Outlook

Dedicated to matching funds with needs

Monday, April 3, 2006

When I was growing up, "new" meant "new to me." A new car could be five – or 10 – years old, and a new house just meant somewhere I had never lived before. Now I think of the handsome wooden banisters and trim in those "new" houses, and I wouldn't trade their history and traditions for anything! With the SCSU fundraising program, we're going somewhere new, somewhere we've never lived before. Our model is new to us, but it has a rich and successful history at many colleges and universities across the nation.

This spring, we're hiring development directors who will work with each of the academic deans, as well as a development director for athletics. Rather than being all-purpose fundraising staff, each director will work directly with one college. This will allow them to become familiar with the strengths of particular departments and what opportunities exist to make each stronger and better able to offer a quality education to our students. They'll be closer to the faculty and students, the heart and soul of SCSU.

Terri Mische is the first to be hired in this new model. As director of development for the Herberger College of Business, she'll be responsible for building relationships with the college's donors and alumni and will raise funds for college priorities. Terri came to SCSU in February from the University of Minnesota (U of M) Law School, where she had worked in development and alumni relations since 1996. Prior to that, she worked for the U of M Alumni Association after earning her J.D. at the school.

Stephanie Rudningen joined us as the director of development for athletics. She has been on staff handling the President's Club since August and will continue with that function in addition to her new responsibilities. A graduate of the University of North Dakota, she has a master's degree from Minnesota State University Moorhead and worked in development at the technical colleges in St. Cloud and Alexandria before joining us.

Stephanie and Terri join me and Associate Vice President Eric Kautzman in this new model for raising funds to make this university – your university – even better for today's students. I hope you'll welcome them to our team and be sure to tell them what makes SCSU so special to our alumni, friends and donors.

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