UIS Reaching Stellar campaign has impressive year totaling more than $5.1 million

On June 30, the University of Illinois Springfield marked the end of fiscal year 2018 (FY2018) with more than 16,000 gifts and commitments in new business totaling more than $5.1 million. New business is comprised of new gifts, grants, pledges and deferred commitments. The University also registered $3.2 million in outright cash gifts, pledge payments, annuity/life income gifts and estate distributions. Both the new business and cash gift totals are among the best in university history.

“The core mission of the University of Illinois is to transform lives and serve society,” said Susan J. Koch, chancellor of the University of Illinois Springfield. “Our donors, community leaders and supporters are taking UIS toward greater excellence and impact for our students, our University, our state and beyond.”

The University launched the public phase of its largest philanthropic campaign on October 10, 2017. The campaign, Reaching Stellar, has a $40-million goal through 2022 to benefit students, faculty and the Springfield community. This is the largest fundraising campaign in the Springfield community's history. The campaign is at its half way point and as of June 30 over $22.1 million has been secured toward the five campaign priorities:

• Scholarships: Affirming the aspirations, energy and diversity of our students
• Academic Excellence : Learning that empowers the future
• UIS Center for Lincoln Studies : To instruct, inspire and elevate us all
• The Public Good : Engagement. Collaboration. Impact.
• Facilities and Technology : Building tomorrow’s University today 

“The Reaching Stellar campaign is off to a great start due to our donors and the leadership of our UIS Campaign Committee led by co-chairs are Hy Bunn, president and CEO of Bunn-O-Matic Corporation, and Saul Morse, of counsel at Brown, Hay & Stephens LLC,” stated Jeff Lorber, vice chancellor for advancement, University of Illinois Springfield and senior vice president, University of Illinois Foundation. UIS Campaign Committee members include Micah Bartlett, Bob Felker, Julie Kellner, Pam McClelland, Larry Shiner, Janice Spears, Julie Staley and Guerry Suggs.

The campaign has numerous areas which have received support such as UIS Student Union, UIS Center for Lincoln Studies, NPR Illinois, UIS Athletics, the Illinois Innocence Project, Brookens Library, and the new Field Station on Lake Springfield to name a few.

Campaigns can transform a university and its community. This past January, the UIS Student Union was officially dedicated and overnight it became the heartbeat of campus. With a new 50,000-square-foot facility on the UIS quad, the UIS Student Union serves as the center of students’ social and organizational activities with its conference rooms, lounges, booths and nooks to encourage discussion, collaboration, and study. Today, a large dining hall and coffee shop serve as gathering places to attract students and serve as a central meeting site for numerous campus organizations. This $21-million investment was made possible through the commitment of student fees and private gifts.

Richard Osborne, an alumnus and lead donor, is excited to consider the opportunities for future success that exist at UIS. "When I received my master’s degree from UIS, the school had just started its migration to the current campus. Since then the school has grown dramatically and is developing into a full scope university. Building a first-class student union is an important and needed step, allowing students to connect and create lifelong relationships. My wife Charlene and I are very pleased to support the UIS Student Union project as well as endowed scholarships in the College of Business and Management."

Giving to the campaign, Reaching Stellar, is a key priority of the University of Illinois Springfield, Sangamon County and the Springfield community. Giving to this campaign will help enrich the University of Illinois Springfield, accelerate economic development, enhance innovation and increase fundamental research in our community, region and state. The response in the first year after the public announcement of the Reaching Stellar campaign has demonstrated that the communities supporting UIS are rallying. The top three sources of support are from UIS alumni (39%), corporations (17%) and friends/ non alumni (24%).

“I have long considered UIS a true asset to the Springfield community," said Saul Morse, co-chair of the UIS Campaign Committee. “The University adds millions in revenue to Springfield and thousands of UIS alumni work in our community. Now only a couple years from the University’s 50th anniversary, the prospects for this institution of higher education and its effect upon our community are limitless.”

More information about the Reaching Stellar campaign for the University of Illinois Springfield is available at www.uis.edu/advancement/reaching-stellar. Please contact Jeff Lorber, vice chancellor for advancement, University of Illinois Springfield (217) 206.6058; jlorber@uis.edu.

