Latest news with #ChampionsFund
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Woodley offers future vision for UTPB
Apr. 9—Economic impact, filling workforce needs and future plans for UTPB were just a few of the items highlighted at the second annual State of the University Wednesday at the Odessa Country Club. Panels included Impacting Workforce Impacting Energy and Innovation topped off by remarks from UTPB President Sandra Woodley on the university's vision for the future. Woodley said UTPB has had a 39 percent increase in graduates since 2016 and "we need that curve to get event steeper." She added that 24% of all the jobs in the Permian Basin are linked to "one of our graduates and the businesses that they create." Over the past 50 years, UTPB has graduated more than 30,000 students. But as economist Ray Perryman has noted, "we need 38,000 more ... baccalaureate graduates just in the next 20 years," Woodley said. "... Enrollment is an important part of what we do, but we don't focus on head count ...," added Woodley, who has been president of UTPB for eight years. She added that the university has changed its program mix during that time focusing less on dual credit students and more on growing their freshman class and transfer students who will come to UTPB to graduate. "... Those are the strategies that allow us to be successful. We've increased the student tuition revenue by 100% in the past eight years by having that strategy to focus on graduation and less on head count. ... We're not a major research institution, but we care about research that matters in this community ... that applied research. We've had $73 million worth of the research and grant activity just over the past five years and $4 million in research expenditures. That work is important to this community, and that $4.1 million is 100% increase ... since 2020. We're excited about the research and innovation part of what we do as well," Woodley said. Woodley told audience members they support UTPB's mission. Since 2018, the university has raised about $73 million. Last year, the scholarship ball netted $500,000, Woodley said. This year's ball will be Oct. 23. "That is how we get the graduates into the community, and our goal this year is to have $1 million in scholarships in that ball," Woodley said. They also have a $1 million goal for the Champions Fund and they are already at $800,000, Woodley said. They had 159 student-athletes named to the honor roll. UTPB also has a $68 million endowment and Woodley said that is growing. Woodley noted the attractions on campus like the Bright Star Memorial, new signage, renovation of the Mesa Building, new entrances, a completely renovated quad with art, a performance space, a fire pit and water features. "It will not only be for our students and faculty, but we want the community to feel welcome to come onto our campus ... Prospective students make a decision about a place that they want to be in ... a few minutes of looking around our campus. The quality of our space and the functionality of our space is important for us to be able to achieve (those) 38,000 graduates ...," Woodley said. There is also a two-ton stainless steel falcon waiting to be unveiled when they get the quad completed. Woodley said they also have plans for the Midland campus which has the engineering building, the music program, Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center and CEED Building. Plans for that campus include adding on to the WNPAC, an outdoor amphitheater and building a second engineering building. The CEED Building has been renovated and includes advanced manufacturing, water energy research, labs, a business incubator and small business development center. This gives UTPB a chance to connect everything in that corner to "what is going to be an amazing asset in our community over the next 10 to 15 years," Woodley said. Conceptual plans for this have been completed and Woodley said they will be working to identify partners. There will be an innovation center building that could possibly house University Lands, a Permian Strategic Partnership office, workforce training and academic spaces to name a few.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Falcon Giving Day coming up
Feb. 10—University of Texas Permian Basin is set to host its fifth annual Falcon Giving Day running from 1 p.m. Feb. 13 to 1 p.m. Feb. 14. The kickoff is at 1 p.m. Feb. 13 in the Student Activity Center. At the ceremony, UTPB President Sandra Woodley and Daniel Bright from The Sewell Family of Companies will say a few words about the importance of the community being involved with the university. "We will have a live call center that will be going on. We've invited many students, staff and faculty to attend. This morning (Feb. 6), someone brought up the idea of bringing in alumni to partake in the fun," Director of Annual Giving Jorge Payen said. Bright is also a UTPB graduate and advocate for the university. The Sewell Family of Companies has offered a $50,000 challenge towards the Champions Fund and athletics. Contributions to the Champions Fund go toward scholarships, equipment, travel, and other key resources, ensuring UTPB teams have everything they need to compete and succeed, the school's website said. Three-dimensional hearts created in the UTPB MakerSpace at the library will be hidden around campus for students to find. "We do that to get our students involved in Falcon Giving Day, apart from becoming an