717 Magazine Profiles HU's Corporate Support

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Sep 5, 2010

717 Magazine's Scott Campbell sat down with Dr. Mel Schiavelli and Ryan T. Riley of Harrisburg University of Science and Technology for an update on the University's progress. The article appears in the September issue of 717 Magazine, which is printed 4 times per year (March, June, Sept and Dec), and is found in all 5 counties surrounding Harrisburg, with an average print run of 35,000 issues. An extended version of the article is found below.

Harrisburg University of Science and Technology is a new model in American higher education-- a private, non-profit institution focused on science, technology, engineering and math – the STEM majors that will well-prepare students for the challenges of the 21st century. 

The first STEM-focused comprehensive university to be founded in the Commonwealth in 100 years, HU is innovative and experimental in its approach, connecting the classrooms and the region’s businesses in a collaborative effort, creating strong market-driven curricula. Here the academic and business worlds unite. Here individuals looking to learn, grow, and achieve can connect with experts who teach, mentor, and advise.  Its programs draw upon close connections to the key industries and sectors that drive the economy of Pennsylvania.

President and CEO Dr. Mel Schiavelli, and Development and Alumni Relations Director Ryan T. Riley, talked about HU and its ongoing five-year fundraising effort called CONNECT:The Campaign for Harrisburg University.

717 – Discuss the fundraising project, its origins and its purposes.

Schiavelli – In about nine months we will close our inaugural fundraising campaign—CONNECT: The Campaign for Harrisburg University. The word “connect” implies a special relationship with our donors, many of whom are active in the University.  They provide scholarships, internships, mentors, corporate faculty, and employment for many of our graduates. They give for very practical reasons. In the typical university setting, gifts are generally more sentimental.

Riley: The CONNECT Campaign is comprehensive which means that the money raised is more than just bricks and mortar—it involves academic support. We continue to invest in the best technologies and lab equipment, with an increase in enrollment there is a dire need for more student scholarships. 

717 – So, the University and its donors benefit?

Schiavelli – Yes. When Harrisburg University was founded in 2001, our staff and trustees sought not only financial support from donors, but also their advice. We wanted to establish a university that would offer academic programs that meet the business needs of the region.  Long before we accepted a single student, I interviewed 92 corporate leaders to find out what they wanted in their workforces. They told me what kinds of skill, talent and knowledge are required by employers. We learned that Central Pennsylvania had a dearth of college educated people, particularly in science and technology. That knowledge provided the basis for the university’s mission, niche degree programs, and our experiential curriculum. Many of the same corporations also helped write the curriculum and provided ‘corporate faculty’ to help teach in the classes.

717 – How is the fundraiser proceeding?

Schiavelli – We publicly launched the CONNECT campaign in November of 2006 and it is scheduled to conclude on June 30 of next year. The goal has been to raise forty million dollars. We’re just south of thirty-eight million with about a year to go.
Riley – Several hundred individuals and organizations have made supporting Harrisburg University one of their top philanthropic investments. Gifts of all levels and from all corners of the region demonstrate the sense of ownership that Central Pennsylvanians have for Harrisburg University.  We’re optimistic that with continued community support we will reach our goal.  

717 – How does HU benefit the local economy?

Riley – This fall we will have our largest class enrollment, which will have a real economic impact on the downtown section of the city.  The University's annual impact in the local economy is already $16.25 million. Over the next decade, Harrisburg University has the potential to create 450 jobs, 350,000 square feet of additional academic space and spark investment in entirely new or rehabilitated corporate, retail, residential, and research office and laboratory space in downtown Harrisburg. We are an economic development engine adding to the intellectual capacity of the region, driving job creation and investment. That’s another reason why corporations and groups make the investment in the University  and why corporate gifts account for more than 50 percent of our annual private support while most universities only receive about 10 percent.

717– The University provides other benefits to the community, too. Could you discuss some of those?

Schiavelli – We’re meeting the talent dividend by increasing the percentage of the population that holds a college degree. A recent report byCEOs for Citiesquantified the economic benefit to cities of a college-educated populace to show that per capita income and four-year college attainment rates are closely correlated. Using data from 2006,CEOs for Citiescalculated that each percentage-point improvement in adult four-year college attainment is associated with a $763 increase in annual per capita income. If you crunch the numbers for just Cumberland and Dauphin counties, one percent increase in four-year educational attainment is an annual $370 million increase. That would be like locating a company that had an annual payroll of $370 million in Cumberland and Dauphin counties.  It’s an economic gift that would keep on giving.

We offer one-of-a-kind continuing education programs like the Learning and Education Evolution Forum and the Educators’ Technology Clinic. We also offer classes to teachers in intermediate units across the state, we offer counseling in secondary education, and we offer some corporate and military assistance, to name a few. We’re also attracting a large number of non-traditional students and groups that have been traditional under-represented in the science and technology fields. That kind of activity has facilitated private fundraising.

Riley – For example, The Lois Lehrman Grass Foundation made a gift of $100,000 that annually provides four, $5,000 “Women in Science” scholarships.  Harrisburg University’s freshman class in the fall of 2009 was 53 percent female so the gift will ensure that women continue to have full access to educational opportunities in the STEM disciplines.

717 – What are the roles of the trustees and staff in the campaign?

Schiavelli –During this campaign we have seen 100% participation by the faculty and Staff and Board of Trustees—meaning every single person moving HU forward has invested personally. Our Trustees have been essential and were some of the first to make significant investments.

717 – It’s not your father’s university?

Schiavelli – No, it’s not.  Our faculty do not have tenure. We have no departments. And there aren’t too many universities where you’ll see the chief financial officer filling the Coke machine. There’s an entrepreneurial spirit in this place. It’s a kind of experiment, which is fun, and a little scary.

717– Is the HU model of higher education ahead of the curve?

Schiavelli – Yes. We have received inquiries from other cities, the U.S. military and even Saudi Arabia looking to model its program. We’re a private institution that uses community support efficiently and effectively. Several similar schools around the country have had endowments of hundreds of millions, but we have a higher enrollment, lower tuition, better placement record, and we were accredited sooner.  We are unabashedly interdisciplinary with the curricula and we use a strategic partnership model so that we use facilities and services in the community. For example, we partner with HBG Realty to find apartments for our students, and we launched a OneCard System that allows students to eat at restaurants in the downtown area.

HM – And the students are well-served?

Schiavelli – At HU they are grounded in competency, technical knowledge and technical application. When students finish here, they are career employable.  We have graduated four classes of students and 92 percent of those students were employed in their majors at graduation.  At HU they are grounded in competency, technical knowledge and technical application. When students finish here, they are career employable.  We have graduated four classes of students and 92 percent of those students were employed in their majors at graduation. 

Riley—The corporations who hired our graduates are pleased and have hired students from multiple graduating classes. We’re also seeing our alumni give back to the university by contributing to the campaign itself, volunteering as mentors, and several are coming back to start graduate studies in the evening. 

Founded in 2001 to address Central Pennsylvania’s need for increased opportunities for study leading to careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, Harrisburg University is an innovative and ambitious private institution that produces graduates who provide increased competence and capacity in science and technology disciplines to Pennsylvania and the nation. Harrisburg University ensures institutional access for underrepresented students and links learning and research to practical outcomes. As a private University serving the public good, Harrisburg University remains the only STEM-focused comprehensive university located between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

For more information on the University's demand-driven undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs in applied science and technology fields, call 717.901.5146 or emailConnect@HarrisburgU.edu.

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