Papers of Abraham Lincoln receives $100,000 gift honoring UIS' Cullom Davis

A gift of $100,000 to the Papers of Abraham Lincoln honors Cullom Davis, professor emeritus of history at the University of Illinois Springfield. From 1988 to 2000, Davis served as editor and director of the Lincoln Legal Papers, which later expanded into the Papers of Abraham Lincoln.

The anonymous gift will provide support for this long-term documentary editing project. Staff at the Papers of Abraham Lincoln are dedicated to identifying, imaging, transcribing, annotating, and publishing all documents written by or to Abraham Lincoln during his lifetime (1809-1865). The collection will be published on the internet and available free of charge. The Papers of Abraham Lincoln is part of the UIS Center for State Policy and Leadership.

"I am delighted with this gift that honors my predecessor, advisor, and friend Cullom Davis," said current editor and director Daniel W. Stowell. "To paraphrase the subject of our project, it is altogether fitting and proper that this gift recognizes Cullom’s achievements. Our work on the Lincoln papers is indeed a great task that Cullom nobly advanced, and we are pleased to carry on the work that he began."

A founding faculty member of Sangamon State University (now UIS), Davis created and directed the university's Oral History Office and helped design its master’s degree program in public history.

For his contributions to the humanities, especially Illinois history, Davis received the Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award in 2002. In May 2014, he received the University of Illinois Foundation’s William E. Winter Award for Outstanding Advocate Leadership.

For more information, contact Sarah Jennings, UIS director of development, corporate and foundation relations & major gifts at 217/206-6058 or email sjenn02s@uis.edu.

Lorber named UIS Vice Chancellor for Development and Senior Vice President of the U of I Foundation

Jeff Lorber has been named Vice Chancellor for Development at the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) and Senior Vice President of the University of Illinois Foundation (UIF). As Vice Chancellor and Senior Vice President, he will provide leadership for the strategy development and management of fundraising plans, priorities, and activities at UIS. Lorber will work in close collaboration with UIS Chancellor Susan Koch and UIF President Sidney Micek.

“Jeff is a seasoned development professional with an exceptional background in higher education and community engagement,” said Chancellor Koch. “He brings an outstanding record of successful fundraising to the Vice Chancellor position and I am looking forward to the many contributions he will make to the advancement of UIS as one of the top regional public universities in the Midwest.”

Lorber comes to UIS from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, where he currently serves as Associate Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement and Executive Director of Development for the SIU Foundation. He has been at SIU Carbondale since 2005 and served as the Campaign Director for SIU’s first comprehensive campaign, a successful $106 million effort.

“I look forward to working with Chancellor Koch, Dr. Micek and the University family to attract and secure external support needed to enhance the already outstanding educational experiences and opportunities available at UIS,” said Lorber. “I am excited about becoming involved in Springfield and the surrounding areas to help demonstrate the commitment and benefit UIS provides to the greater community at large.”

Lorber is a native of Muscatine, Iowa, and has also held development positions at Indiana University Northwest, the University of Tennessee, Northern Illinois University, Butler University, the University of Northern Iowa, and Washington University in St. Louis.

“We are very pleased and fortunate to have hired Jeff Lorber and have him join the senior leadership team at the University of Illinois Springfield and the University of Illinois Foundation,” said Micek. “We had many excellent candidates and he emerged as the right choice--at the right time--as we move forward. Jeff has had a significant amount of experience in higher education advancement and fundraising at different types of universities and that experience and background should be beneficial. He and his family will be great additions to UIS, the Foundation and the Springfield community.”

Lorber earned his doctorate in educational administration and policy studies from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He has a master's degree in college student personnel from Western Illinois University and a bachelor's degree in communications/public relations from the University of Northern Iowa.

