North eastern is under taking an his toric, $1 bil lion cam paign that will shape the future of teaching, learning, and dis covery at the uni ver sity by sup porting stu dents, fac ulty, and inno va tion in edu ca tion and research. The cam paign will also strengthen Northeastern’s part ner ships with gov ern ment and industry.
Empower: The Cam paign for North eastern Uni ver sity aims to raise $500 mil lion in phil an thropic sup port and $500 mil lion through industry and gov ern ment part ner ships by 2017. The cam paign will cap i talize on Northeastern’s surging momentum in areas ranging from research to global lead er ship in expe ri en tial edu ca tion. The number of global co-ops has increased 235 per cent since 2006-07, the university’s annual research funding has increased 115 per cent since 2006, and 90 per cent of grad u ates from 2006 to 2011 were employed full time or enrolled in grad uate school within nine months after grad u a tion. These are among the many fac tors con tributing to the increase in quan tity and quality of stu dents the uni ver sity attracts, as appli ca tions for the fall 2013 freshman class exceeded prior bench marks in terms of total appli cants, geo graphic diver sity, and quality.
“This his toric cam paign is about people empow ering people,” Pres i dent Joseph E. Aoun said. “Since 1898, we have cham pi oned inno va tion, entre pre neur ship, ser vice, and the inte gra tion of study and real-world experience—a tra di tion rooted in our co-op pro gram. Today these values are reflected in our global experiential-education oppor tu ni ties and use-inspired research. Northeastern’s momentum has been extra or di nary, and the best is yet to come.”
The Empower cam paign will sup port pro grams and ini tia tives university-wide. These include new co-op and research oppor tu ni ties for stu dents, who will be pre pared to lead emerging, inter dis ci pli nary fields and industries—from nanomed i cine, per sonal health infor matics, and net work sci ence to green archi tec ture and the dig ital arts. Invest ments will also equip fac ulty with the tools and guid ance to col lab o rate across dis ci plines and forge part ner ships world wide, while also con fronting soci etal imperatives—among these, health, secu rity, and sustainability—to develop fresh solu tions to global challenges.
The cam paign focuses on three strategic goals:
- Stu dent sup port and finan cial aid, which includes expe ri en tial learning, inter na tional edu ca tion, schol ar ships and fel low ships, ath letics and club sports, com mu nity engage ment, stu dent research, and oppor tu ni ties for stu dents to pursue their entre pre neurial ambi tions.
- Fac ulty advance ment and expan sion, which includes endowing new dean ships, fac ulty chairs, and pro fes sor ships in order to attract and retain world-class researchers and teachers; and building teams of fac ulty mem bers that work across dis ci plines to deliver leading-edge schol ar ship.
- Inno va tion in edu ca tion and research, which will build on Northeastern’s strengths in co-op, launch new degree pro grams, and mod ernize education-delivery sys tems, in part by adopting new dig ital com mu ni ca tion tech nolo gies; and which will advance use-inspired research—particularly in health, secu rity, and sustainability—and create new research cen ters that will keep the uni ver sity on the leading edge of inven tion and exploration.
The cam paign will engage the entire North eastern com mu nity, including alumni, par ents, cor po rate part ners, fac ulty, staff, and students.
A series of major gifts have already set the stage for suc cess. Alumni Richard D’Amore and Alan McKim made a joint $60-million gift to the busi ness school, now known as the D’Amore-McKim School of Business. And alumnus George J. Kostas invested $12 mil lion in his alma mater to estab lish the George J. Kostas Research Insti tute for Home land Secu rity.
Empower cam paign sup porters are exerting tremen dous impact across the uni ver sity. Sup porters have cre ated a new center for engi neering entre pre neur ship edu ca tion; a co-op schol ar ship that funds lab o ra tory research on campus by stu dents who aspire to med ical school and careers as physician-scientists; a fund to sup port senior engi neering cap stone projects; a fund that sup ports the School of Law’s Ini tia tive on Expe ri en tial Edu ca tion in Law; the Nasella Family Endow ment Fund in sup port of finan cial aid; and an endow ment to fund a pro fes sional coaching posi tion for the Sailing Club.
– by Northeastern News
