On the eve of its centennial, Spartanburg Methodist College buzzes with a renewed energy. Applications for admission are at a twenty-year high. Academic standards rise each year; the average entering freshman has a 3.26 GPA and 77% qualify for academic scholarships. In the past decade, the number of faculty members holding earned doctorates has doubled. The school’s renowned athletic programs recruit world-class athletes and produce players who go on to play with Division I schools such as the University of South Carolina and Clemson, as well as professional teams like the San Diego Padres, New York Mets, and Cincinnati Reds. After producing a century of leading executives, educators, surgeons, and statesmen, SMC continues to reward its community with exceptional graduates. Spartanburg Methodist College enters its second century as a vital partner in the education of South Carolina’s youth. To mark one hundred years of accomplishments, SMC is launching Pioneering the Future, a bold $15 million campaign that will create a landmark new academic building, make dramatic renovations to the campus, and fund scholarships to assist even more qualified students.
Northeast view
southwest view
Northwest view
Pioneering the Future Objective 1:
New Academic Building ($10 million) “Our new academic building will become an exciting centerpiece for Spartanburg Methodist College.” SMC President, Colleen Perry Keith
SMC’s enrollment continues to rise as more students discover the school’s valuable niche. To satisfy demand, a new technologically advanced academic building is a much-needed priority. The stunning new academic building — a dramatic glass and stone interpretation of SMC’s historic architecture — will relieve severe overcrowding and completely transform SMC’s campus. The new facility will include the following features: • Ample classroom spaces • Faculty offices that bring professors together by discipline • Art studios that utilize natural light • A café to facilitate student discussions • A 225-seat, state-of-the-art auditorium
Pioneering the Future Objective 2:
Campus Renovations ($2 million)
ALUMNI
PROFILE
The new academic building will transform the entire campus. Faculty will move out of shared and overcrowded offices in other buildings, creating a more welcoming space to serve SMC students. The athletic department will expand into Barrett Learning Center, reducing significant overcapacity. Walker Hall will be dedicated to student support services, classroom space, and student organizations. Overall, the campus will better reflect its proud heritage while encouraging, not deterring, prospective new students. SMC’s new academic building (first and second floor layouts shown below) will revolutionize the College’s campus while providing students and faculty with an exceptional facility and an outstanding learning environment.
Pioneering the Future Objective 3:
Scholarships ($3 million)
“Providing additional scholarships means that we can afford to help even more students achieve their dream of a college education. In a world of economic uncertainty, what better commitment could we have?” - SMC President Colleen Perry Keith The opportunity to provide scholarship support to deserving students is critical, particularly as college tuition increases nationwide continue to outpace inflation. The Pioneering the Future campaign will double the amount of scholarship funding available to students each year. With significantly more financial aid, SMC can recruit even more exceptional students based on academic and athletic performance, or help financially challenged students achieve their dreams of a college education.
Fir st Fl oo r
Deborah Philbeck, award-winning principal of the equally distinguished Anderson Mill Elementary School, has helped educate Spartanburg’s children for more than thirty-three years. She credits her two years at SMC for providing a one-of-a-kind foundation that served her through graduate school and has enabled her to impact the lives of an entire community. Says Philbeck, “I try to create the same kind of warm, nurturing environment in my school that I experienced during the two best years of my life at Spartanburg Methodist.”
se co nd Fl oo r
Distinguished Former SMC Students
SMC: Essential to Community Vitality
Olin Johnston US Senator, Governor of South Carolina
Far too many students end their educations with high school diplomas. Without college degrees, these students are twice as likely to be unemployed; their lifetime earnings will be only half those of college graduates. Their communities will suffer from a less-productive workforce, reduced tax revenues, and the requirement of costly public social services.
Reggie Sanders, Orlando Hudson, Mookie Wilson Major League Baseball Standouts Martha Riddle Brown President, National SIDS Foundation Lee Haney Chairman, President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports George Fennell CEO, Fennell Container Co. Dr. Gene Rutledge Nuclear Physicist, Manhattan Project Eva Grant Owner, Grant’s Textiles Daniel Hayes, M.D. Transplant Surgeon Jerry Calvert CEO, Core Capital Funding
In the 1980s, the United States led the world in the percentage of adults earning college degrees. Today the US ranks 12th behind countries like Canada, Russia, and Japan. Recognizing the implications of the current crisis in higher education, both the President and the National Governors Association have launched initiatives to improve college completion rates. Locally, Spartanburg community leaders developed the 40/30 Initiative: a campaign to ensure that 40 percent of adults hold a college degree by the year 2030. (Only 19% have college degrees today.)
Spartanburg Methodist College, by providing critical access to higher education, is one of the state’s best options to reverse declining college completion rates. Students not ready for a larger campus or those who cannot afford a four-year college choose SMC rather than ending their education in high school. SMC’s outstanding Student Support Services ensures that SMC’s first-generation college students—more than one-third of the College’s student body—succeed and graduate. SMC’s direct economic impact on the Upstate is significant. More than half— 60% of all students—come to SMC from outside Spartanburg County; 42 of South Carolina’s 46 counties are represented among the SMC student body. Without the College, the Spartanburg economy would lose $34 million each year in revenue from jobs, school expenses, and student spending.1
Education vs. Income Levels, 2008
Only 20% of Spartanburg and 24% of South Carolina adults over age twenty-five hold four-year degrees. Education correlates directly to income: forty states have higher household income levels than South Carolina; Spartanburg County’s median household income is $10,000 lower than the national average.