UIS is a premier public university that provides students with a high-quality liberal arts education, exceptional public affairs opportunities, and outstanding professional preparation programs. The campus offers 24 bachelor’s degree programs, 20 master’s programs and 1 doctoral program. UIS has four core strengths: (1) a teaching-focused academic experience; (2) an abundance of opportunities to collaborate; (3) a right-sized supportive community; and (4) a tradition of educating public servants and leaders. UIS has four colleges: business and management; education and human services; liberal arts and sciences; and public affairs and administration.

For more information contact Derek Schnapp, director of public relations at 217/206-6716 or email dschn3@uis.edu.

UIS tops $28 million dollar Brilliant Futures Campaign fundraising goal with help of donors

The University of Illinois Springfield is proud to announce the $28 million goal for the Brilliant Futures Campaign has been surpassed. To date, UIS has gifts, pledges and commitments totaling more than $28.4 million. The campaign, which began in July of 2003, supported students, faculty, programs, and campus facilities. The $28.4 million is nearly 90 percent more than what the University raised under the previous Campaign Illinois initiative that concluded in 2000.

“Every day I am inspired by the Springfield Community and its pride in UIS. I have met a number of people—alumni and community friends—whose vision led to the founding of Sangamon State University and who continue to invest in Springfield’s own public university,” said Susan J. Koch, University of Illinois Vice President and Springfield Chancellor. “I am also heartened by those who came later and have embraced UIS. Brick by brick, step by step, UIS is growing into an excellent institution. The Brilliant Futures Campaign has helped to transform UIS into a university of substance, known here in Illinois and on a national level.”

Over the course of the campaign, 15,625 donors gave to UIS, with 8,802 of those being first-time givers, 6,389 alumni, and 1,247 corporations and foundations. Local support has been generous: 6,456 donors from Sangamon County gave over $15 million. Faculty and staff at UIS have also been generous, with an average of 170 donors contributing each year, and participation rising from 111 in FY 2004 to 221 in FY 2011.

“The tremendous response of our friends and partners has made this achievement possible,” said Vicki Megginson, Associate Chancellor of UIS and Senior Vice President of the University of Illinois Foundation. “In the first quarter of 2012, we will be closing the books. We can already see evidence of the impact our generous donors have had on UIS.”

Scholarships

Since the beginning of the campaign, many donors have responded to the need for scholarships by giving 28 new endowed scholarships, increasing the total from 56 in 2003 to 84 today. Including planned or deferred scholarships, UIS’ total number of privately funded scholarships has risen from 95 in 2003 to 183 today—a 92% increase.

As a result of scholarships given during the campaign, 484 additional students have received scholarships, many with multi-year awards. Those numbers are expected to increase even further as UIS ramps up its new Access Illinois scholarship campaign.

The UIS Brilliant Futures Campaign was co-chaired by UIS alums Julie Kellner, Bob Felker and Howard Humphrey (now deceased). Honorary co-chairs included Polly Roesch, Sergio (Satch) Pecori and Chancellor Emeritus Naomi B. Lynn.

“It was a great privilege to me as an alumna that UIS asked me to co-chair the Brilliant Futures Campaign,” said Kellner. “Our success is a direct result of many individuals--including all the alumni and community friends who have volunteered in many different ways their time and their resources.”

Other Highlights

• Since 2003, donors have added three professorships to UIS and provided funding for a faculty scholar. UIS now has one chair, five professorships, and one faculty scholar.
• The Sloan Foundation has given $1.79 million in support of online learning at UIS during the campaign. UIS has recorded increased enrollments in online classes every semester and UIS is now recognized as one of the premier online programs nationally.
• The annual giving for Student Affairs has more than tripled over the course of the campaign.
• Throughout the campaign, UIS Athletics received over $108,000 in scholarship/student support. Other private support for athletics equaled $702,350.
• Charles and Kathleen Hoogland and the Hoogland Family Foundation gave $1 million in support of The Recreation and Athletic Center at UIS.
• UIS named the Therkildsen Field Station at Emiquon, its first facility named for a donor.
• A $90,000 pledge to Sangamon Auditorium helped to create the Arts Start program for preschool children.
• The Joyce Foundation gave the Center for State Policy and Leadership over $230,000 in support of the Sunshine Project directed by UIS professor Kent Redfield, which promotes open government.
• Brookens Library received $219,000 for library enhancement.
• UIS’ Downstate Illinois Innocence Project received $178,000 in private seed funding, leading to $936,000 in federal funding.
  

