Horizons Fall 2016

5 NSU HORIZONS The Realizing Potential campaign was announced to the public during NSU’s Celebration of Excellence on January 31, 2016, when Hanbury also revealed that the university had surpassed the midpoint of its fund- raising goal. “The effort is now more overt to make sure that everyone in the community, all of our constituents and all of our supporters, are aware of the campaign,” said Terry Mularkey, NSU’s executive director of develop- ment, who pointed out that the philanthropic campaign is at about 58 percent of its goal. “We went through the process of trying to identify what the campaign theme would be and [the word] potential kept coming up at every turn,” said Mularkey. “It really ties in well with the story of NSU and where it is going and where it has been in 52 years. When you look at a young institution like this, it has grown a lot, but it has not realized its full potential.” Since going public, Mularkey said the university will be reporting the status of the campaign externally with more frequency and, like other colleges and universities, will be using the CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) reporting standards and management guide- lines. The industry standard was created to help educational institutions benchmark annual and campaign fund-raising totals against their peers. The standards are used in two annual surveys: the Voluntary Support of Education Survey, conducted by the Council for Aid to Education and the Survey of Educational Fundraising Campaigns conducted by CASE. The surveys from the Washington, D.C.- based nonprofit educational association, help to recognize the many ways donors support educa- tional institutions through private philanthropy. Jennifer O’Flannery Anderson, Ph.D., vice president for Advancement and Community Relations, said the campaign incorporates opportunities at any giving level, from first-time gifts contributed by alumni and current students to seven- and eight-figure philanthropic gifts. According to Bernadette Bruce, M.B.A., NSU’s director of advancement communications, alumni gifts are a reinvestment in the university. “As alumni, we should want the compounded return on our investment. It is a way to dramatically increase the value of a degree,” said Bruce, an alumna of the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship. Faculty and staff represent another major force in the Realizing Potential movement, added Jacqueline Travisano, Ed.D., executive vice president and chief operating officer, and an NSU alumna of the Abraham S. Fischler College of Education. “Our team contributes every day to NSU’s excellence in education and research, but in the last two years alone, faculty and staff member participation in The Realizing Potential campaign will raise funds to support NSU students and educational initiatives, including those at NSU’s College of Pharmacy, left, top; NSU’s H. Wayne Huizenga College of Busi- ness and Entrepreneurship, far left; and at NSU’s Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, left, bottom, where Mahmood Shivji talks with a student. Top, student Alex Verga demonstrates equipment to George L. Hanbury II, NSU president and CEO, at NSU’s College of Dental Medicine; center, students take part in a mock trial at NSU’s Shepard Broad College of Law; and bottom, students show off their Shark pride at the Don Taft University Center.