This chart illustrates two critical points:
1) a person's annual income rises with his or her education level. 2) Spartanburg County and South Carolina rank well below national income levels. 1 Economic impact is calculated as: $5,814,491 in direct payroll and benefits; $10,918,365 in direct school expenses; $341,00 in total student spending. (For nine months of each year, 758 students spend an average of $50.) Total is then doubled to include indirect impact.
ALUMNI PROFILE In high school, Holly Atwood was a shy student who chose SMC because she was afraid of being “just a number� at a larger school. At SMC, Holly thrived. She became president of her service fraternity, captain of the dance team, and was elected a student ambassador and student government representative. Holly also soared academically, thanks to professors who put student achievement first. Because of the strong foundation she built for herself at SMC, Holly will receive a B.A. degree from a more prestigious university than the ones she had considered attending directly out of high school.
SMC’s Academic Achievements Each year more and more bright, well-qualified students choose SMC. The College’s “new” student body is an impressive group of students who value a small, nurturing campus instead of the anonymous college experience that is often found on larger campuses. These students develop their leadership skills, hone their academic abilities, and become active participants in athletics and extra-curricular activities. They leave SMC with enormous potential. Unlike the national graduation rate of only 27.5% from two-year schools, nearly every SMC student (83%) graduates and/or goes on to pursue a four-year degree. In the last decade, the academic standards of entering freshmen continued to rise at impressive rates, signaling that SMC is a college of choice.
Fletcher Thompson graduated from SMC in 1941. He went to work for the FBI under the legendary J. Edgar Hoover and attended law school at night. After retiring from thirty-three years with the FBI, he returned to Spartanburg to create The Law Office of Fletcher D. Thompson, South Carolina’s largest agency for adoption placement. His work has been recognized by the U.S. House of Representatives.
Exceptional Leadership
In 2009, Colleen Perry Keith became the school’s seventh president; her tenure is largely credited for the renewed energy on campus. As an enthusiastic and committed advocate for SMC, Dr. Keith brings the experience, optimism, and determination necessary to fulfill SMC’s mission. She is the well-recognized
SMC: The First Century and Today In the years after the Civil War, as America experienced the transition from an agrarian to an industrial economy, textile manufacturing flourished in the South Carolina Upstate. Cities like Spartanburg became magnets for people seeking stable employment opportunities. One man, David English Camak, realized that the future of these families—and that of the entire region—lay in the ability to obtain an education and contribute to a community’s long-term success. In 1911 Camak founded the Textile Industrial Institute (the precursor to SMC) to educate textile workers and to prepare them for community leadership and brighter futures.
public face of the college, energetically advancing the school’s visibility and reputation throughout the community. Overseeing SMC is one of the Upstate’s most prominent governing boards. Comprised of remarkable and influential business, community, and political leaders, the Board of Trustees is exceptionally skilled to steer the school into its second century. The College has met its budget for the past seven years and plans to continue to do so, affirming the fiduciary responsibility of the school’s leaders and
Today, SMC is a residential two-year liberal arts college supported by the United Methodist Church with a tradition grounded in integrity and a commitment to compassion, humility, and opportunity. The co-educational school stresses a values-centered education enhanced by opportunities for worship and community service. Faculty members are mentors who set high expectations that SMC students continually exceed. Students follow a rigorous two-year course of study that earns them an Associate of Arts, Science, Criminal Justice, or Religious Studies degree. An ever-growing list of four-year colleges readily accepts SMC’s degree and seamlessly transfers SMC students to their schools.
the importance they place on strong financial stewardship.
Every $1 spent on higher education generates $13 in economic activity, according to a Commonwealth of Virginia study.
First Within Our Hearts “First within our hearts we place thee, Alma Mater, mine; Down the years thy loving guidance, Still on us will shine.� - SMC Alma Mater Spartanburg Methodist College is first in our hearts for many reasons. The visionary school David English Camak opened to educate textile workers has grown into the strongest two-year liberal arts college in the country. SMC opens the door to community vitality and life-long success by ensuring that deserving students obtain college degrees. As SMC enters its second century, Pioneering the Future: the Centennial Campaign for Spartanburg Methodist College is a fitting tribute. A new academic building, campus renovations, and scholarships will attract and serve even more students. The campaign will directly increase the number of college graduates in the Upstate and will fulfill Camak’s strongest wish for his students and his community: an opportunity to thrive.
SPARTANBURG METHODIST COLLEGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2010 - 2011 Mr. John Bell Mr. Justin Converse Mrs. Phyllis DeLapp Dr. Ed Ellis Dr. Phinnize Fisher Mr. John Gramling Mrs. Marianna Habisreutinger Mr. Steven Hahn Mr. Mark Hammond The Reverend Larry Hays Mr. Pat Henry The Reverend Mitch Houston Mr. Ray Lattimore The Reverend Will Malambri The Reverend Jean Osborne Mr. Bill Painter Mrs. Liz Patterson Mr. Craig Phillips Mr. John Ramsey Mrs. Patsy Simmons Mr. Guy Spriggs Mr. Jim Thompson The Reverend Lillian Washington Student Advisory Trustee Jessica Mack
Campaign Executive Committee Mr. Justin Converse Mrs. Phyllis DeLapp, Joint Chair Mrs. Ellen Gramling Mr. John Bell Mrs. Liz Patterson Mr. Guy Spriggs Mr. Jeff Bannister Mrs. Marianna Habisreutinger, Joint Chair Mr. Bill Painter Mr. Jerry Calvert Dr. Frank Lee Mr. John Simmons
1000 Powell Mill Road, Spartanburg, SC 29301-5899 www.SMCSC.edu • 1.800.772.7286 © 2010, Spartanburg Methodist College