The Shippensburg University Foundation Unrestricted Endowment
Funds from the unrestricted endowment support priorities identified by Shippensburg University and approved by the SU Foundation’s leadership each year. This permanent endowment allows the flexibility to meet changing needs on an annual basis. It is one of the most important funding sources for the University.
Scholarship Endowment
A scholarship can help ease the burden of accruing debt to finance the increasing cost of education. (Over 35% of SU students are first-generation college students from lower to middle income families.) Scholarships reduce the need for many students to work outside jobs rather than concentrate on their studies. By reducing college costs, scholarships also reduce student loan debt – giving new graduates more financial freedom as they embark on their careers. Scholarship endowments also mean the best and brightest students have an opportunity to attend Shippensburg University.
Joint Undergraduate Student Faculty Research Endowment
To produce leaders for the next generation, it is essential to provide opportunities for students to acquire and share knowledge in a collaborative, interdisciplinary setting. The size and scope of the Joint Undergraduate Student/Faculty Research program, unique among the 14 schools in the PASSHE system, does just that. Founded on the premise that scholarly inquiry must be an essential component of the academic curriculum in all disciplines, the research program provides a multifaceted learning experience. It allows students and faculty mentors to work together in ways that encourage intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and the excitement of discovery and learning outside of a classroom setting.
Endowed Chair, Professorship, or Visiting Professorship
Endowed faculty chairs and professorships are crucial for recruiting and retaining the highest-quality faculty. Recognizing the continued contributions of senior-level faculty, as well as providing funds to push the frontiers of their scholarly activities, are key functions of the endowed positions. The funds can propel research, help pay the student assisting with their research, or create opportunities for collaboration with scholars around the world. Professors and Chairs can touch hundreds of lives through the courses they teach, the students they mentor, or through their own scholarly work. Having endowed faculty means students get to intellectually interact with the some of the most talented scholars in the world.
Student Academic Competition Endowment
Every year, Shippensburg University students take part in academic competitions where they test their knowledge and skills against peers from around the country. These are rigorous challenges, crossing many disciplines, that our students welcome—and often win. Income from endowed funds would ensure continued and expanded opportunities for students to participate in both regional and national academic competitions.
Faculty Research and Scholarly Activity Endowment
Faculty need to stay on the cutting edge of their disciplines—to be seekers of knowledge themselves. Endowments for faculty research and scholarly activities that spark innovation in teaching, research, and scholarship are greatly needed. Such endowments could, for example, fund faculty internships that would give academic insight into employment opportunities in a discipline or provide opportunities for faculty to pursue research.
Study Abroad Endowment
Today’s students need an education that prepares them for the world. We hope to establish endowed funds to strengthen international programs at Shippensburg University. These funds will support students undertaking study abroad programs, increase global and intercultural offerings, and ultimately enrich and diversify the campus environment.
Wood Honors College Endowment
The Wood Honors College provides a four-year academic challenge for motivated students, emphasizing scholarship, leadership, and service. Endowments will help provide Honors scholarships as well as in-depth service-learning projects that enhance what Shippensburg University’s top students are learning in the classroom.
Student Emergency Support Endowment
Ship Students sometimes need a little extra assistance with paying for tuition, housing, textbooks, food. While the SU Foundation’s Student Emergency Fund provides support each semester from outright gifts, an endowment to support students in need would provide support each year in perpetuity.