Published: April 24, 2007 08:39 am            

EKU capital campaign reaches $18M

Eastern Kentucky University's capital campaign has raised $18 million, the board of regents was told Monday. “That is 72 percent of our $25 million goal,” President Joanne Glasser said.

The president has been crisscrossing the country and the commonwealth in support of the fundraising effort, she told the board. The 61 visits she will make from January through June will range from New York and Chicago to Florida, California and points in between.

The number of university donors has increased by 18 percent during the campaign, Glasser said. Overall giving to the university is up 12 percent as faculty and staff contributions have risen by 20 percent, the regents also heard.

The university’s endowment stands at $52 million, EKU Foundation Chair Dusty McCoy reported by telephone. “A rising stock market as well as donations helped us reach the $52 million level,” he said as the phone call was amplified so the regents and audience could hear.

Building the endowment is essential for continued scholarship programs, Glasser said. “Without financial assistance, the vast majority of EKU students would have an extremely difficult time making their educational dreams a reality” she said.

“New freshman applications for fall 2007 are running slightly ahead of last year’s pace at this time,” the president said. Transfer applications also are up.

A report on progress made toward achieving goals of the university‚s strategic plan showed that $4.8 million would be spent this fiscal year on deferred facilities maintenance.

Also, the university’s contingency plan now stands at $4 million.

“I think those figures are remarkable,” Regent Gary Abney said. “I can remember a few years back when we had no contingency fund and were spending very little on deferred maintenance.”

The plan update showed that EKU is nearing its goal of a work force that reflects the racial diversity of Kentucky‚s population. While progress was made in graduate student enrollment last year, minority undergraduate enrollment declined.

The cost of health insurance for Eastern Kentucky University employees would have increased by 20 percent next year if the university had retained its existing plan, Abney said in a report from the regents‚ internal affairs committee.

The university has boosted the employer’s premium payment by $1.4 million and increased the deductible, emergency room co-payment or patient out-of-pocket amounts for some plan options, so employees will see no increase in their health insurance premiums.

Now that EKU pays 75 percent of employees‚ health insurance premiums, it stands above more than half of the 31 “benchmark” institutions to which the university compares itself.

Also to help keep health-care costs down, Eastern has conducted a wellness campaign, “Health and You at EKU,” in which 22 percent of employees participated. More that 20 percent also responded to a wellness assessment. While 9 percent of participants won rewards for good health habits or test results, the assessment put 46 percent of participants in a “high-risk” category, Abney said.

More good news for university employees out of the regents‚ meeting included a more generous holiday policy for long-time personnel.

Employees with 10 to 14 years of service will qualify for 20 days of vacation each year. Those with 15 or more years will get 22 vacation days. Previously, employees with five to 14 years‚ service received 15 days of vacation, with those working 15 years or longer receiving 20 days.

The regents also approved the conferring of honorary doctoral degrees, beginning after the spring 2007 commencement, to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Lt. Gen. Robert Yerks, Craig Williams of the Chemical Weapons Working Group, long-time EKU administrator Dr. Skip Daugherty and television personality Nick Clooney.

Bill Robinson can be reached at brobinson@richmondregister.com or at 623-1669, Ext. 267.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.