ECSU Magazine 2.1.pmd - Elizabeth City State University

giving mattersfoundationECSUThe Key to the Future of ECSUA message fromTerence Boyd,Vice Chancellor for InstitutionalAdvancement and Executive Directorof the ECSU Foundation BoardRecently, a member of the community asked ifthere was not a special way in which they couldbecome involved in programs to assist studentsat Elizabeth City State University in their effortsto receive a college degree. From many quarterscame the traditional two-word response – ECSUFoundation.The great state of North Carolina does anexcellent job in supporting what may be the verybest system of public higher education in thenation. Still, factors continue to conspire againstall those who come together on behalf of the 16-member institutions of The University of NorthCarolina. There are simply too many demandsfor spending on a state budget that has, in recentyears, experienced severe reductions in itsincome.Elizabeth City State University and othermember institutions of the state universitysystem have increasingly needed to raise moniesfrom sources. Roughly 50% of the budget nowcomes from external sources. More than everbefore, the ECSU Foundation is needed toprovide money for financial aid, programdevelopment and growth, equipment, and anumber of other necessities that would go unmetwithout this important strong right arm of theuniversity.The ECSU Foundation is governed anddirected by a twenty-five-member board ofdirectors. It is their purpose to assist ElizabethCity State University in fulfilling its mission tomeet the needs of the students and citizens of thestate. This is accomplished through providingfunds to support increased opportunities forstudents to enroll at ECSU and to support thegrowth and development of faculty anduniversity-sponsored programs. In addition, theECSU Foundation sponsors the Clifton DavisCelebrity Golf Classic on an annual basis.Even as the U.S. looks to attract more than afew good men and women to strengthen itsarmed services in times of national peril, theECSU Foundation has a few open slots to fill inorder to reach its optimum number of twentyfive.An individual who serves in this capacityshould have an interest or natural reason toserve and be someone whose membership willstrengthen the ECSU Foundation Board. Strengthcan be defined in terms of financial giving or awillingness to work in ways that will enhanceECSU. The natural relationship can take manyforms. At ECSU a prospective foundation boardmember can be a former student; the parent of astudent (past or current); an influential member(leader, opinion maker, person of influence) ofthe local community, state or region; a seniorexecutive of a corporation or businessentrepreneur that has a relationship to ECSU byvirtue of location or purpose.(Continued on Page 26)ECSU MAGAZINE FALL 2003 25