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Kresge Foundation awards $234,000 Science Initiative challenge grant to IU Kokomo
July 24, 2003 | |||||
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The Kresge Foundation of Troy, Mich., has approved a $234,000 Science Initiative challenge grant for Indiana University Kokomo. The university will use the first installment of $117,000, scheduled in July 2004, to purchase equipment for biology, chemistry and physics classes. The remaining $117,000 will be received on the condition that, by January 2005, IU Kokomo raises an additional $468,000 in private gifts and grants to create an endowment that will be used to maintain and replace the science equipment in perpetuity. “This is a wonderful opportunity to provide students state of the art equipment, so that their science education truly prepares them for future careers,” said Chancellor Ruth Person. “IU Kokomo opened a magnificent home for science education in 2001, our Virgil and Elizabeth Hunt Hall. The Kresge Science Initiative challenge grant will let us match the quality of classroom equipment to the quality of our building.” IU Kokomo’s grant proposal described some of its current science equipment as “obsolete . . . older than the students who are using it.” These conditions may “dissuade students from majoring in the sciences and, ultimately, in careers in science,” as well as “make it difficult to compete for sponsored research grants,” the proposal stated. Endowment fund income would be used to maintain or repair equipment on a yearly basis, and to upgrade or replace equipment as needed. If all maintenance and replacement needs are met for a year, Kresge guidelines allow challenge grant recipients to propose other uses for endowment income, such as scholarships, student/faculty research funds, teaching assistants and fellowships.In a letter to Nancy Dailey, vice chancellor for external relations, Kresge Foundation Senior Program Officer William F.L. Moses wrote that grant reviewers “were favorably impressed with [IU Kokomo’s] plan to raise additional restricted private gifts to complete the funding of your project.” According to Dailey, a central steering committee for the fund raising effort is being formed, and co-chairs will be named soon. “We will be appealing to all IU Kokomo alumni to help us meet the goal,” she said. “Donations will also be sought through various county committees and campus volunteers.” The Kresge Foundation is an independent, private foundation created by the personal gifts of early 20th century entrepreneur Sebastian S. Kresge. The Foundation awards grants toward projects involving construction or renovation of facilities and the purchase of major capital equipment or real estate. Grant recipients must raise initial funds toward their prospective projects before requested Foundation assistance. Grants are then made on a challenge basis, requiring the raising of the remaining funds, thereby ensuring completion of the projects.In 2002, the Kresge Foundation received 565 proposals and awarded $109,251,000 to 158 charitable organizations. As of June 2003, the IU Kokomo Science Initiative challenge grant was 1 of 70 proposals that the Foundation has funded this year. Chancellor Person thanked campus personnel who spent several months preparing the Kresge challenge grant proposal, including Dailey; Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Stuart Green; Chairman of the Department of Natural, Information and Mathematical Sciences Robert Roales; Director for Institutional Research and Sponsored Programs Tim Sehr; and Director of Alumni Relations Cathy Hightower.
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