In recognition of Chancellor William E. "Brit" Kirwan's recent selection for the prestigious Carnegie Corporation Academic Leadership Award, the Board of Regents is hosting a black tie celebration at the Samuel V. Riggs IV Alumni Center at the University of Maryland, College Park, on January 30. 

 

Chancellor Kirwan is being recognized for his decades-long work in closing the achievement gap, strengthening STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education, promoting workforce development, enhancing K-12 teacher education, and implementing the Efficiency and Effectiveness Initiative, which has become a national model, among other innovations.

 

Towson University's capital campaign, Growing a University -The Campaign for Towson, has hit the $40 million milestone.  The campaign, which will continue through June 2011, has a goal of $50 million.  "Since we launched this campaign in 2004, we have been grateful to have had the strong support of our alumni, corporations, foundations and other friends," said Gary N. Rubin, vice president for University Advancement.  "Given the difficult economic climate we are in, the support we have received is especially noteworthy," he added.

Student scholarships and program funding are the beneficiaries of Growing a University.  "The contributions, which have come to us from a variety of sources, are motivated by the donors' recognition of Towson University's quality, tradition and promising future," said Donna Mayer, associate vice president for development.

The largest gift received during the campaign to date is a $10.2 million gift to the College of Science and Mathematics from the Robert M. Fisher Memorial Foundation.  The college has been named in honor of the late Jess and Mildred Fisher.

 

 

Slight Rebound for Endowments
Inside Higher Ed, 12/10/09

It appears that college and university endowments have begun to rebound from the economic downturn according to a preliminary report from the annual endowment study conducted by the National Association of College and University Business Officers and Commonfund. The report, which included responses from around 500 of the 800 institutions expected to complete the survey, found an average endowment return decline of 19 percent. While not good, it is much better than the 22.3 percent average endowment return decline predicted in an earlier NACUBO Commonfund analysis. The report also confirms that endowments at smaller institutions tended to fare better than endowments at larger institutions in fiscal year 2009.  View full article.

On January 6, Chancellor Kirwan was one of six public research university leaders to present a letter to President Barack Obama pledging to address the national shortage of science and mathematics teachers through the Science and Mathematics Teacher Imperative (STMI), an initiative sponsored by the Association of Public Land-grant Universities (APLU, formerly NASULGC).  The letter was signed by 79 public research university leaders representing 120 universities nationwide.

 

Four USM universities rank among the nation's 100 best values in public higher education, according to the February issue of Kiplinger's Personal Finance. The University of Maryland, College Park leads the way, at No. 8 on the list. Salisbury University ranks No. 59, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, ranks No. 93, and Towson University ranks No. 97.

 

Calling Salisbury University "a rising star in the Northeast," The Princeton Review, in partnership with USA Today, has named the university among its Top 50 "Best Value" Public Colleges in the nation for 2010. This is the second consecutive year Salisbury has made the list.

 

Three USM institutions are included on the Princeton Review's 2010 "Top 371 Colleges": Salisbury University; University of Maryland, Baltimore County; and University of Maryland, College Park.

 

 

The Frostburg State University Foundation, through the annual fund, recently awarded 23 grants to FSU faculty, staff and students who submitted proposals that enhance student enrichment, academic enrichment and regional and cultural enrichment, the themes of Staking Our Claim: The Campaign for Frostburg. Examples of activities funded include: a bike-sharing program on campus; "Adopt-a-School", a new project for The Children's Literature Centre; the annual Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Day;funding for a freshman experience residence hall for students planning to major in a STEM discipline; and a program addressing the academic achievement gap between majority students and minority and underrepresented students.

Bowie State University and the Lady Bulldogs cross country team are co-champions of the CIAA.  Bowie State and Saint Augustine's College tied with 44 points followed by Virginia State University, Shaw University, and Johnson C. Smith University.