Saint Joseph's College 2015 Annual Report

2 0 1 4 A N N U A L R E P O R T

A Year of Sustaining the Promise

2015 Annual Report

President’s Letter

Dear Friends of Saint Joseph’s College,

I am pleased to share our 2015 Annual Report, an in-depth review covering the period July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2015. We conduct this yearly

review to highlight the significant events from the previous fiscal year that impact our stu-dents and extended community. As we reflect on last year’s activities, we see many signs of growth and progress.

In fall 2014, our Board of Trustees approved a new College strategic plan called Sustaining the Promise, and in the ensuing months we went to work on implementing that plan. It calls for the critical parts of the College—academics, mission, advancement, and finance—to work together in unique, integrated ways to sustain in perpetuity this valuable entity that we know as Saint Joseph’s College. This integration characterizes Saint Joseph’s in the 21st century, and it has already begun in both large and small ways—and one way is to become increasingly responsible to our environment by using less paper.

Students are the lifeblood and the living endowment of Saint Joseph’s, and everything we do is ultimately for their benefit. Saint Joseph’s currently depends upon student income for more than 90 percent of its annual operations, so a healthy and growing student enrollment is vital. Last year was one of stability and growth in both campus and online programs, and as a result we completed another fiscal year in the black. However, we are at the same time extremely conscious of the decline in our population of 18-year-olds in Maine and in some New England states from which a majority of our students come.

Looking toward our future with Sustaining the Promise, our strategic goal is to grow campus enrollment to 1,200 and our online enrollment to 5,000. To achieve this, we will need to expand our admissions and marketing efforts beyond New England and refine and enhance our program offerings.

This healthy enrollment will result from a strong academic program that meets the needs of 21st-century students. Now more than ever we are offering programs that attract and retain students. These include our Freshman Mentor program that provides academic services to new students beginning on their first day, as well as exciting new programs like our Environmental Science Semester, the only total immersion program in New England, and our Career Development CONNECTIONS program, which provides rich opportunities to introduce students to a large variety of careers, as well as our new $2,000 Experiential Promise that facilitates internship and research opportunities here and abroad.

Sustaining the Promise calls for us to preserve and extend the wonderful legacy of our founders, the Sisters of Mercy. Last year the sisters celebrated their 150th year of service to Maine, and we honored those who serve on our campus with the Distinguished Alumni Award. It is easy to see the incredible impact that these women continue to have on our students, faculty, staff, and neighbors—through generous annual scholarships for women who struggle to afford higher education, through volunteerism and financial support of the food pantry, Catherine’s Cupboard, and through providing a week of fresh air and camp activities for local children and Portland’s immigrant children. The sisters are our models; they keep us grounded in what is important.

In this Annual Report we tell stories of people who came together in unique ways to support our students: classmates who funded a scholarship endowment, family members who have supported the College both during their life-times and in their estate plans, and a favorite of mine, the myMark Campaign, which brought together students, parents, and an alumna for a special project. And a glimpse of last year’s gift statistics tells the story of increased giving among many constituencies, including a 22 percent increase in alumni giving.

With you and because of you, Saint Joseph’s has had an incredible year and has an even better future. Thank you for keeping Saint Joseph’s College in your heart and in your financial planning; it is your generosity that makes our work possible.

James S. Dlugos, PhD President

In 2015, we recognize our donors on our website. You can view them with our thanks at sjcme.edu/ annual-report.

Photo by Sarah Beard Buckley

2015 Annual Report • 1

Table of Contents

2 • Stewarding Our Enrollment Enrollment at Saint Joseph’s College reflects the direction of Sustaining the Promise

3 • Introducing CIDET A restructuring of Course Design & Delivery improves student-teacher relationships

3 • Peer-to-Peer Mentoring The Academic Center furthers the mentor-mentee relationship

3 • The Art of Science Professors Emily Lesher and Johan Erikson take students beyond academics

4 • Off-Roading Education Environmental Science Semester is SJC’s unique on-site classroom

6 • Opening Worlds of Opportunity The newly launched CONNECTIONS program makes SJC the real world

8 • Celebrate the Sisters of Mercy 150 years of service in Maine is celebrated by Bishop Deeley

9 • A Legacy of Giving Catherine’s Cupboard food pantry continues its mission of service

10 • The Class of 1967 Memorial Scholarship A little dedication goes a long way for students who show civic and academic leadership

11 • Giving and Planning: One Family’s Story The George family’s generosity continues to thrive more than a quarter-century later

12 • All Hands on Deck Students take up the challenge to show their school spirit and leave a legacy

14 • 2015 Financials A look back at the finances of the 2015 fiscal year

Dear Friends,

As the new chair of the Saint Joseph’s Board of Trustees, I am both honored and excited to be writing to you in this, my first, official Annual Report letter. I begin my tenure at a time I believe to be central to embodying the goal of the College’s strategic plan, Sustaining the Promise. Indeed, we have made a promise and a pledge to make significant investments in Saint Joseph’s future.

