|
|||||||||||||
Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
Despite down economy, Germanna moves forward
By Anita L. ShermanCulpeper Times Staff Writer
Germanna's President Dr. David A. Sam had some good news to share with faculty and staff during a day-long professional development program which he hosted at the Fredericksburg-area campus on Tuesday.
Appropriately called "Learning College Day," Sam shared with employees a gift that will enable the college to further their mission of providing educational opportunities to their ever-growing studentbody.
A Fredericksburg-area couple, who have been longtime supporters of Germanna Community College, have agreed to give $100,000 to the college's educational foundation for a matching gift campaign designed to raise unrestricted dollars for the college's Annual Fund.
The donors are husband and wife team Bruce and Sandy Davis. Currently serving as president of the Germanna Community College Educational Foundation, Bruce Davis has held this post for the past two years. Until recently he served as vice president and part-owner of Freeman Beverage, a position he held with the company for more than 20 years. Sandy Davis serves as patient services coordinator at the Cancer Center of Mary Washington Healthcare.
"We wanted to do something significant for Germanna Community College and its educational foundation," said Bruce Davis. "We hope that this challenge gift will help inspire others to support one of the most important assets in our community. Community colleges, like Germanna, have taken on a much more important role in our society as a result of improved two-year transfer programs with senior colleges, community workforce training, job assistance and new curricula like engineering, early childhood education and dental hygiene."
"This is one of the most significant gifts in the history of the Germanna Community College Educational Foundation," President Sam told the group. "It has the potential to generate a total of $200,000 in donations, which will help both the college and the foundation address important needs. I am deeply grateful to Sandy and Bruce for their ongoing commitment to Germanna and its students."
The challenge campaign will provide a dollar-for-dollar match for all unrestricted gifts to the Germanna Educational Foundation that are "over and above" what a donor has given the previous year. For example, if an individual or company made a $100 unrestricted gift last year and decided to give $500 this year, then $400 of that gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the "Bruce and Sandy Davis Annual Fund Challenge Campaign." The campaign will conclude once a total of $100,000 in matching gifts has been raised.
Unrestricted gifts are used annually by the college's educational foundation to help generate scholarship funds and meet other important needs at the institution. Currently nearly 300 students are receiving over $175,000 in scholarship funds each year, which are provided through the Germanna Educational Foundation. Unrestricted gifts to the college's Annual Fund also help the foundation identify and obtain professional development resources for faculty, particularly those in growing subject areas, so that instructors can work on additional professional credentialing.
Unrestricted gifts to Germanna's educational foundation go into the "Annual Fund," also called the "Fund for Germanna Community College," which supports the annual operational needs of the foundation and the college. Donors are asked to make an annual unrestricted gift to the foundation, in addition to their restricted gifts that support specific projects at the college.
"Without a strong Annual Fund that is supported by unrestricted gifts each year," Bruce Davis commented, "there would be so many projects that the foundation would be unable to support. We are grateful that Germanna has donors who realize the importance of this form of annual support."
As the college's educational foundation got a boost from the generousity of Bruce and Sandy Davis, the college received accolades from the state's governor as well.
Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell was in Fredericksburg in late January for the groundbreaking ceremony of Phase III of Germann's Fredericksburg Campus in Spotsylvania ? a three-story, 50,000 square foot academic building.
The green building, designed by Clark Nexsen and to be built by Donley's Construction, will include a 13,000-foot state of the art library/learning resource center with stacks for 16,000 volumes, reading spaces, a multimedia lab, project and study rooms, four biology labs, two engineering labs, two environmental chambers for biology experiments, two chemistry labs, two physics labs and two general purpose classrooms. It will also include office space for a dean, 18 full time faculty and 12 adjunct faculty; meeting rooms, a break room and IT space.
The project budget is $25,483,842. Construction is scheduled to begin March 1. Completion of Phase III is expected by Fall 2012.
"In a time of uncertainty and economic crisis, this building is an expression of faith and an investment in a positive future for Germanna, for the students and communities we serve, for the Commonwealth of Virginia and indeed for our nation," said Dr. Sam.
Virginia Community College System Chancellor Glenn DuBois echoed Sam's sentiments and called McDonnell the strongest supporter of community colleges to serve as governor since Mills Godwin, who started the VCCS in the 1960s. "This governor is a partner in our mission," DuBois said.
Germanna Community College has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years. McDonnell was impressed with the vision behind the Phase III addition which emphasizes the scientific disciplines...necessary "to maintain American exceptionalism" and compete with economic powers on the Pacifc Rim.
You must be logged in to post a comment.