Two more targets of President Dan Mahony’s Winthrop Plan were recently met. The 2025 target goal for unrestricted giving was set at $700,000. As of December 2018, unrestricted gifts were recorded at $714,212. The 2025 target goal for six-year graduation rates for first time freshman was set at 61 percent. As of December 2018, the percentage of those who entered the university as freshman in 2013 and graduated this past fall was recorded at 61.4 percent. These achievements come after the 2025 goal for faculty diversity was met at 21 percent.
Unrestricted gifts are gifts from alumni and donors that go into the Winthrop Fund. These gifts come with “no strings attached” and give the president greater flexibility to meet various needs around the university, according to Evan Bohnen, Vice President for University Advancement.
“The Winthrop Fund is our highest priority for the university. We designate that to the Winthrop Fund scholarships for students, it also helps run our alumni operations and foundation operations and other university wide priorities,” Bohnen said.
The online degree programs that were made available beginning in the fall 2018 semester were made possible using the Winthrop Fund.
“That is something that has been on the university’s wish list for a couple years. If we had had more of the WInthrop Fund dollars available to us, we would have been able to jumpstart that initiative sooner than having to wait until fall of 2018,” Bohnen said.
In an email to faculty and staff, President Dan Mahony praised donors for giving to the Winthrop Fund.
“We will continue to build off of this year’s success, and support and implement initiatives that create a culture of giving on campus and in our community. Our generous donors have provided critical scholarship support to our students, and we can’t thank them enough for their continued support of Winthrop,” Mahony said.
Scholarships funded by the Winthrop Fund support many students, one example being students who are “caught in the middle.”
“They’re not eligible for some of those awards that are made specifically to families with high need. So they’re kind of stuck in the middle. Winthrop Fund scholarships are a great way to continue to support those students coming from middle class families and help them get an education,” Bohnen said.
Bohnen said one reason the target goal was reached six years ahead of schedule was an increased focus on encouraging donors to give to the Winthrop Fund.
“I think we’ve done a better job this past year of talking about the Winthrop Fund, and we will continue talking about the winthrop fund and how important it is. If a donor wants to designate to the english department, any college, any program across the university, I certainly want to encourage that. But as we’re having conversations with alums, if they ask us what’s the highest priority, I do have to talk about and lift up the Winthrop Fund. It provides us the greatest latitude to meet needs that we’re trying to do to move the students forward,” Bohnen said.
Bohnen said some of the contributing factors to the increase in six–year graduation rates are the commitment from faculty and staff and working to decrease student debt.
“I think it’s amazing in so many regards. It just underlies the commitment of our faculty and our staff to the support of students and helping them graduate. That’s why you’re here: to get your degree and then to go on from Winthrop. I think it really helps to think about student debt and what we’re doing to best manage student debt and keeping it to a minimum while they are going through Winthrop,” Bohnen said.
“I’m very pleased about this goal and I look forward to what the team’s going to accomplish this year and the coming years to support their students,” Bohnen said.