Saint Joseph’s College plays a special role in Maine and New England. Founded in 1912 by the Sisters of Mercy, Saint Joseph’s follows a mission best summarized as “compassion in action.” It is through the guiding principles set forth by the sisters, incorporating the core values of faith, excellence, integrity, community, respect, compassion, and justice, that Saint Joseph’s students are prepared to not only make a living but to also live rich and meaningful lives.

Wherever I go, when I mention my affiliation with Saint Joseph’s College,

I am met with comments about the specialness of the College, about lives it has influenced or changed in inspiring ways. Our College is a place where inclusiveness is the norm, where differences are valued, where each student is respected and appreciated, and where lifelong friendships are formed.

These themes are among the reasons why we, the members of the Board of Trustees, are thrilled to invest our time, our talents, and our treasures into the future of Saint Joseph’s College. And we are grateful for your contributions as well.

This year, in addition to our unwavering focus on students and their experience, the Board took a hard, inward look and determined it is also critical now and going forward to connect the College more deeply with the people and businesses in our community that share our goals and core values. Through such connections, we hope to explore the development of mission-aligned businesses as an additional element of and investment in our community and our future.

Saint Joseph’s College has a past to be proud of and a future to be excited about. We thank each of you for all you have done and all you continue to do for our treasured institution.

With much appreciation,

Matt Monaghan P’13 Board Chair

Chairman’s Letter

2 • Saint Joseph’s College

Number One Initiative: Stewarding our Enrollment

While each of the seven initiatives contained in Sustaining the Promise are unique and vital to the future

of Saint Joseph’s College, the first initiative harkens to the wellspring of longevity for our institution: Stewarding Our Enrollment. And in this first year of our new strategic plan, recruitment efforts have focused on this very task.

Our students—future, current, and our graduated alumni—are part of the living endowment of the College. What we invest in our students will pay significant intellectual, cultural, spiritual, and economic dividends both today and well into the future. Fully aware of the intrinsic value of each of our students, we also realize their importance for the effective day-to-day functioning of the

College in all of its aspects. For this reason, we are making a new, stronger commitment to the success of every student who chooses to study with us at any level, both while they are students and after they graduate.

That’s why our Admissions staff has worked diligently to build each new class for the campus-based program and a population of online learners who reflect the very desire for excellence that we are seeking.

As we continue to steward our enrollment, we will establish forward-thinking goals for retention and completion, and develop models for student support and success. Every office, unit, and department at the College and all individuals recognize the important roles that they have in helping students succeed.

“Everyone who enrolls at SJC has the opportunity to make an impact. It could be athletics, giving tours, being a mentor, or serving food at the dining hall. When you’re at SJC, it is truly one big family.” —LUCAS FISHER ’18

Meet Lucas Fisher of the class of 2018. History major, secondary education minor, track and field star, and resident advisor.

Academics


Back row (left to right): Nicole Wiggin, Erin Keady, Andy Bonneau, Alex Judge, Cameron Keene, Connor Corrieri, Jonathan Ficko • Front row (left to right): Sarah Comtois, Kelley Miller, Autumn Zubricki; Not pictured: Lucas Fisher, Katy Jones-Fortin, Courtney Yates

Academics

Introducing CIDET

This past fiscal year saw the restructuring of the Department of Course Design & Delivery into the

Center for Instructional Design & Educational Technology as a means to strengthen Saint Joseph’s faculty-student relationships. CIDET’s first objective was to assist the College community in transitioning to the learning management system Brightspace, a next-gen online teaching tool and support program for campus and online students. Beginning in July of 2014, the CIDET team migrated more than 300 online courses, close to 500 sections, and almost 100 campus courses to the new platform.

“The Brightspace platform has enhanced the way the College’s communities engage with one another,” says CIDET interim director, Kristin Belanger. “It’s a powerful tool that has made it easier for learning and engagement to happen anywhere, anytime.”

Peer-to-Peer Mentoring

In the fall of 2014, The Academic Center debuted a new peer-to-peer mentoring program at the College that provides

upperclassmen with the opportunity to mentor and guide first-year students, and in the process develop their own counseling and leadership skills.

