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UD seeks state funding for childhood learning initiatives, scholarship support

7:13 p.m., Nov. 7, 2003--Funding for the development of childhood learning initiatives and continued support for community service organizations were among the chief issues addressed by University of Delaware President David P. Roselle Nov. 5 in outlining UD’s request for state appropriations for the next fiscal year.

Roselle made his comments while presenting the capital and operating budget requests for FY 2005 to members of the governor’s executive staff in Dover.

Among the requests for new funding initiatives is $300,000 in state funds to support the development of an Early Learning Center that will provide technical assistance and professional development for early childcare and education providers in Delaware.

“Sixty-five percent of children under age 5 in Delaware are in childcare,” Roselle said. “The quality of early care that children receive is a significant factor in later academic and social success.”

Roselle noted that a UD study found that children living in poverty who received high-quality early education were twice as likely to pass the state’s third-grade standards test and five times less likely to be retained in grade during their first four years of school.

Plans for the new center, which will be housed in the former Girls Inc. building on Wyoming Road in Newark, were first discussed by Roselle at a May 2002 meeting of the UD Board of Trustees. The building is being gutted and reconfigured to accommodate 30 infants, 48 toddlers and 84 preschoolers. An additional 75 school-aged children will be at the center before and after school and during summers.

Although UD is not seeking state support for the $4.5 million renovation of the Wyoming Road facility, Roselle said UD is asking the state for funding to help with the new center’s operating budget.

Besides providing exemplary infant, toddler and preschool care to a diverse population of children, specifically those with risk factors including poverty, foster care and disabilities, Roselle said the new center also would provide important clinical educational experience for UD students in early childhood education, family services education and nursing.

“We want to build a model childcare facility, and we want to export what we do to other providers in the state and in the nation,” Roselle said. “The requested funds will be used for salaries, service programs for children and their families and professional development training for early care and education providers.”

Before outlining specific budget requests for FY 2005, Roselle emphasized UD’s role as an intellectual, cultural and economic resource that is valued and supported by the state and those who live in Delaware.

UD as a valuable investment

“I want to share with you some important aspects of the University as you consider your investment in the First State’s premier institution of higher education,” Roselle said.

UD values noted by Roselle include:

  • Accessibility—“We accepted 94 percent of all Delawareans who completed the application process for fall 2003, with 73 percent admitted to the Newark Campus;”
  • Affordability—“If you look at the 2003-04 student charges at UD, they are less than those at Penn State University, Rutgers University and the University of Maryland.
  • Value—“Kiplinger’s Magazine rates UD as the 12th best value among all public universities in the United States, while the University of Maryland ranks 36th, Rutgers 41st and Penn State 80th.

Distinguished faculty

  • Outstanding faculty—“UD students are taught by a distinguished faculty that includes 102 named professorships, winners of Guggenheim and Fulbright fellowships and National Science Foundation Career Awards as well as members of the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Science.”

    Roselle also noted that UD’s academic programs receive the highest level of national accreditation and are consistently ranked among the best in the nation by the National Science Foundation and the National Research Council.

    “Ninety percent of all classes at UD are taught by full-time faculty, who are ranked by our students well above the national norm on the ACT Student Opinion Survey on quality of instruction and out-of-classroom access to instructors,” Roselle said. “Not suprisingly the University is ranked as one of the top public universities by U.S. News and World Report magazine.”

    Contributions to state’s economic health

    Besides providing first-class educational opportunities and value to its students, Roselle noted that UD also is a major contributor to the state’s economy.

    “In fiscal year 2003, UD faculty and staff brought in nearly $125 million in external funding for instruction, research and service,” Roselle said. “We spend that $125 million in Delaware.”

    Roselle also cited a 1999 Economic Impact Study conducted by UD’s Office of Institutional Research and Planning that demonstrated that UD and its staff and students spent $300 million in Delaware, creating an economic impact supporting nearly 11,000 jobs in the state.

    Despite recent state budget constraints due to tough economic times, Roselle said the relationship between the UD and the state remains productive and that UD continues to assist the state in supporting a wide range of community initiatives.

