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YSU transfers fundraising to YSU Foundation
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Youngstown State University has transferred fundraising responsibility to the YSU Foundation.
Trustees approved the change at a meeting Tuesday with Trustee Ted Roberts casting the only dissenting vote.
Roberts, who is an attorney, believes it’s a good contract but is concerned about the longer-term implications, he said.
“From a broad perspective, a broader vision, I’m concerned about the independence of both organizations,” Roberts said.
The YSU Foundation approved the change earlier this month.
“We believe that this change in how the university’s development activities are managed will help us meet the increasingly significant philanthropic needs of the institution moving forward,” YSU President Jim Tressel said in a news release. “The change will result in more efficient and effective fundraising services to prospective givers and to our many current and faithful donors.”
The agreement also means the university no longer will have a vice president for university advancement. That position has been vacant since Scott Evans left last May.
Under the agreement, the functions of the YSU Office of University Development, which served fundraising duties, will be transferred to the foundation. The change will occur no later than March 31.
“This agreement embraces the relationship between the university and the foundation that Howard Jones envisioned nearly 50 years ago,” Paul McFadden, foundation president, said in a news release.
Jones, who was YSU’s first and longest-serving president, founded the YSU Foundation in 1966.
“We look forward to working hand-in-hand with President Tressel, the administration, faculty and everyone on campus to maximize YSU’s development capacity,” McFadden said.
YSU’s Office of Alumni and Events Management has moved from Alumni House to the first floor of Tod Hall, which formerly was occupied by the Office of University Development.
The foundation, which is on the second floor of Alumni House, will expand to the first floor.
There’s also a tentative plan, which hasn’t been approved by the foundation board, to move that organization into Melnick Hall once a renovation project is complete.
Trustees also approved a resolution Tuesday to change the scope of the Melnick Hall project.
Initially, that project was to turn the building into a journalism and communication hub, but that idea was shelved when insufficient money was raised to accomplish it.
Last February, the university instead opted to move only WYSU into Melnick, repair the roof, add an elevator and make the remainder of the building suitable for general use.
Now that plan has changed, too.
WYSU will remain in Cushwa Hall, and the foundation will move in. The roof will be repaired and the elevator added. The project is to be paid for with $2.5 million in state capital funds and $1.6 million from bonds. The foundation would pay rent to the university.
Trustees also approved formation of an honors college, renaming of the School of Graduate Studies and Research to the College of Graduate Studies; creation and recruitment of an associate vice president for research; and recruitment of a dean for the College of Graduate Studies.