The Academic Center was created in 2005 through a generous grant from the MELMAC Education Foundation in Augusta, Maine, to forward their “Early Success in College” initiative. In 2014 a new grant was awarded to build on prior success of strategies to increase student retention in the first and second years—and it is a resounding success. Since the peer-to-peer mentorship was implemented, the College has seen its highest retention rate from the first to second semester in five years.

The Art of Science

There’s no better first step into scientific research than jumping in with both feet. And thanks to funding provided

by the Maine Space Grant Consortium in early 2015, professors Dr. Johan Erikson and Dr. Emily Lesher—experts in geology and environmental geochemistry, respectively —took students out on Sebago Lake this fall to discover, as the course’s syllabus puts it, the art of science.

The class, Research Science on Sebago Lake, brought the scientific method to life, taking students from the lab to a boat on the cool fall waters of Maine’s second-largest lake, where they received firsthand experience collecting water and sediment samples. The small class size of six allowed each student to take on specific tasks associated with their research into the carbon cycle, making them the scientists.

“The students are in charge of an authentic research project—they are trying to quantify carbon cycling in Sebago Lake,” says Dr.

Lesher. “The role of inland freshwater bodies in the global carbon cycle is not well understood, so our students are not only increasing their own understanding but contributing useful measurements to science.”

“The students are in charge of an authentic research project.” –DR. EMILY LESHER


Off-Roading EDUCATIONThe inaugural Environmental Science Semester launches a new era of immersion education.

A gaff-rigged, Maine-made, 90-year-old schooner that’s heeling between 10 and 20 degrees on the waters of the

Gulf of Maine is an unlikely classroom, but for two Saint Joseph’s professors, one teaching assistant, and eight students, the Bagheera served admirably as a research vessel for the last leg of the nine-week, immersive Environmental Science Semester last fall. Supported by an anonymous benefactor, the program, led by environmental science professors Johan Erikson and Greg Teegarden, was the first of its kind at the College, providing sophomores and juniors with a chance to learn while out in the field.

At 8 a.m. on Saturday, August 16, 2014, the unorthodox semester kicked off. The group of 11 piled into one van and drove to their first destination, the Acadia National Park-owned Schoodic Education and Research Center campus in Winter Harbor, Maine. From there, the ESS crew journeyed to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada, then to New Hampshire’s White Mountains, followed by stops in central and southern coastal Maine, and ending on October 18 after two weeks spent sailing the Gulf of Maine aboard the Bagheera. Throughout the trip, students listened to lectures, conceptualized research projects, and collected samples, and more, to inform their four courses of study for the program: climate change and glacial geology, marine ecology, oceanography, and field methods.

Academics


“Students studied environmental science for two months straight,” says Erikson. “They were eating and sleeping it, too. The experiential and conceptual connections were transformative.”

Students traded the distractions and comforts of campus life—friends, jobs, elective courses, club activities—for hands-on lessons about such things as atmospheric circulation patterns, phytoplankton blooms, glacier movements, and beach transects. Of course, they also got plenty of practice hiking, sailing, eating blueberries, and figuring out the logistics of fitting eight college students, their luggage, and the science equipment into a single vehicle.

From the launch date through to the final exam and project, the students broadened their skill sets, challenged each other, and gained a deeper understanding of the materials, all without setting foot in a classroom. The students may be getting their degrees in environmental or marine science when they graduate, but it’s safe to say that they completed ESS having all majored in experience.

Relive ESS by visiting their blog: blogs.sjcme.edu/ess.

Students studied environmental science for two months straight. The experiential and conceptual connections were transformative.


Top and center right: Erin Wright-Little ’17 and Matt Pfannenstiel ’16 took

experiential learning seriously during the College’s first-ever Environmental

Science Semester, gaining firsthand experience aboard the Bagheera.

Bottom: Dr. Johan Erikson utilized the natural environment as a classroom

during the Environmental Science Semester, which allowed students Nhu

Vo ’17 (left) and Courtney Couture ’17 (center) to experience their education

on a whole new level.


CONNECTIONS is a career development program that brings together the College, the community, and industry leaders from a variety of scopes in support of our students. Unique

to Saint Joseph’s College, CONNECTIONS was launched with the incoming class of 2018. It connects incoming students with the greater business community. Upon entrance into Saint Joseph’s College, each student is provided with personalized business cards and introduced to business leaders at a variety of events.

Focusing on experience, CONNECTIONS exposes students to a world of possibility, introducing them to powerful business leaders, teaching them how to operate outside their comfort zone, building their confidence in the years leading up to graduation. Upon graduation, students will have ample connections and skills to land successful jobs and careers— perhaps even before graduation.