    “The University has worked with the state over the past two years to address the impacts of the economic downturn,” Roselle said. “As signs point to both a regional and national economic recovery, it is appropriate that the University comes to you with a budget request that reflects our most pressing needs, including the restoration of some of the programmatic funding that was reduced as a result of the state’s budgetary difficulties.”

    Top budget priorities

    To assist in addressing past and anticipated increases in tuition and fees, a request of $640,000 would be used to support four types of scholarships that directly benefit Delaware residents.

    The scholarship areas include:

    • $214,000 for general scholarships;
    • $122,000 for minority student recruitment scholarships;
    • $136,000 for aid to needy students; and
    • $166,000 for the scholarships special line.

    “All too often, even after financial aid is awarded, students and their families encounter a gap between the price of a college education and the family’s ability to pay for that education,” Roselle said. “This gap is referred to as ‘unmet need,’ and I am pleased to tell you that as a result of awarding University grant funds along with general scholarship funds, the University and the state together reduced the average unmet need for Delaware residents to under $1,000 for the first time in fiscal year 2003.”

    The diversity of the current freshman class, Roselle said, underscores UD’s commitment to attracting, retaining and graduating greater numbers of minority students.

    “UD is ranked fourth among all public universities in the nation in graduation rates for minority students,” Roselle said. “This is due, in part, to assistance from programs such as the Minority Student Recruitment Program, whereby qualified students are able to continue their studies regardless of their financial capacity to pay for a college education.”

    Roselle also noted the success of the Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement program at UD. The program honors Ronald E. McNair, the second African-American astronaut in space who died aboard the space shuttle “Challenger” in 1986.

    “Of the 156 McNair programs in America, UD is the only program where 100 percent of its participants have applied to and been accepted to the grad school of their choice, compared to a national average of 35 percent,” Roselle said. “We also are hoping to hire some of these students as faculty, once they have completed grad school.”

    The University also has requested $270,000 for FY 2005 for the Associate in Arts Program, a unique partnership with Delaware Technical and Community College (DTTC), which is scheduled to begin in September 2004. See related article.

    Under this partnership, Roselle said, students at DTCC who follow a specifically prescribed curriculum, which includes courses that form the foundation of a traditional liberal arts education, will be awarded a UD associate in arts degree.

    “The requested funds will support essential academic support personnel needed to foster student success,” Roselle said. “The new associate in arts program will enable more Delawareans to benefit from a UD education and to obtain a University of Delaware degree.”

    Capital budget requests

    Leading UD’s request for capital appropriations for FY 2005, is $6 million toward the renovation and renewal of Wolf Hall, including the construction of a 10,000 square foot in-fill to meet the needs of the departments of Psychology and Biological Sciences.

    “This project was completed earlier this year, and Wolf Hall is once again one of the jewels on the Newark campus Green,” Roselle said. “Due to the slowdown in capital funding during the recent economic recession, this state-of-the-art teaching and research facility project was completed using funds from other UD resources.”

    Roselle said state funding of the Wolf Hall project as part of the FY 2005 budget request is essential to freeing up UD resources for other projects while helping UD work with the state to preserve and enhance the conditions of buildings and grounds with a replacement value in excess of $1 billion.

    “We believe that UD was fully cooperative in helping the state to address its budgetary difficulties during the past three fiscal years,” Roselle said. “As the economy recovers, we ask that you recognize that cooperation by funding Wolf Hall and other projects at the requested levels so that we may achieve a schedule of planned maintenance that preserves this fiscal and physical asset for the students and citizens of Delaware.”

    Additional capital budget requests include:

    • $1.5 million in facilities renewal and renovation funds, which will be used to support the ongoing renovation of UD’s academic buildings;
    • $1 million in minor capital improvements and equipment funds for the Life and Health Sciences and Engineering Infrastructure Program; and
    • $4 million as the first installment to support renovation of Brown Laboratory. Built in 1937, Brown Laboratory houses the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. The south wing of Brown Laboratory was renovated in 1994-95 at a cost of $6.5 million.

    “Considering the central role that the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry plays in supporting a number of sectors in Delaware’s economy,” Roselle said, “modern and functional research facilities are not only an investment in the University, but in the state’s fiscal health as well.”

    Article by Jerry Rhodes

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