PSU Magazine Spring 1997

Fund Raising Ramaley's Role During Ramaley' tenure, the U n iversity's endowment grew from $ 1. 7 milli on to $5 million, the number of contributors to the P U Foundation more than doubled , and grant and contracts reached a record leve l. In the la t 12 months alone, the Uni versity rece ived a $ 1 million Ke llogg Foundation award , $1 million from the Meyer Memorial Trust, a Pew Memorial Trust awa rd fo r $250,000, and $500,000 from the C lark Foundati on . Yet, Ramaley never set out to raise money. "l never ask people fo r money as an end in itse lf," she says. "Contributions are a means to do something donors care about intensely. You're inve ting in a larger purpose when you're invest– ing in Portland State- you're giving to the community, too." The Future The Uni ve rsity's fund -raising efforts are poised, in the words of Gary Withers, vice president for University Relations, for a quantum leap. "The gift from the C lark Foundation helped us reach a new leve l of fund rais– ing because it demonstrated significant local support for a specific project, the Urban Center," says Withers. "There is a synergy, now, resulting from the growing national prestige of Portland State and the e significant local and national gifts . That synergy and the enthusiasm it generates-in the community and on campus-will help in our current work with prospecti ve donors to launch and anchor other significant projects in athletics, engi– neering, the Native American Longhouse, and elsewhere." 8 P U MAGAZINE SPRING 1997 University Studies Ramaley's Role When Ramaley took the helm at PSU, higher education thinkers across the nation were growing increas ingly concerned about the apparent aimless– ne of "general educa tion"-that smorgasbord of social sc iences, hard cience , English, and the ilk that made up the required curriculum at most colleges and universiti es. At P U, Ramaley ga lvanized the issue by lobbing the ball directly into the faculty's court. "What," she asked, "are we attempting to do in the under– gradu ate experience? What should a person holding a bachelor's degree know?" Her intere t led to formation of the General Education Working Group, a faculty ta kforce, which researched the issue and propo ed the Uni versity Srudie program, now nationally acclaimed. The Future University tudies is the centerpiece of a wider effort to revitalize Portland rate's curricu– lum-and its instructor . "We have revised pr motion and tenure (which had been based on re earch and publicati on) to give faculty the opportunity to do community- based teaching and schol– arship," says Provost Michae l Rea rdon. "Next fall we' ll be pilot te ting a new way of organizing graduate studie around interdi ciplinary graduate programs." Like the Uni versity Studies program, the new graduate tudies effort will bring in faculty from various disciplines who have common research goa ls, to work together across depart– ments or schools. Partnerships --------~ Ramal ey's Role ------- "When l came to PSU ," says Ramaley, "I had a working picture in my mind of an institution that could be an intellectual asset and resource for everyone in the community when they wanted more education, needed more info rmation, or wanted help to solve problems. The way to accomplish that effectively i through pa rtner hi ps– they are a natura l knowledge tran fer mechan ism." The Future During Ramaley' tenure, partnerships flourished- benefiting faculty with re earch projects, giving students real– world experi ences, and fi lling commu– nity request fo r assistance. The G raduate choo l of Social Work, for instance, has numerous partnership including a five-year, $2.2 million gran t from the National Institute of Mental Hea lth to establish a resea rch center that will work with loca l age n– cies to develop and test ervices. Another prominent partnership, fund ed by $6 million in federal money, ties the school with the Schoo l of Extended Studies and the O regon Offi ce for Services to Children and Families (SCF) to increa e profe ion– alism among child welfare workers. "We have so many new partner– ships under way," says James Ward , dean of the Graduate School of Social Work. "We are expand– ing the partner– ship with the SCF to include research that will involve other soc ial service agencies. This fa ll we are beginning a distance learning program with the Schoo l of Extended Studies to offer an M.S.W. around the state. And as fa r as I can see, there is a ubstantial demand fo r assi tance, a potenti al fo r helping-we ce rtainly have not reached a plateau." In the chool of Busines Administrati on, one of the first high– profile partnership was the Food