Additionally, CONNECTIONS guarantees each of our students the opportunity of a lifetime. Upon reaching junior status, all students can take advantage of a stipend of up to $2,000 that can cover the cost of a qualifying, hands-on, experiential learning project of their own design. This experience includes internships, research projects, international study, and volunteer programs. These experiential programs make students stand out when they start their careers or move on to graduate school.

CONNECTIONS represents the College’s commitment to the future of each of our students by providing educational, experiential, and financial support to amplify their education.

CONNECTIONS exposes students to a world of possibility. Upon graduation, they will have ample connections and skills.

Opening Worlds of OpportunityThe CONNECTIONS™ program brings the ‘real world’ to SJC.

Sophie-Mary Creegan ’16 has an internship at the Portland House of Music.

Academics


SpotlightBeth Richardson, Director of Career Development

“The CONNECTIONS program is all about linking the present with the future and ensuring each of our students has exactly what he or she needs to succeed. This is our commitment to our students. One thing is certain: when they walk across that stage at Commence-ment, our students will be better prepared for and more enthusiastic about stepping into the real world, because they experienced that world here. CONNECTIONS will be that defining moment our students will point to later in their lives and remark, ‘That’s what made me who I am today!”

SpotlightRob Coppola, Director of Alumni & Development Services

The Alumni Office works closely with Career Development to bring alumni to campus and share their knowledge and experience with our current students. The Alumni Office is also working to develop alumni networking programs for alumni in all stages of their career to ensure they are getting the most out of their post- college experience.

“We want our alumni to find fulfilling careers,” says Rob Coppola, director of alumni and development services.

“And we want to connect them with current students to share their vast and varied experiences, so that our future alumni are better served and prepared for the road ahead and are advancing to the highest levels in their industries."

Alumni Matt Cotreau '10, Allison Parent '12, Kerri O'Hara Moore '08, and Andrew Smith '05 were part of a panel discussion on marketing management careers, hosted by Career Development, in fall 2015.


Mission

Celebrate the Sisters of Mercy2015 marked the 150th anniversary of the Sisters of Mercy in Maine.

You can’t utter the name Saint Joseph’s College without thinking of the Sisters of Mercy. They are, after all,

the reason for the College. And this year we celebrated alongside our beloved sisters as they marked 150 years in Maine, a glorious landmark.

Unlike cloistered nuns, the sisters work and live in their communities, in houses or apartments provided by the order. The order’s formal affiliations in Maine include Saint Joseph’s College in Standish, Mercy Hospital in Portland, and McAuley Residence, named after Catherine McAuley, who founded the Sisters of Mercy in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland.

An Irish Catholic laywoman, McAuley recognized the many needs of people who were economically poor in early 19th-century Ireland and determined that she, and women like her, could make a difference.

Signs of the sisters’ past and continuing work are still apparent in many Maine communities. At Saint Joseph’s, the sisters make major contributions to scholarships, Catherine’s

Cupboard food pantry, and summer camps for disadvantaged and immigrant children. The sisters are present and active.

In fact, among the most significant contributions made by the Sisters of Mercy were the schools they established in the late 1800s on the Penobscot Indian Reservation at Indian Island near Old Town, and on the Passamaquoddy reservations at Pleasant Point and Indian Township in Washington County.

“The Sisters of Mercy have left their mark in so many ways,” Bishop Robert Deeley remarked on the occasion of one of the many 150th celebrations around the state. “Whether in health care or education or social

work, the lives of thousands of people have been greatly improved by the wonderful care of the sisters over the 150 years they have ministered in the Diocese of Portland. The Catholic Church in Maine owes a great debt to the Sisters of Mercy.”

Indeed, we all do.

The Sisters of Mercy have left their mark in so many ways. The Catholic Church in Maine owes a great debt to the Sisters of Mercy.

The original group of sisters who were missioned at the College, from faculty to staff roles. (Front) Sisters De

La Salle, Cyr,Barrett, White, La Flamme; (Back) Sisters Hayden, Sablone, Boyd, Houston, Dorsey, Doyle, Mahany,

Cook, Murray, Flanagan, Kneeland

At the 2015 Alumni Awards, sisters (back row) Mary George O’Toole ’51, Joyce Mahany, Patricia Flynn ’74, Kathleen Sullivan, (front row) Sylvia Comer ’62, Marilyn Sunderman, and Mary Morey were awarded the Catherine McAuley Award for their commitment to serving their communities. Not shown are sisters Michele Aronica ’74, Mary Kneeland ’73, and Fleurette Kennon.


Since 2008, Saint Joseph’s College has focused on serving the community where the College calls home by running the food pantry, Catherine’s Cupboard.

