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YSU Foundation five-year plan means more scholarships
YOUNGSTOWN
Students such as Luke Politsky of Poland are the focus of the Youngstown State University Foundation’s new five-year strategic plan.
Politsky said his four-year YSU Foundation full-ride academic scholarship afforded him great opportunities to be involved in YSU and the community.
A senior who will graduate this spring with a bachelor of science degree in business administration, Politsky said he plans to continue at YSU’s Williamson School of Business and pursue a master’s degree in business administration.
Politsky’s community service, a requirement of the YSU Foundation scholarship along with at least a 3.5 grade-point average, included participation in the Penguin Pen Pals Initiative, in which YSU Foundation scholarship recipients link up with students at Harding Elementary School, and the American Cancer Society’s YSU Relay for Life.
The strategic plan, unveiled Wednesday in a program at the Williamson business school, which includes a revised Mission Statement and adds a Vision Statement, focuses on three primary areas: financial policies and practices, governance and board development, and the foundation’s relationship with the university, said Paul McFadden, foundation president.
The plan, adopted by the YSU Foundation’s Board of Trustees in February, is designed to establish directions and priorities through 2018.
“Our goals are better communications with YSU alumni, the community and our students, and to address where we are going in the future,” McFadden said.
“As we close in on the YSU Foundation’s 50th anniversary, we believe this is no time to rest on our laurels; rather, this is an opportunity to seize the moment and assure that the YSU Foundation provides YSU and its students a strategic advantage. We are confident this strategic plan will accomplish this goal,” said Thomas Fleming, chairman of the YSU Foundation Board of Trustees.
Founded in 1966, the YSU Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation independent of the university that supports YSU exclusively, mostly through scholarships for students.
Earlier this year, the Foundation surpassed the $200 million mark in assets and now is among the top third of university endowments in the nation, and the largest public-university foundation in Northeast Ohio, McFadden said.
During the 2012-13 academic year, the YSU Foundation is providing nearly $5.2 million for more than 2,500 student scholarships at YSU. Under revised distribution guidelines in the new strategic plan, the Foundation projects increased scholarship funding next academic year, McFadden said.
About half the foundation’s contributions came from alumni who live within 50 miles from the university. Most of the largest gifts come in the form of stock from donors who want to avoid capital gains tax, he said.
The growth of the foundation has been impressive, and its contributions to the success of the university and its students is unquestionable,” said Garry Mrozek, vice chairman of the YSU Foundation Board of Trustees.
“Our new spending plan will result in even more scholarship support so more students can pursue their educational goals and professional dreams at YSU,” Mrozek said.
The YSU Foundation and the university are committed to a cooperative, transparent and mutually beneficial relationship with a common goal of assisting YSU students, said Millicent Counts, chairwoman of a task force that looked at the relationship between the YSU Foundation and YSU.
One of the things that came out of discussion is formation of a committee to address a process to package foundation scholarships that will assist in the recruitment and retention of students, said Counts, a trustee of the foundation and a former YSU trustee.
Two of the YSU Foundation’s important initiatives are the Minority Scholarship Match Program under which the foundation matches donations dollar-for-dollar, and the Student Investment Fund, with $600,000 in assets managed by Student Investment Club members providing them with real-world investment experience, McFadden said.
Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2016, the YSU Foundation seeks to become recognized regionally and nationally as a model institutional-related foundation known for its excellence and innovation, he said.