Dailey
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Major gifts boost science equipment endowment funding Two major gifts from Howard County concerns have boosted IU Kokomo’s effort to establish an endowment that will keep science equipment up to date in the campus’ labs and classrooms.
The Community Foundation of Howard County recently approved a $10,000 grant to the endowment fund, and the Howard County Medical Society presented $1,500. Additionally, the medical society has challenged its 100 members to make personal contributions to the endowment fund, which the society will match up to an additional $1,500.
The science equipment endowment is part of a total $935,000 project, which will fund equipment purchases to meet the current needs of science courses at IU Kokomo and will establish an endowment for maintaining and replacing equipment in perpetuity. A Kresge Science Initiative challenge grant provided an initial $117,000 for equipment. Kresge will contribute an additional $117,000 if private gifts for the remainder of the endowment are secured by January 2005.
As of April 5, donors had pledged a total $220,639 to the science equipment endowment fund. The campus has until January to raise the balance of its $468,000 endowment goal.
“IU Kokomo is extremely grateful to the Community Foundation of Howard County and the Howard County Medical Society for their confidence and support relating to our Kresge Science Initiative,” said Nancy Dailey, vice chancellor for external relations. “Their gifts demonstrate their understanding of the importance of the sciences for the future economic and intellectual development of the north central Indiana region.
Ron Harper, president of the Community Foundation of Howard County, called IU Kokomo a “vital resource to the community.”
“The Community Foundation is pleased to be able to participate in this project,” he said. The $10,000 gift was one of eight grants made by the foundation in its first grants cycle of 2004.
“By contributing to the endowment fund, which supports state-of-the-art science equipment, local physicians are not only supporting those who are seeking higher education, but also are investing in potential future members of the Howard County Medical Society,” said Dr. Stuart Devaul, medical society president. “By providing the best in higher education, including facilities, staff, and equipment resources, IU Kokomo is a major player in attracting and retaining our best and brightest residents and should be supported in this community.”
Dailey offered special thanks to Dr. E. Robert Blue of Kokomo, who proposed involvement in the endowment project to the medical society.
The medical society’s members are all physicians practicing in Howard County, representing a wide range of practice types, from primary care to specialty medicine. “Each doctor in the society put effort into gaining his or her own education, and these contributions will encourage today’s science students to put in similar effort,” said Dailey.
Hakes
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Certificate in contemporary entrepreneurship Small business owners, their employees and franchise operators wanting “more concrete capability to function” can benefit from the Certificate in Contemporary Entrepreneurship Program, said Fred Hakes, director of continuing studies. The certificate classes are offered under the auspices of the Division of Continuing Studies with administrative oversight from the School of Business.
Five required classes cover fundamentals in accounting, economics, business law, personal finance and contemporary entrepreneurship. “These classes are designed exclusively for non-business majors, for those who may not have a strong business background,” said Hakes. By learning basic business principles and terminology, future entrepreneurs can “talk more effectively to a marketer or accountant, write a business plan or be more proficient at bottom-line analysis,” he said.
“A lot of businesses fail because the people running them don’t have these skills,” said Rick Hamilton, president of the Kokomo/Howard County Chamber of Commerce. “Nurturing new companies is the best way that a community can grow its economy and jobs.”
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