Keeping a Penn State education affordable for families of modest means by increasing scholarship support is the campaign’s top priority. At its heart, this is a campaign for Penn State students—to enable the next generation, and all the succeeding generations, of our graduates to realize their full potential as individuals to sustain their families, advance their professions, and contribute to our country’s strength. It is also a campaign to enable Penn State to realize its full potential as an institution to create prosperity, keep our nation competitive, and enhance quality of life. With an unprecedented goal and an unprecedented scope, this historic fundraising effort is a campaign For the Future. For more information, please contact Donna Speer, Director of Development,
dms46@psu.edu or 724-334-6057.
To give online, https://secure.imodules.com/s/1218/index.aspx?sid=1218&gid=1&pgid=658&cid=2321 online.
Please designate "Penn State New Kensington Future Fund"
WAYS TO GIVE
Gifts of Cash
Gifts of cash are the most straightforward method for giving. Credit cards and online gift form is available at: https://secure.imodules.com/s/1218/index.aspx?sid=1218&gid=1&pgid=658&cid=2321.
Electronic payroll deduction forms for your employer are available at:
http://giveto.psu.edu/s/1218/images/editor_documents/Ways_to_Give/Checks_Credit_EFT/EFT-authorization-form.pdf.
Donors generally qualify for a tax deduction on their year-end taxes.
For more information, please contact Donna Speer, Director of Development,
dms46@psu.edu or 724-334-6057.
Stocks and Securities
Securities that have grown in value while a donor has owned them can often result in special tax savings. In most cases, a donor may avoid capital gains taxes by donating them to Penn State New Kensington. For more information on donating gifts of stock, securities, or other investments, please contact Donna Speer, Director of Development,
dms46@psu.edu or 724-334-6057.
Corporate Matching Gifts
Corporate matching gifts are a great way for Penn State alumni, parents, and friends to maximize personal contributions to the University and increase the impact of their gift. By taking advantage of a company's matching gift benefit, you may be able to double or even triple the amount of a contribution.
Many corporations and businesses in our local area have a matching gift program. Each company has its own guidelines for employees, spouses, retirees, and widows/widowers. Most corporate procedures can be done in three easy steps:
Request a Matching Form or website from your company.
Complete and submit the form, electronically or on paper, to Penn State along with your gift.
The company issues a matching gift contribution to Penn State.
Please send completed forms along with your personal gift to:
Donna Speer
Penn State New Kensington
Office of Development
3550 Seventh Street Road
New Kensington, PA 15068
For more information, please contact Donna Speer, Director of Development,
dms46@psu.edu or 724-334-6057.
Planned Gifts
Planned giving is often a cornerstone in a University's long-term fundraising priorities. These gifts are usually deferred, meaning they are arranged now and fulfilled later. Planned gifts frequently benefit a donor and their family by providing additional income and offering immediate tax advantages. Examples of planned gifts include donations made through a donor's will or retirement plan, charitable gift annuities, and charitable remainder trusts. For more information on the many planned giving options, please contact Donna Speer, Director of Development,
dms46@psu.edu or 724-334-6057.
FACULTY MEMBER AND WIFE ESTABLISH $50,000 LEGACY FOR HIS STUDENTS
"Doc and Linda Mueller Trustee Scholarship"
For the past 14 years, Robert "Doc" Mueller, associate professor of engineering at Penn State New Kensington, has helped his students earn engineering degrees; now he is helping them pay for the degrees.
Mueller and his wife, Linda, recently established the Doc and Linda Mueller Trustee Scholarship at the campus. The $50,000 endowment is a need-based scholarship, and new and current students are eligible to receive the annual awards. First preference will be given to students in the four-year Electro-Mechanical Engineering Technology (EMET) program.
“Our motivation was that scholarships allowed me to attend college,” said Doc Mueller, who was born and raised on a small farm in Kansas. “It is an appropriate way to repay the opportunities that were given to me because I had a degree.”
Mueller joined the campus faculty in 1998 and teaches upper-level courses in electro-mechanical engineering and lower-level courses in computer engineering technology. The EMET degree program emphasizes all fields of engineering technology related to typical, highly-automated manufacturing, production, or assembly plant processes. He holds a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and earned a bachelor's degree from Wichita State University in Kansas.
Prior to Penn State New Kensington, Mueller spent more than 30 years in the private industry working with industrial control systems. A registered professional engineer in Pennsylvania, he is a consultant regarding industrial automation and serves as an expert witness in product liability and wrongful death lawsuits. He served for 21 years in the military and retired as a colonel from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Mueller is a member of the American Society of Engineering Educators and the American Society of Military Engineers, as well as a senior grade member of the Instrumentation, Systems and Automation Society and the Institute of Electrical Engineers. His consulting firm, Industrial Automation and Control Inc., provides engineering solutions for control system problems. The company is located in the Westmoreland County Business and Research Park on Pennsylvania State Route 780, about four miles from campus.