This seven-year mission echoes Pope Francis’ call for greater compassion and justice for the world’s poor, chal-

lenging us to care for the homeless and the unfed, if only in our own corner of the world.

“We have paid too little heed to those who are hungry,” he’s declared.

Operating out of a space in Standish’s Town Hall building, the food pantry serves nearly 1,500 men, women, and children each year. Volunteers, composed of students, faculty, and staff, work there on Wednesday eve-nings, providing healthy food for families and individuals.

“People would be shocked to learn how many families simply don’t have enough food, how many children go to bed hungry,” says Stuart Leckie, food services manager at Saint Jo-seph’s College. Leckie, who played an integral role in founding Catherine’s Cupboard, says the heart of Catherine’s Cupboard is all about working toward a sustainable solution.

“Simply handing out food is not the answer,” he says. “We work hard to educate families, teaching them how to garden, how to budget food costs, how to cook healthy food, and how to be responsible for their own actions.”

In early 2015, the College opened Catherine’s Closet, a different kind of pantry where clean, donated clothing is given out to families around the region. Each Thursday, College volunteers open up the Closet to help neighboring communities who need proper clothing, blankets, and other items to keep them warm during winter’s brutal chill, and lighter items as the thermometer rises.

Operating out of a space in Standish’s Town Hall

building, the food pantry serves nearly 1,500

each year.

Catherine’s Cupboard A Legacy of Giving


The Class of 1967 Memorial ScholarshipRemembering Classmates & Achieving a “First” for Saint Joseph’s

In 2002, when the class of 1967 came together to mourn the tragic passing of classmate Leslie Edmonston Buck, a small fund was created from

gifts made in her memory. Several years later, when the women came together for their 40th reunion, a larger idea was born. Why not create a perpetual legacy for the women of 1967, one that would honor all deceased classmates, and one day in the future be a permanent memorial of the mark that the class of 1967 made on Saint Joseph’s College?

In 2011 the class of 1967 Endowed Scholarship had reached the beginning threshold of $25,000, and the first award was made from the first-ever scholarship fund endowed through the gifts of a class. The award is for students who demonstrate financial need, academic achievement, and civic leadership, and can be given to a relative of the members of the class.

The current recipient of the scholarship is Aprille Hibbard, a senior majoring in biology/pre-med who is also minoring in chemistry and fine arts. A resident of Woburn, Massachusetts, Aprille serves as a biology tutor and a Career Service Leader. A strong swimmer, she has served as a lifeguard since 2013 and enjoys water sports. She is a classically trained singer, and when she is not on campus, she has volunteered at her local church as a CCD teacher, a cantor, a lector, and an altar server instructor. She plans to apply to medical school.

An excellent student, Aprille shines as a leader on and off campus. Endowed scholarships such as the one created by the class of 1967 help the College to support and encourage students like Aprille.

The Class of ’67 Memorial Scholarship was the first scholarship endowed directly by a class of the College.

Advancement

Aprille Hibbard ‘16

The Power of Endowed ScholarshipsEndowed scholarships now provide important assistance for over 100 Saint Joseph’s students. While the College is fortunate to have more than 40 funds to assist students, there is potential to help many more students as new endowments are established. These endowments can assist students in a particular major or geographic region, or they can recognize excellence in campus or community service. A donor may establish a scholarship in their own name, or to honor another person or group. Students who receive awards correspond with their donors and often meet them on or off campus.

For more information on establishing an endowed scholarship at the College, please contact Jean Maginnis, senior director of development, at 207-893-7899 or [email protected].


Giving and Planning: One Family’s Story

Walks across the Saint Joseph’s campus and through its buildings are punctuated by plaques and

signs that not only keep the memories of generous donors fresh in our minds, but arouse new feelings of gratitude in our minds. The names of some families show up

a number of times; such is the case with past benefactors, Peter and Viola George.

The George name graces the Dance Studio in Alfond Center, the auditorium in Alfond Hall, and the previous George Room in Heffernan Center—which will reappear when future construction is completed. In addition, the Peter J. George Endowed Scholarship has helped to support Saint Joseph’s students

for over 25 years—and will continue to do so in perpetuity.

Close friends of Saint Joseph’s—like the Georges—are often those who begin a tradition of generosity that is carried on by members of future generations. Such was the case with lawyer and accountant Peter J. George of Great Neck, New York, and his wife, Viola. The Georges summered in Maine, and Peter served for several years in the 1970s on the President’s Council before join-ing the College’s Board of Overseers in 1979. For a decade, he led the Finance Committee and was a source of technical knowledge mixed with wisdom, as well as a generous donor with his wife until his death in 1989.

