With the Capital Campaign slightly more than halfway finished, the Nursing School's fundraising efforts are ahead of schedule. With $17.5 million, the school has earned almost 59 percent of its final goal of $30 million.
"Nursing is one of the best performing teams at the University in terms of maximizing their potential for fundraising," said said Robert Sweeney, senior vice president for development and public affairs. "They have done as good a job as any unit at the University in maximizing their potential."
There is no question, Sweeney added. that the school will exceed its fundraising goal before the Capital Campaign concludes at the end of 2011.
Lori Cwalina, Nursing School assistant vice president, attributes the school's fundraising success to several factors.
"The importance of having well-educated, well-trained nurses really resonates [with donors], and we've been very successful at making that case," Cwalina said, adding that there is a current and predicted future shortage of nurses.
Both Sweeney and Cwalina noted that the real key to success, however, is the leadership of Nursing School Dean Jeannette Lancaster.
"We're now considered one of best nursing schools in terms of development in the nation," Sweeney said. "Lancaster has a group of senior development officers, and they've had great continuity in volunteer and staff leadership, but the common element is the dean's leadership."
Cwalina noted that Lancaster has made donors feel involved and interested in training nurses for the future.
"She has been building relationships to engage people in the mission and life of the school and makes them feel completely a part of the school and the good things we're trying to do," Cwalina said, adding that Lancaster also has "articulated really well the growing need for nurses in light of the shortage."
Donations have come from alumni, parents of Nursing students and even corporations not usually connected with the nursing field, Cwalina noted.
Nursing alumna Rebecca Ruegger donated $500,000 last fall to establish the Jeannette Lancaster Fund for Faculty Excellence, which will be used to finance innovative research or teaching projects in the Nursing School, and the Nursing School has pledged to match her gift.
Ruegger, chair of the School's Advisory Board, has had a chance to see Lancaster's "vision for the Nursing School and work closely with her, which motivated her as well as her respect for Dean Lancaster," Sweeney said.
Lancaster, however, said donors are willing to contribute because "we are asking them to make an investment in something we fully believe is good." She added that the school emphasizes to donors that they are making "an investment rather than a gift of charity," which resonates with donors.
Lancaster is retiring at the end of the semester, but Sweeney is confident that her absence will not affect the ability of the School to meet its goal.
"She has laid a tremendous foundation for success in future," Sweeney said. "She's created faculty and staff leadership that could sustain the school long after her time"
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