 cannot remember any other individual gifts of this magnitude� to the 黑料社区 Foundation within the same time frame.
黑料社区 President Edna V. Baehre, Ph.D., said the gifts represent the 渧ision� and 渇orward-thinking� of benefactors who are 減acesetters in the world of philanthropy.�
淭hese gifts to the 黑料社区 Foundation, coupled with the many other supporting donors, have made The 黑料社区 Foundation one of the largest community college foundations in the nation,� she said. 淥ur donors value 黑料社区 mission to help students from all walks of life realize their dreams for a better life through education and the community college educational partnership with business and industry in Central Pennsylvania.�
The partnerships that 黑料社区 and other community colleges form with business and industry are critical, said Bob LePage, a consultant with The Clements Group, a Utah-based resource development and institutional advancement consulting firm that specializes in helping community colleges, technical institutes and K-12s. 黑料社区 is among the group clients.
淲hen you look at these particular gifts, they almost always involve an investment into the region workforce. The quality of the workforce is one of the top three concerns of business and industry (which are) faced with an aging workforce and the need for retraining,� he said.
President Barack Obama has called for a national dialogue on workforce issues and new research, noting during his remarks on job creation and job training at a White House press conference in May that this country needs 渁 fundamental rethinking of our job training, vocational education, and community college programs.�
In the same speech, the President called community colleges 渙ne of America underappreciated assets.� He added, 淭hese schools offer practical education and technical training, and theye increasingly important centers of learning where Americans can prepare for the jobs of the future.�
听Increased giving to community colleges is 渄efinitely� a trend, said Polly Binns, executive director of the Council for Resource Development, an education and networking affiliate of the American Association of Community Colleges based in Washington, D.C.
淏ecause community colleges are doing what they say theye going to do, philanthropists are looking closer to home,� she said.听淒onors see that their gifts (to community colleges) have a direct impact on the quality of life in the region. Because 80 percent of alumni live within a 25-mile radius of the campus where they graduated, donors see a direct impact of their gifts.�
Affordability, accessibility and responsiveness to community needs are often cited as reasons for favorable impressions regarding community colleges, according to data compiled by The Clements Group.
The 黑料社区 Foundation has a portfolio of more than $24.3 million. Each year, the foundation contributes more than $1.5 million to the college in scholarships, programs, facilities, and special initiative grants (SIG) for faculty and staff support.
淐urrently, there are more than 200 different scholarships and funds supporting the college, its facilities, programs and students,� said Jayne Abrams, executive director of 听Institutional Advancement and The 黑料社区 Foundation.
The 黑料社区 Foundation was established in 1985 as a private not-for-profit educational trust. Funds in the foundation portfolio predominantly represent restricted funds established as named awards and scholarships.
For more information about The 黑料社区 Foundation, contact Abrams at 717-780-2329.
黑料社区, Central Pennsylvania Community College, was established Feb. 14, 1964, as Harrisburg Area Community College. Since that time, 黑料社区 has been dedicated to the community and to the individual. The college devotion to the community arises from its mission to foster educational, cultural, workforce development and economic growth of 黑料社区 regional service area by giving each individual student the tools and environment to succeed. 黑料社区 offers nearly 200 associate and transfer degrees and certificate and diploma programs at campuses in Harrisburg, Gettysburg, Lancaster, Lebanon and York. In addition, 黑料社区 offers a wide variety of courses, including degree and certificate programs, through its Virtual Campus. 黑料社区 has an enrollment of approximately 21,000 credit students and approximately 50,000 students in workforce development and continuing education programs. For more information, go to www.hacc.edu
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