Linda Mueller is founder and president of a personal care home in Butler, Pa. The 40-bed facility serves disabled veterans. Her association with the campus goes back to her student days. After becoming a registered nurse, she enrolled in the new bachelor’s degree in nursing program. She was a member of Penn State New Kensington’s first class of nursing graduates.
The Freeport, Pa., residents are longtime Penn State donors and have advocated for other campus scholarships and programs. They sponsor the annual Chancellor’s Gala that raises funds for the Advisory Board’s Trustee Scholarship, and they support the Faculty Speaker Series, a biannual lecture and discussion program that is geared to the local community. Doc Mueller received a teaching award in 2010. In keeping with his support of engineering students, he donated the award money to the Bernard and Geraldine Guss Endowed Scholarship. Bernie Guss, professor emeritus of engineering, established the scholarship in 2001 for local students majoring in engineering technology at the campus.
In addition to his academic responsibilities and philanthropic generosity, Doc Mueller co-chairs the campus' Faculty/Staff Campaign for the University's current $2 billion fundraising effort, For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students. The campus is responsible for raising $3 million of the total and is on track to reach its goal. With two and a half years remaining in the campaign, the campus has already hit the $2 million mark, which is 66 percent of its total.
The campus offers two engineering degrees -- a bachelor's in electro-mechanical engineering, (http://www.nk.psu.edu/Academics/Degrees/39807.htm); and an associate's degree in biomedical engineering technology (http://www.nk.psu.edu/Academics/Degrees/bet.html).
FORMER STUDENT PLEDGES $50,000
Suzette Schultz creates "Shaffer Family Trustee Scholarship"
Former Penn State New Kensington student Suzette Schultz recently pledged $50,000 to create the Shaffer Family Trustee Matching Scholarship at the campus.
Schultz’s gift establishes the 11th trustee matching scholarship at the campus. Through the matching scholarship program, developed in 2002 by the Penn State Board of Trustees, donors become partners with the University in supporting students. The annual spendable income on an endowed scholarship, which averages 5 percent, is matched by the University and allows donors to make the most of their philanthropic dollars.
“Penn State set me on the path to a rewarding career, allowing me the ability to give back to the community,” Schultz said. “Creating a scholarship ensures continued financial support to students for many years to come. In a small way, I hope to help other students attain their dream of getting a college education as a springboard to a rewarding working career.”
Undergraduates and incoming freshmen at the New Kensington campus are eligible for the Shaffer scholarship. As per the donor’s wishes, graduates of Plum High School will be given first preference. Schultz is a native of Plum and a graduate of the high school.
"Suzette’s gift is a huge benefit to campus students, and we are grateful for her generosity," said Donna Speer, director of development. "The scholarship will help many students who otherwise might not have the chance to go to Penn State and achieve their dreams and life goals."
During the past academic year, 100 Penn State New Kensington students benefited from the generosity of alumni and friends of the campus. The recipients received a total of $160,000, an average of $1,600 per scholarship.
Schultz has a long history of philanthropic activity at Penn State, with the New Kensington campus and the College of Engineering as the major beneficiaries of her gifts. Her family’s Penn State bloodline runs through the New Kensington and University Park campuses. Schultz attended New Kensington before earning bachelor’s degrees in chemical engineering and chemistry at University Park. Her brother, David Shaffer, took the same route in earning his bachelor’s degree. Her daughter, Katherine Schultz, is a senior at University Park.
“Attending the New Kensington campus was a great way to start my college education--small class sizes, lots of support, and a caring staff,” Schultz said. “In addition, it allowed me the opportunity to live at home and work part time."
A resident of Thornton, Pennsylvania, located 36 miles west of Philadelphia, Schultz is a senior project manager for AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. As a part of its employee program, AstraZeneca is matching Schultz’s initial pledge of $25,000.
In addition to commitments to Penn State, Schultz is active in the community. She is the current president of Girls Inc. of Delaware, a nonprofit organization that encourage girls to master physical, intellectual and emotional challenges through research-based initiatives. The programs address many issues such as math and science education and sports participation. She is past president of the Delaware Valley Section of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and secretary of the Wilmington section.
CAMPAIGN UPDATED: Campus Reaches $2 Million Milestone
As Penn State New Kensington continues the public phase of its fundraising campaign, "For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students," it reached its second milestone, the $2 million mark, in December. The campaign is a University-wide effort to raise $2 billion by June 2014. New Kensington is responsible for $3 million of the total.
"With two and a half years remaining in the campaign, we have raised sixty-six percent of our total,” said Donna Speer, New Kensington's director of development. “We are on track to reach our goal."