ambassador, donating and such. ... It gives us a new avenue in which we can talk to them and educate them what it means to be philanthropic, and grow that passion as they work through the university, as well as post graduation," Payen said. "Our alumni base should be one of our strongest donors, and so that's what we're trying to accomplish," he added. New this year is the profit share night at Raising Cane's which will run from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Feb. 13. Anyone who mentions they are with Falcon Day or UTPB, a portion will come back to the university. "They have a lot of profit share nights throughout all of their stores. ... We were fortunate enough to get this one ...," Payen said. Everyone involved is looking forward to Falcon Giving Day. "We're having a blast. We're getting ready for it. We're excited about it. Not only is this a great opportunity for us to be able to reach the community, but also tell our stories and tell our students' stories. We've been talking to a lot of our students. A lot of our students are taking part in Falcon Giving Day like the kickoff video and a lot of our social media posts just telling us about their stories and their memories here at UTPB, which is exactly what we want to tell our community," Payen said. The official Giving Day video is something new that they are testing out to help tell stories in a more genuine way. They had students write a letter to the university as though it was a family member talking about their fondest memories at the school, how they enjoyed attending UTPB and how it changed their lives, Payen said. Vice President for Community Engagement and Partnerships Jacqui Gore said this is another way for UTPB to get the community involved in supporting students and the "great outcomes that we produce each and every year. "Most of our graduates go to work right here in the Permian Basin. We want to encourage the community to support these students. Any contribution is welcome, whether it's $5 or $500; you can make a difference in these students' lives," Gore said. There are different aspects of the university people can donate to. "When you go to the Falcon Giving Day site, you can select which area of the university you would like to support. You could select athletics; you could select scholarship funds — just a general scholarship fund; the food pantry; the emergency fund for students who are going through something unexpected; the president's priorities, or one of the various colleges, like health sciences, engineering, education. We really want to help the community pinpoint how they want to support UT Permian Basin with their contributions," Gore said. People can donate to the university in general. "If someone would really like to earmark their dollars for something in particular, we can help them do that. If someone isn't interested in giving online, they can reach out and we're happy to meet them if they would rather write a check. That would be great also," Gore said. People may call the Advancement Office to set up a donation at 432-552-2800. If someone wants to mail a contribution, they can send it to 4901 E. University Blvd., Odessa, TX 79762 and make it attention the Advancement Office. "Within the next seven to 10 days after we complete Falcon Giving Day, we can announce our grand total, but we'll have a really good idea by end of day on the 14th, where we are," Gore said. She added that it's important that UTPB put a face on the giving campaign. There was a check presentation earlier the week of Feb. 2 of $8,000 to the UTPB Band program from businessman Jim Woodcock. "It's important to us that our donors see the students that they're impacting. Really, that's what we're trying to do with Falcon Giving Day and highlighting our students. It's more than just writing a check, you're helping these particular individuals. I think that was really moving to Mr. Woodcock earlier this week to see the students who played a tune for him there in person; those are the students he's contributing to. He's able to help them in real time. Those dollars will immediately go to purchasing equipment and helping with scholarship dollars. If anybody wants to come onto campus and meet some of these students, we encourage the community to join us for the kickoff at 1 p.m. on Feb. 13. That would be a great way to meet a lot of our students. We have a number of students who will be joining us," Gore said. Community, faculty members, staff and students are all invited to participate in Falcon Giving Day. "The students are excited to get involved, because they see the dollars coming in to help their programs and to help them as individuals. Many of the students are letting Jorge know that they want to help because they're seeing the impact that these donors are making," Gore said. She added that we are very blessed to live in the Permian Basin with its thriving economy. "We have a problem that most places in the country don't have. We have many jobs available and not enough workforce to fill those jobs. These are the individuals who are going to fill the jobs — UTPB students. They're getting their education so that they can go right into the Permian Basin workforce. The more help we can get for these students to continue their education and gain the skills and the knowledge they need, they can go right to work for you here in the community. That's why we're asking the community to support these students. This is their future workforce," Gore said.
