Support Salem State

Bertolon School of Business Campaign

$7.5 million needed to meet requirements for AACSB accreditation

• Alumni and friends commit $5.5 million towards goal
• Campaign close is December 31, 2009
• All commitments and naming opportunities must be made before campaign close to be included

Alumnni support is needed in the form of gifts and pledges to name classrooms, offices and scholarships, and to fund faculty, among other needs

Central Campus Building

A gift of $2,000,000 will name the state-of-the-art building that houses the Bertolon School of Business, as well as the Music Department and an acoustically perfect 185-seat recital hall.

Endowed Chair

An endowed chair can be funded with a $1,000,000 investment. The Bertolon School seeks three endowed chairs; one for accounting and finance, one for management and one for marketing and decision sciences. A prestigious endowed chair position carries with it an increased salary and a reduced course load, enabling Salem state to attract highly credentialed senior level faculty.

Named Center

A prime example of a named center is the model envisioned for the Center for Entrepreneurial Activities. The Center, endowed with a minimum gift of $500,000, will provide annual programmatic support. A wide variety of additional centers are possible, including, but not limited to, a Women in Business Center and a Center for Nonprofit Management. Endowed centers will be coordinated through the dean and Bertolon School professors to meet the needs of the business school, and have the potential of being tailored to a donor's wishes.

Technology Fund

An endowment of at least $500,000 will provide a named fund to keep technology at the forefront of the Bertolon School's resouces. Such an endowment will provide annual support for technology upgrades over and above those funded by the operating budget or through other private support. Although the present technology in the Bertolon School has been well cared for by faculty, students and administrators, there is a current and ongoing need to keep pace with developing new technologies.

Main Entrance of Building I

The main entrance of the building -- a southern-facing two-story glass wall that brings in sunlight almost all day long, and overlooks an attractive patio area -- may be named with a gift of at least $250,000. The entrance boasts a grand staircase leading up to the mezzanine level, and is a high traffic, well-furnished area. Anyone would be honored to have the main entrance named for their corporation, their family or themself. Ideally, the funds raised to name the entrance would go to the general Bertolon endowment fund.

Research Endowment

A gift of $150,000 will create a named research endowment fund. This fund will provide annual research stipends for faculty members working independently, with other faculty members or with a student or students. Proposals for this named research endowment fund sould be submitted to the dean's office. Research presentations to the donor, other faculty members and students will be made annually, except in instances where a project's duration is over the course of several years. In such cases, presentations will be made at appropriate times throughout the length of the project.

Conference Room

A gift of $100,000 will name the beautifully appointed, technologically advanced conference room on the second floor of Building 1, within the Bertolon School of Business. This conference room is used by business school faculty, the advisory board, the dean, and the president, and is often utilized for meetings with key business leaders in the region. A showpiece room, it is often utilized by seniors when presenting their senior projects to faculty and fellow students; the actual board room setting prepares them for the types of presentations they'll eventually make in the work place. Funds from this gift would go to the general Bertolon School endowment.

Four large smart classrooms and labs have already been named, thanks to the generosity of the Cuffe, Feeley, Wall and Xanthaky Families, each of whom donated more than $75,000 to the college.

A smart classroom in the Bertolon School may be named with a gift of $50,000. The Durgan, Korzeniewski, and Masse Families have made committments of $50,000 dollars or more to name three classrooms on the second floor of the Bertolon School of Business. These classrooms are well furnished, and equipped with the latest technology for teaching and presentations. The Bertolon School is fortunate to have this technology, along with the ideal layout for classroom instruction and interaction between students and faculty. Many of the classrooms have already been named, and are so designated by a black-and-silver plaque that proudly recognizes the generous contributions of the donor and their family. 

Faculty Term Chair

A faculty term chair may be named for a term of five years with a total gift of $50,000. While this is not an endowed gift, the impact is significant and the name will very likely live on in the title and résume of the professor to whom it is awarded. The $10,000 per annum stipend will allow the selected faculty member to conduct research or to "buy time away from a class" to focus on areas of particular interest. The faculty member selected to receive the term chair will also mentor students and other faculty members, and will bring added prestige and attention to the Bertolon School of Business.

Endowed Scholarship

An endowed scholarship may be named with a minimum gift of $25,000. The larger the scholarship, the higher the proportion of tuition and fees that can be covered. More and more students are finding it difficult to make tuition payments without working many hours while balancing studies and work. An endowed scholarship will give students flexibility, and reduce the significant amount of debt they face upon graduation.

Endowed Internship

An internship has long been looked upon as a benefit to the overall education a student receives as an undergraduate. More often, it is being spoken about as a must in the educational experience. In many cases, students are able to find paid internships, helping them balance their course load and the hours they need to work to pay for tuition.  Paid internships give students flexibility to work in their field while not feeling they are losing those hours when they could be earning money at other jobs. There is increasing talk about internships at nonprofits that fits into the overall goal of Salem State's commitment to community service.