Private
Giving
Penn State Intercom......March
29, 2001
Wilkes-Barre gives with whole
heart a whopping 99 percent
| Participation by unit |
By Laura Stocker
University Relations
The
faculty and staff at Penn State Wilkes-Barre
have an almost perfect record -- an astounding 99 percent participation
in their segment of the University's Grand Destiny Campaign, since the
University-wide fund-raising effort began on July 1, 1996.
That success comes as no
surprise to Kathy Pesta,
financial aid counselor, who co-chaired the 2000-2001 Annual Fund for
Academic Excellence drive at the campus. The small, tight-knit campus
enjoys a remarkable feeling of community.
"I feel there's a strong sense of fami ly here all the time," she said. "We really try to reach everyone in a personal way. When a student first comes to Penn State Wilkes-Barre, a sense of being invited into a family exists on our campus."
Penn State Wilkes-Barre has 58 full-time and 62 part-time faculty and staff, with a student body of 831. During the current academic year, 69 students received scholarships as a direct result of the campus's faculty and staff campaign. The primary focus is on student scholarships, although faculty and staff had the option to support various areas including academic programs and faculty and staff professional development.The campus is one of three in the Commonwealth College that conduct an a nnual fund drive to solicit gifts from alumni, friends and the local community.
Pesta said that her job as financial aid counselor enables her to see the importance of attracting and retaining the best students. The faculty and staff at Wilkes-Barre are keenly aware of the fierce competition locally for scholarships.
"I really see the difference
in the students' lives," she noted. "We realize that there are students
who couldn't attend our
campus if scholarships were not available." 
This year's Annual Fund campaign was conducted with a fairly traditional approach. When faculty and staff couldn't attend events, Pesta and her co-chair Chuck Ghilani,associate professor of engineering/surveying, brought the campaign to them, approaching each one on a personal basis.
"We didn't pressure them," explained Pesta. "We simply asked them to keep in mind the needs of the students."
Pesta pointed to the support of Jane Kanyock, director for institutional advancement, and Anne Saxton, alumni and development specialist, as critical for her and Ghilani's success as co-chairs.
Kanyock emphasizes that the faculty and staff at the campus still face a challenge, since the Wilkes-Barre segment of the overall Grand Destiny Campaign has not yet been launched publicly. At the upcoming kickoff scheduled for August, she hopes that the faculty and staff of the campus will once again rise to the occasion.
"The faculty and staff here have always cared, have always been involved," said Ghilani, who resists the idea that he personally had much to do with this year's campaign success. "My motto was 'give early, give often,'" he said.
Apparently his colleagues took him to heart.
Laura Stocker can be reached at lstocker@psu.edu
Participation by unit
Top Faculty and Staff Campaign participation by unit as of March 2:
Penn State Wilkes-Barre 99.0%
Development & Alumni Relations 99.0%
Undergraduate Education 94.5%
Intercollegiate Athletics 83.3%
Penn State Worthington Scranton 81.6%
Penn State Great Valley 80.6%
University-wide average
as of March 2: 46.8%