During those years, Viola was well known on campus as the originator of the annual Rug Hooking Workshop, a gathering of practi-tioners of the fiber arts that now continues, 42 years later. She remained a generous friend of the College until her death in 1999. The large, planned gift that subsequently came to the College was dedicated to the Viola George Auditorium in Alfond Hall, a premier space used daily by students and visitors.

Today the Georges’ nephew, Dr. William “Bill” Cristo, and his wife, Christine, continue the legacy of his family’s giving. Family is first in Bill’s mind. He and Christine adopted two children from Russia because, as Bill says, “We wanted to help children. We hope that this will inspire others to help the world’s children.”

Bill succeeded his uncle on the College’s board, serving for two terms, and he con-tinues his service to others by donating one afternoon each week to an organization that needs help. “I’m at Goodwill at the moment,” he says. “I’d like to encourage others to begin volunteering—soon it will become a habit!”

An annual supporter of the scholarship established by Peter and Viola, Bill has continued the friendship and investment in Saint Joseph’s. He, too, has provided for the College in his estate plans. As a member of the College’s Xavierian Society, he is one of nearly 100 individuals who have included Saint Joseph’s in their future plans. One day, Bill’s gift will establish a new scholarship in the name of Dr. William and Christine Cristo. In Bill’s words: “Try to help others as much as someone has helped you.”

For more than 25 years the Peter J. George Endowed Scholarship has helped support Saint Joseph’s College students.

The George family: Peter and Viola George (left and right),

with nephew Bill Cristo (center)


An anonymous challenge gift takes the first-ever student campaign, myMark, to new heights.

Challenge gifts—gifts given once a specific milestone is achieved—energize and enhance fundraising campaigns.

This was the case when a generous alumna approached the SJC Development Office and offered a challenge gift to current students during the inaugural student giving campaign. What they did not know at the time was how excited the entire College community would become.

The graduate of the College who proposed the challenge gift was enthusiastic about the proposal. “I was excited to support students who have the school spirit to give back to

the College and embrace the College’s core values,” the donor says.

That generous gift was dependent on the students matching the gift of $5,000. The students, excited by the opportunity, jumped into action, selecting the beachfront as the

Challenge gifts made the first-ever student giving campaign even

more special for all those involved, on campus

and online.

Advancement

All Hands on Deck

After a successful campaign to renovate the College’s Sebago Lake beachfront, students and friends gathered at the beach to celebrate the new setting.

Pictured left to right in front: Brett O’Kelly ’16, Emily Roman-Bland ’17, Calvin Field ’17, and Brendan Woelfel ’16; and left to right behind: Mario Lemieux ’16,

Jimmy Riley ’16, Josh Staples ’16, Annie Bowe, and Matt Hanson ’16.


area they’d most like to improve and strategizing their fundraising efforts. “We selected the beachfront as myMark’s focus because it’s a great gathering space that both students and the greater SJC community can enjoy,” says Student Government Association President Jimmy Riley ’16.

The students’ peer fundraising plan included email communication, tabling at heavily trafficked areas, and “Dorm Storms,” where students went dorm to dorm promoting the challenge and collecting donations.

The campus and online students’ excitement quickly spread to the larger SJC community. Parents of current students caught wind of the challenge and were so inspired that they too challenged the students by offering an additional $5,000 match of student funds. Soon, alumni and the Alumni Association joined to lend their support. The campaign included the online student community, and while many had never been to campus or enjoyed the beachfront, they generously helped the campus students to reach the goal.

All told, the campaign raised more than $15,000 from nearly 150 individuals across the SJC community, including campus students, online students, alumni, faculty, staff, parents, and campus organizations such as Student Government Association, the Business Club, and the Alumni Association Board. Thanks to the generosity of these constituents, the Sebago Lake beachfront now has a new dock, all-weather picnic tables and chairs, a flagpole with an original SJC flag to pronounce the campus area to lake-goers, and a new changing room hand built by the College’s own carpenter, Thom Johnson.

The success of the myMark campaign and the challenge gift has energized the College, and has set the framework for future challenge gifts and the excitement and collaboration that comes with them.

Upcoming EventsFor friends, family, and alumni of the College

January 29, 2016 New Hampshire Chapter Launch Event

February 6, 2016 5th Annual Ice Bar

April 30, 2016 NY/NJ Chapter Launch Event

May 7, 2016 Annual Alumni Awards Banquet

July 29–31, 2016 Alumni Weekend

September 9, 2016 Alumni & Friends Golf Tournament

September 10, 2016 Athletics Hall of Fame Induction

For more information, contact the Alumni Office at 207-893-7898 or [email protected].