The entire Brilliant Futures Campaign goal for the University of Illinois was $2.25 billion and to date the campaign stands at $2.366 billion. The 8 1/2 year campaign was one of the 20 largest ever undertaken in higher education in the country.

For more information on the Brilliant Futures Campaign, contact Derek Schnapp, director of Public Relations at 217/206-6716 or email dschn3@uis.edu.

UIS whips into 2009 Faculty and Staff Campaign

By Courtney Westlake



Faculty, staff and other participants got some home cookin' and donned country attire down home on the farm during the annual Faculty and Staff Campaign kick-off on Thursday afternoon, March 5.

"Whip Guy" Chris Camp, a whip cracker and entertainer, was also on hand to snap his whip at almost 900 miles per hour while performing whip tricks with volunteers.

Through the Faculty and Staff Campaign, staff and faculty are able to give a gift to the university, choosing how their funds will impact UIS' quality academics, athletics or other important areas. Gifts made to UIS assist with scholarships, enhance research, improve programs and much more.

The theme of this year's campaign is "We Grow the Best at UIS." Campus programs, offices and departments set up booths in coordination with the farm theme to showcase their work.

"We do grow the best at UIS; this is a great place for that, right here in the middle of the richest farmland in America," said Chancellor Richard Ringeisen. "We're proud of what we do at UIS every day in raising the best. Sometimes universities pride themselves on how successful students are before they get here, and we have plenty of students that meet that criteria, but one of the things we're really proud of is how successful they are when they leave, how we grow the best while they're here."

Ringeisen commended both faculty and staff for their exemplary work every day with the campus community, especially students.

"The way you care, the way you know people's names, the way you greet people... you solve problems, you volunteer your time off-hours, you counsel students," he said. "Now we're only a couple of months away from graduating another group of outstanding, successful, home-grown UIS students. I'm proud to say that my wife Carolyn and I invest in UIS, and we invite you all to invest in UIS, where we grow the best."

Vicki Megginson, associate chancellor for development and vice president of the University of Illinois Foundation, encouraged all attendees to visit all of the booths set up by the campus community and see what each department or program has to offer.

"We as faculty and staff here at UIS are really in the garden," Megginson said. "We work with the students, know what students need, know what programs need to flourish and to grow. Today is an opportunity for us to share with each other some of the ways we aspire, and hopefully inspire, to improve what we can offer and to ask each other for support through giving to do so."

"It's amazing what even small seeds can do; it's like small seeds that grow into wonderful, big plants," she added, "and we hope you consider that."

U of I students may apply for Avery Brundage scholarships

Applications for the 36th annual Avery Brundage Scholarship competition for University of Illinois students who excel in both academics and athletics are being accepted now through Saturday, January 31, 2009. Applications can be submitted only online at www.usp.uillinois.edu/brundage.

Full-time students, including incoming freshmen, graduate, and transfer students, may apply for Brundage scholarships. Grant-in-aid recipients may be eligible under specified conditions. Academic and athletic competence will be considered over financial need.

Undergraduate and transfer applicants must rank in the top 25 percent of their college, while incoming freshmen must rank in the top 25 percent of their incoming class. Graduate and professional students must be in good academic standing.

Students must also demonstrate "special athletic ability" in an amateur sport, and their participation must have been for personal development rather than as preparation for professional athletics. Previous winners represent a wide variety of sports from archery and tennis to swimming and wheelchair basketball. Last year, 19 winners were awarded $2,500 each.

Avery Brundage was a 1909 graduate of the U of I who competed in the 1912 Olympics and later served as president of both the U.S. and International Olympic committees. Before his death in 1975, he maintained his interest in the University through service as a member of the University of Illinois Foundation, President's Council, and Citizen's Committee.

Brundage established the scholarship in 1974 with an endowment to the U of I Foundation of $343,000. Over the past 35 years, 732 scholarships with a total value of $858,000 have been awarded.