on board
in good taste
Locally owned restaurants bring new tastes to Ithaca this year, page 13
Thursday
Febr ua ry 1 7 , 2 0 1 1
fundraise
Winter sports program volunteers help disabled people get back on the slopes, page 23
The college needs to raise money before raising students’ tuition, page 10
The Ithacan
Committee to write final IC20/20 draft BY Alexandra Evans News Editor
Last week, members of the Ithaca College community gathered for the first time to discuss the task of writing the “rough” final draft of the IC20/20 document as participants of the IC20/20 Steering Committee. Eight task forces have been working to create their proposals for each section of the IC20/20 draft. T h e WOODWARD said the committee will IC20/20 Steercollate the final ing Committee IC20/20 draft. will serve as the central body to mesh those proposals into one final document, which will head to the President’s Council for finalization in the last week of April. Interim Provost Gregory Woodward created the IC20/20 Steering Committee to ease communication with each task force and collate their recommendations into one strategic plan. Woodward said the separate work of the eight IC20/20 task forces and additional subcommittees poses a problem of losing the cohesive IC20/20 vision. “The task forces and committees are all doing their work kind of in a vacuum and doing it in different ways, and we’ve got to find a common language, and a common way of reporting out all their work so that it can create one holistic document,” he said. Woodward said the committee members represent all experiential levels at the college. Each member has been assigned as a liaison for one task force or standing committee. Their goal is to become experts in that group, then present at upcoming committee meetings so members can then identify overlapping work between the task forces. Three students, including senior and Student Government Association President Kevin Fish, serve on the committee. Fish said he likes being viewed as an equal by administrators. “It’s giving students the opportunity to be a very influential part in this decision process,” he said. Carol Henderson, associate provost for academic policy and administration and a member of the committee, said overlap is inevitable. For example, both the committee working on faculty promotion and tenure as well as the faculty development group are discussing mentoring.
See committee, page 4
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Payback time
Graduates leave Ithaca College with big hopes and big bills
$75,000
$80,000
$24,000
$12,000
$120,000
$30,000
$40,000
$20,000
$10,000
$39,000
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$26,000 File Photo/the ithacan
BY patrick duprey staff writer
Rachael Maier ’06 graduated from Ithaca College ready to jump into the job market. She wanted to become involved with public service, but after graduation she found herself living with her parents and dipping into her savings to finance necessities. As she had throughout college, she worked several odd jobs, preparing for the on-
slaught of student loan payments she would face in six months. Despite paying off the interest rates in college to help defray the cost of her loans, she graduated with about $26,000 in student loan debt. Five years and one loan deferment later, she faces a debt of about $20,000. She said it’s a monthly struggle to cover basic living expenses, let alone make loan payments.
“I’m saddled with about $400 in student loan payments a month,” she said. “That’s kind of scary because, on top of trying to make the rent, you think, ‘Oh, yeah, and I also have to try to make my student loan payments once a month.’” Maier’s predicament is not a rarity, as debt among college graduates stands at record levels.
See debt, page 4
College calls on alumni to fill proposed budget gap BY Melanie Breault Senior writer
President Barack Obama announced his $77.4 billion spending proposal Monday, which would reduce support for higher education by $89 billion over 10 years. In light of this issue, colleges and universities — including Ithaca College — are stepping up appeals to alumni and other private donation resources for funding. Shelley Semmler, vice president of the Office of Institutional Advancement, said the college has raised $22 million in private dollars to date this fiscal year, which is $6.7 million more than was raised the previous year from alumni, parents, other individuals and organizations. The fiscal year runs from June to May. If Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed $132.9 billion state budget is passed April 1, state funding to the college would be cut by 10 percent and may cause tuition and room and board fees to increase. Semmler said institutions will most likely turn to their alumni with stronger appeals when they go through economic downturns. “That’s one of our strategies: to help alumni realize that their dollars, no matter how big or small, collec-
high expectations
To date, Ithaca College has raised an estimated $22 million in private donations. The college is expecting increases in all areas by the end of the fiscal year.
$600,000 $750,000
$3 million
$17 million
estimated figures
Organizations Alumni Parents
Individuals Designed by Yu-Chen (Jane) Chen Source: office of institutional advancement
tively make such a difference in being able to either bring tuition down or financial aid up,” she said. William Kay, director of Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations, said though these proposed budget
cuts are not directly related to the college’s fundraising efforts, they will be increasing its efforts because scholarship support is a critical area of need. Semmler said since 85 percent of students are on some kind of scholar-
find more. online. www.theithacan.org
ship, financial aid or merit, her office sees upticks when they put out an appeal for scholarship support. “Most of our students are getting help, so it’s a great thing to pass on, and when there are budget cuts, that’s the area I think where you see the most interplay,” she said. “[Alumni] understand from their own situation that the financial aid is so important.” Out of the $15.3 million the college raised last year, Semmler said $2.3 million came from alumni. She said contributions from alumni would be above this figure and hopefully close to $3 million this year. “We’ve gone as high as $3 million in 2008 and now we seem to be hovering around $2.5 million,” she said. “It’s a good trajectory, but we’ve got a ways to go.” Kay said the college’s operating budget is made up of tuition and fees, endowment income and a smaller amount from private dollars. These private dollars make up the Ithaca Fund, which brings money to the college on an annual basis. “[The Ithaca Fund] contributes to a different set of programs on campus,” he said. “It’s not so much the big
See donations, page 4