The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)
Issue link: http://wpialumnimag.epubxp.com/i/114745
Dialing for Dollars When funds are needed to complete renovation projects, upgrade technology in classrooms, purchase resources for the library, or send students to conferences and competitions, that's where the Annual Fund steps in. Donations to the Annual Fund plays a crucial role in WPI's success, which is why the 8,200 conversations Call Center students had with alumni, parents, and friends during the past year are essential to reaching this year's $2.5 million goal. "The Call Center is our most successful way of engaging alumni to make an investment in WPI," says Annual Fund director Jennifer Gamache, "and it's becoming more important each year." During FY 2012, the Call Center generated $313,578—a 30 percent increase over the previous year's tally. Most of it came from alumni, but Gamache notes that parents of both current and former students also contribute regularly. A large portion of Annual Fund donations help financially challenged students afford WPI, bridging the gap between tuition revenue and the actual cost of educating a student. Money is also used for such things as purchasing lab equipment, renovating or expanding classrooms, and attracting and retaining the university's worldclass faculty and researchers. It also plays a role in allowing more juniors to complete their Interactive Qualifying Projects at one of 35 centers around the world (a full 60 percent decline an off-campus IQP because they say they cannot afford it). Gifts for which the donor does not specify how the money is to be used are called unrestricted donations, which allow WPI to be flexible in how best it can use the money to meet that year's most pressing needs. "This is a technology-driven school, and having the best equipment is very expensive," Gamache says. "Every gift, whatever the amount, has a powerful impact on current students." For alumni, the value of a WPI degree corresponds to an increase in donations because the many college-ranking surveys (such as U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review) incorporate alumni participation rates in their formulas. High participation improves the chances of securing grants from foundations and corporations, reducing its reliance on tuition, and, in fact, helping to keep tuition as low as possible. "In some ways, attending college today has become a transactional experience because of the high cost," says Gamache. "Donations to the Annual Fund go a long way toward ensuring that future generations of WPI students receive the same high-quality education that all our alumni have received." 42 Winter 2013 SLIDE RULES RULE Tenell "TJ" Rhodes '15 has learned a lot from older alumni during his hours in the Call Center—like, how they did complicated equations before the advent of computers and graphing calculators. "One time I was talking with a guy who had graduated in the 60s, and he was telling me how they used to do math problems with their slide rules. And I said, 'What's a slide rule?' "So now I know what a slide rule is," he says, adding, "not that I would know how to use it." Rhodes was born and raised in Hartford, Conn. As a freshman at the University High School of Science and Engineering, located on the campus of the University of Hartford, he was part of a team that entered a regional FIRST Robotics Competition WPI hosted. While his team didn't win, he remembers spending the night in Daniels Hall and getting his Ƃrst taste of college life. Fast forward four years. He arrived at the Worcester campus intent on studying electrical and computer engineering. But then he discovered WPI would become the Ƃrst university in the nation to offer a bachelor's degree in robotics engineering. He quickly added that as a second major. Like so many of his fellow students who work the phones, Rhodes is involved with a number of activities, including building two houses with Habitat for Humanity, serving on his class's board of directors, playing Ultimate Frisbee in intramurals, working as a crew member with Lens and Lights during on-campus shows, and joining Phi Kappa Theta. He also enjoys working with students ages 7–15 in Robokids, a club at Worcester's Friendly House, to teach them about science, technology, engineering, math, programming, and electronics. Many WPI students participate in the program, showing the youngsters such hands-on activities as counting in binary and designing linkages, to making basic circuits, programming LEGO Mindstorm robots, and building spaghetti and marshmallow structures. "Just showing them how cool things are can really change their future," he says. Rhodes, now a sophomore, says his parents were surprised he took a job at the Call Center, especially since his father regularly hangs up on telemarketers. "I was the last person he thought would do this," he laughs. But he contends that a student phoning an alumnus is completely different. "I realize it's tough for a lot of people to donate, especially when they are trying to Ƃgure out how they're going to pay for their own kids to go to college, so I appreciate anything they can do," Rhodes says. "Any engagement is good." He points out that alumni contributions both large and small can affect a wide variety of the student experience, such as assisting the construction of the Sports & Recreation Center, which opened in September 2012. And despite other building improvements on the horizon that he may not see while he is a student, he remains committed to doing his part now to secure WPI's future—one phone call at a time. J