Positioned for Innovative GrowthA financial retrospect geared toward the future of Saint Joseph’s College

For several decades, through prudent financial management, Saint Joseph’s College has closed each year with

positive operating results—and 2015 was no exception. Operating surpluses coupled with growth in net assets are signs of a healthy financial state.

The College demonstrated both, generating net operating income for the most recent fiscal year of $367,000, and net asset growth of nearly $1 million. This performance is remarkable, given the competitive higher education environment, and in an era when many colleges and universities are having to redefine their missions and pare down programs to remain relevant and financially viable.

According to a report by Bain & Company1, a global management consulting firm that operates in 34 countries, Saint Joseph’s College is in the top group of smaller, tuition-dependent US colleges that are financially sound. This puts Saint Joseph’s in an ideal position to enter an era of new growth through innovative strategies.

Planned Mission-Aligned Businesses, Gifts to the College & Student Affordability

Like many small, independent colleges across the nation with modest endowments, Saint Joseph’s College relies heavily on student charges—tuition, fees, room and board—as its primary source of revenue, accounting for 93 percent of the College’s operating resources. The remaining 7 percent is bridged by endowment income, gifts and grants, and income-producing services such as facility rentals.

Since student affordability and access are uppermost, the new strategic plan, Sustaining the Promise, calls for tuition increases no higher than 3 percent per year. Looking ahead, our strategic initiatives to develop income-producing, mission-aligned businesses will help to sustain Saint Joseph’s College and relieve its dependence on student income. As always, every gift from individuals,

foundations, and businesses also has a direct impact in keeping Saint Joseph’s affordable for future generations of students.

Investing in Ourselves

The financial performance of the endowment remained strong in FY15, generating investment income of $773,000. Saint Joseph’s College has been fortunate to build up its unrestricted

reserves, managed as funds functioning as endowment, from surpluses and from unrestricted bequests to the College.

In September 2014, the Board of Trustees voted to redeploy some of these funds to underwrite key “seed” projects that are the lynchpin of shaping our vision for new sources of revenue to support a quality experience in our academic and student life programs. In preparation for major and transformative capital improvements to the heart of campus—Heffernan and Mercy Halls—the College has thus far put $1.9 million to work to begin the sequence of 15 moves necessary to free up prime space that will be redeployed for the sciences, nursing, student life, career development, community engagement, campus ministry, and study away. All of the improvements made possible by this special investment will attract a larger enrollment, and move Saint Joseph’s toward the ideal size of 1,200 students called for in Sustaining the Promise.

1Bain & Company, Bain Brief, “The Financially Sustainable University,” Jeff Denneen and Tom Dretler, 7/6/12

Finance

Mission-aligned businesses will help to sustain Saint Joseph’s College and relieve its dependence upon student income.

Seed Projects & Other Campus Improvements

Fiscal Year 2015 saw many special projects occurring on campus, made pos-sible by unrestricted reserves functioning as endowment. The following projects will help sustain the future of the College:

• Construction of a beautiful fire pit in the space between Standish and Currier Halls. Designed to promote community, it can be used by a few students—or as many as 400.

• Moving Wellehan Library from the top floor of Heffernan Hall to the first floor freed up precious space for Student Life, providing popular study areas and new technology, including a new One Button studio in the library. In the future, the library will move to a new second floor in Mercy, and Heffernan will become in its entirety a much-needed Student Life Center.

• Renovating Scully Hall for staff of the online programs, thus allowing the construction in 2016 of a new science lab in freed-up space in Mercy Hall, the first step in the total renovation of the science wing.

• Replacement of campus light fixtures with energy-efficient LEDs. This will save about $90,000 per year in utility costs, which will be returned to the College’s new Green Revolving Fund, which provides funds for large and small sustainability projects.

• Preparing the 110-year-old stone barn at Pearson’s Town Farm for a future opening as a venue for wedding recep-tions and other gatherings. The further development of the farm property, including larger cultivated fields, a new barn with educational spaces, and a possible farm-to-fork restaurant will increase revenues and provide rich earn-and-learn experiences for students. Student access to the farm across Whites Bridge Road has also been made safer by a new lighted path and caution lights on the road.

• Improving the lakeside for students, staff, and visitors by replacing the dock, installing a new float, adding new outside tables and chairs, and changing rooms for lake bathers. Next spring, the path to the lake will feature a widened walkway punctuated by new lighting.


