Areas of Need
Each year the College focuses its annual fundraising to support areas that will have the greatest impact on our students. These areas of focus are determined in accordance with goals mapped out in the College's Strategic Plan, Facilities Master Plan, and Enrollment Plan. The fund for Western New England College has four priorities.
Unrestricted Gifts
Unrestricted gifts provide the solid foundation necessary for funding current and future strategic programs at any successful college or university, including Western New England College. Unrestricted gifts are applied to the areas of greatest importance for the success of our students as they pursue their education. These gifts help us provide for student financial aid needs, as well as maintain high standards in educational technology, library resources, faculty professional development, athletics, campus facilities, and student activities.
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You can designate that your gift be completely unrestricted by giving to The Fund for Western New England College. Or that it be used specifically for one or more of the Schools of Arts and Sciences, Business, Engineering, or Law.
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Financial Aid
Financial Aid provides crucial assistance for students to attain their educational goals without them or their families having to take on high levels of debt. Support for scholarships is rising, but so are the financial aid needs of our full- and part-time students, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Funds for financial assistance help us enroll and retain the high quality and diverse student population essential for a vibrant college community. Approximately 72 percent of undergraduate students and 80 percent of law students require financial aid each year. Lack of financial resources is one of the main reasons that students either cannot attend, or withdraw from, the College and the School of Law.
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The following illustrates the financial challenge students and their families face:
From 1990-2005, the cost of undergraduate education at Western New England College (tuition, fees, room and board) increased by $16,134, while the average gift aid package (College, federal and state sources) increased by only $4,839. Cost outpaced gift aid by $11,295, greatly increasing the loan component that students and their families must assume each year.
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To attract students, keep them enrolled, and enable them to graduate without high levels of debt, funds for financial aid must be increased significantly.
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You can designate that your gift for financial aid be used by the College as a whole, or that it be used specifically for students attending one of the Schools of Arts and Sciences, Business, Engineering, or Law. For these types of designations, your contribution will be spent outright for financial aid in the year the gift is received. Another option is to specify that your gift be designated for the College's financial aid endowment. Please see further information about this option below.
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Financial Aid Endowment
Endowed financial aid funds provide permanent, ongoing support for scholarships for deserving students. As such, these funds are of great importance for the future strength of the College. For endowed funds, a set percentage of their value is spent each year for their intended purpose. Because of this, donors who contribute to an endowed fund have the satisfaction of knowing that their gifts will have a lasting impact, helping current and future generations of Western New England College students to achieve their dreams.
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Donors can designate that their annual gifts go toward one or more of five endowed scholarship funds at the College:
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Financial Aid Endowed Fund (a general scholarship fund for all students)
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School of Arts and Sciences Endowed Fund
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School of Business Endowed Fund
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School of Engineering Endowed Fund
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School of Law Endowed Fund
If you would like further information about how endowed funds operate or about how to establish your own named endowed fund at the College, please go to Endowed Funds.
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Athletics Facilities
During Transformations, the Campaign for Western New England College, new athletics faciliites were built (Golden Bear Multi-Purpose Turf Stadium and the George E. Trelease Memorial Baseball Park) and others were enchanced. However, we still have pressing needs, including:
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Golden Bear Stadium Locker Room
Of immediate concern are the insufficient locker facilities for our 100-member football team and the visiting team (and its coaching staff), forcing us to share our general locker facilities, along with a portion of our varsity locker space, to accommodate both teams on game days. On days when both football and women’s soccer teams host games, the visiting women’s soccer players must change into and out of their game attire on their bus, while our own women’s soccer team must change in dorm rooms. Furthermore, our men’s soccer team completely lacks any dedicated locker space. Compounding the problem is the fact that The Commonwealth Coast Conference (of which we are now a member) frequently schedules double-header games, placing an impossible demand upon the limited locker room space in both the fall and the spring.
In short, our lack of suitable space for all of our student-athletes persists year-round, impacts our recruiting, and hampers our ability to enhance our Athletics program.
Project Description
A new locker facility with space for 110 lockers would allow us to move our football and lacrosse teams out of their existing facilities in the Alumni Healthful Living Center and free up existing locker space to dedicate to other sports teams during the fall and spring seasons. This would, in turn, provide greater flexibility in meeting the needs of all of our own student-athletes as well as visiting teams, particularly during the increasingly frequent peak demand periods such as double-header games and multiple same-day sport events. Our men’s soccer team would also be able to utilize the existing varsity locker room.
The proposed project is a 56’ x 56’ facility that would also include player showers and restrooms, a training area for taping and treatment, a coaches’ room, and much-needed public bathrooms (At present, we must rent portable toilets on all game days).
Goal
Our goal is to raise the estimated $500,000 needed to build this new facility through individual and corporate support. This amount excludes the cost of installing and connecting utilities to the site, as well as the acquisition and installation of the lockers. Discussions are underway about potential in-kind donations of these services and equipment.
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You can specify that your gift be used for the Golden Bear Stadium Locker Room Project or another area.
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Other Gift Purposes
If you have a specific area that you would like to support but that is not listed here, please contact us to discuss how best to direct your gift.