The campus' campaign objectives are designed to create educational, cultural, and economic opportunities for the region, specifically the Alle-Kiski Valley community. The main objective is to build a campus of the future that enriches the experiences of students beyond the classroom.
"The campaign is about students and the community," said Kevin Snider, chancellor of the campus. "Our donors aren't just making the dream of a Penn State degree a reality for students; they also are investing in the future of western Pennsylvania."
CAMPAIGN OBJECTVES
Ensuring student access and opportunity through scholarship support is one of the objectives for the overall campaign. The five key objectives of the campus campaign mirror those of the University's campaign. They are:
-- Ensure Student Opportunity: Students with the ability and ambition to attend Penn State will have this opportunity through scholarship support.
-- Enriching the Student Experience: Students will thrive in a stimulating atmosphere that fosters global involvement, community service, creative expression and personal growth.
-- Fostering Discovery and Creativity: Students and faculty members will come together within and across disciplines to pioneer new frontiers of knowledge.
-- Sustaining a Tradition of Quality: Students will continue to work and study with faculty whose scholarship is enhanced by continuing philanthropic support.
-- Building Faculty Strength and Capacity: Students will study with the finest teachers and researchers.
The campus' fundraising goal is the most ambitious total in campus history. Patrick and Mardelle Kopnicky, residents of Natrona Heights, Pa., are leading the campus committee charged with securing the $3 million in new support.
“Supporting Penn State New Kensington has been deeply rewarding for us, and we hope to encourage other friends of the campus to join us in making sure that it can continue to offer a wonderful educational experience to students from every economic background,” said Mardelle Kopnicky, who earned a bachelor of science degree from Penn State in 1964.
“This campaign is an incredible opportunity for Penn Staters to make a difference for future generations, and we are eager to connect with those who share our belief in the future of the New Kensington campus," said Patrick Kopnicky, a 1966 Penn State architecture alumnus.
"For the Future" marks Penn State's third capital campaign since the Campaign for Penn State began in 1984. That effort raised $352 million in six years to support a variety of academic initiatives. The Grand Destiny campaign, from 1996 to 2003, raised $1.37 billion. New Kensington surpassed its Grand Destiny goal of $1.8 million, and a majority of the funds were allocated for endowed scholarships, equipment and building projects.
The Office of Development at Penn State New Kensington works in partnership with alumni, students, faculty, staff, advisory board and the community to meet the fundraising goals set forth by the University while also working toward a greater awareness and appreciation for the New Kensington campus and its many economic and cultural contributions to the region.
CAMPAIGN CO-CHAIRS: PATRICK AND MARDELLE KOPNICKY
Patrick and Mardelle Kopnicky, residents of Natrona Heights, Pa., are leading the campus committee charged with securing $3 million in new support for the campus by June 2014.
The Kopnickys, who met as students at University Park, have been married for 44 years, and they are lifetime members of the Penn State Alumni Association. Their daughter, Aimee Kopnicky Marmol, earned her Penn State degree in premedicine in 1992. The couple is now retired. Patrick was principal architect for Kvaerner Metals in Pittsburgh, and Mardelle was owner of Kopnicky Nationwide Insurance in Brackenridge. Though neither attended Penn State New Kensington, they became involved with the Alle-Kiski Society, a regional chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association based at the campus, in the 1980s. Both served terms as president of the society.
"Through the Alle-Kiski Society, we found that Penn State New Kensington and its students, alumni, parents and staff are a very special family of individuals, and they remain as such to this day, " said Mardelle. The Kopnickys have offered their financial support as well as their time and energy to the campus, providing annual gifts to scholarships for many years and creating the Patrick and Mardelle Sacco Trustee Scholarship in 2008.
“We are proud to be able to offer scholarships to Penn State New Kensington students,” said Mardelle. “We see scholarship support as a way of honoring our parents who enabled us to attend Penn State. And in the Penn State tradition, by giving a gift that will keep on giving, we are investing in the future of our community.” The Kopnickys have served as leaders for a number of organizations in the region. Mardelle is the past president of the Allegheny Valley Chamber of Commerce and Allegheny Valley YMCA, and Patrick is the past president of the Council of Friends of Harrison Hills Park. In 1994, they were recognized for their community service by the Penn State Alumni Council.
The Kopnickys succeed Barbara Arnold and Robin Rarie as co-chairs of the campus campaign. Arnold and Rarie, both Penn State graduates and members of the campus advisory board, headed the two-year private phase of the campaign, which began in 2007.
Office of Development
Donna Speer, Director
724-334-6057
dms46@psu.edu
146 Conference Center
Tina Sluss, Staff Assistant
724-334-6056
tms57@psu.edu
Scholarship Students' Profiles