Operating Expenses, by Function $37,151,000

General Institution (25%)

Student Services (23%)

Instruction (22%)

Online Program (18%)

Food Service, Other Auxiliaries (7%)

Academic Support (5%)

Total Operating Revenue Sources $37,518,000

Sebago Lake Program Tuition & Fees, Net of Financial Aid (42%)

Online Program Tuition & Fees (29%)

Room & Board (22%)

Other Sources (4%)

Operating Investment Income (2%)

Gifts & Grants (1%)

25%

42%

29%

22%

4%

2%

1%

23%

22%

18%

7%5%

Fiscal Year 2015 Operating Results


Engaging With Your CollegeDonors of all kinds made the fiscal year one of enhancement for the College and its community.

Total gifts to the College surpassed $1 million in fiscal year 2015, donor participation grew across several key

constituency groups, and hundreds of alumni, parents, past board members, corporate and thought leaders, and prospective parents of admitted freshmen were engaged last year.

This indicates positive support of the new strategic plan, Sustaining the Promise, through financial giving and the engagement of individuals from all constituencies.

2014–2015 By Stats & Facts

• Gifts and participation up

• Total giving to the College increased by 34%

• Total numbers of donors increased by 21%

• Alumni giving increased by 22%

• Parent giving increased by 31%

• Student giving increased by 41%

• Board of Trustees giving increased by 93%

Widespread Engagement Began• Buzz events were held in Portland,

Bangor, Boston, Philadelphia, and Wind Gap, Pennsylvania

• New Boston Alumni Chapter continued to grow, hosting four events

• New Nursing Affinity Group and its monthly event, The Shift Report, launched in Portland

• New Parent Leadership Council was established

• New Aegis Society for past board members was established

• The first student giving campaign, myMark, was introduced and involved both on-campus and online students

• 140 Corporate and Thought Leaders received campus tours and strategic plan overviews by President Dlugos

Advancement

Board of Trustees member Michael Shea ’72, his wife Nancy Brembs Shea ’74, and Jean MacBride enjoyed the President’s Society Dinner in Falmouth, Maine.

Caitlin Hickey ‘06 and Michelle Gaspar ’06, chair of the New Hampshire Alumni Chapter, celebrated the holidays at the annual Alumni Christmas Party in Portland, Maine.

Alumni Weekend, held during the summer on campus, continues to be a popular event with alumni, their friends, and their families.

At the ‘60s Cluster Reunion, Xavier Hall was the setting for an event to remember with friends and former classmates.


Giving by Constituent Group • FY 14–15

Corporate, Foundation & Government (54%)

Friends & Faculty / Staff (18%)

Alumni & Parents (17%)

Board, Past Board & Religious (11%)

Annual Fund Gifts support current needs as well as unexpected opportunities or challenges.

Endowment Gifts support student scholarships or other

needs in perpetuity.

Planned Gifts support and sustain the future of Saint Joseph’s College

through trusts, wills, charitable annuities, and other

tax-advantaged vehicles.

All gifts—cash, appreciated stock, or securities—are welcome and

are the lifeblood of the College, now and in the future.

For more information, contact the Development Office at 207-893-7890, [email protected], or visit sjcme.edu/about-us/giving.

WAYS OF GIVING

Recognizing Alumni DedicationAt the 2015 Alumni Awards Ceremony, generous and caring alumni were awarded for their commitment to Saint Joseph’s College. The Distinguished Philanthropy Award, presented by Claire Fraser Bowen ’70, Board of Trustees chair from 2011–2015, was awarded to Bonnie Newman ’67. Bonnie was recognized for her continued, outstanding leadership in personal philanthropy while also leading the class of 1967 in establishing an endowed scholarship.

Distinguished Philanthropy Award recipient Bonnie Newman ’67 (left) with presenter Claire Fraser Bowen ’70, Board of Trustees chair from 2011–2015.

54%

18%

17%

11%

Detail of fireplace, Xavier Hall • Photo by Alanna ConnE D I TO R: David Svenson • A R T D I R E C TO R: Ian Marquis CO N T R I B U TO R S: Rose Heggeman, Elizabeth Schran, Lynn Novak, Heather Plati, Susan Johnson

Saint Joseph’s College278 Whites Bridge Road

Standish, Maine 04084-5236

Change Service Requested

Students Erin Wright-Little '17, Degan Veragic '16, Nate Winter '17, and Davis Tucker '16 all participated in the President's Society Dinner, showcasing their academic success and dreams for the future with the honored guests.

To see this year's lists of donors, visit sjcme.edu/annual-report.

Saint Joseph's College 2015 Annual Report

Documents

Transcript of Saint Joseph's College 2015 Annual Report