President's Message from Spring Portraits 2006

Dear Friends and Supporters:

            Three interrelated themes dominated our thinking and captured our imagination during the past year.  The themes were philanthropy, self-discovery, and continuous improvement.  We were simply astounded by the surge in giving during the last month of the campaign that enabled us to achieve our campaign goal of $13 million.  Upon reflection, however, the philanthropy of our friends and supporters should come as no surprise.  As we’re out and about in the surrounding communities, friends frequently remark about how our campus “makes the community come alive;” “that Pitt-Bradford is a source of hope for the young people and their parents in the region;” “that Pitt-Bradford is one of the principal economic drivers in this region of the state;” and “that the future health and vitality of our region is tied to a strong Pitt-Bradford.”  Alumni visiting their alma mater tell us “how astonished they are with the growth and beauty of our campus” and “how pleased they are that we continue to increase the number and size of scholarships and add new majors.”  When friends and supporters are assured of a good return on their investment and when alumni are proud of their alma mater, they give and continue giving.  That, in a nutshell, is the story of the Complete the Campus campaign.

            The second theme is related to the first in that we were able to pinpoint those attributes that distinguish us as an institution of higher learning and stimulate philanthropic support.  We succeeded, through self-discovery and our work with the STAMATS marketing firm, in identifying the following key qualities that gain us the esteem of our students, alumni, and supporters:  We’re academically driven, individually focused, warmly accessible, future-oriented, and provide an eye-opening experience and a wealth of opportunities for our students.  These qualities offer our students, alumni, friends, and supporters the opportunity to go beyond their expectations and their dreams of what Pitt-Bradford can become in the future.  As long as we reflect these attributes in our daily work of serving students and serving the region, we will have an abundance of friends and supporters.

            The third theme, continuous improvement, is evident on many levels.  The most visible, of course, is our campus.  Visitor after visitor tells us what an eye-opening experience it is to walk around our campus and explore our various facilities.  Not as readily visible as our campus improvements are the many improvements in our academic programs and the technology infrastructure that supports them.  We continue to add new majors, the most recent ones being interdisciplinary art, entrepreneurship, hospitality management, and accounting.  We’ve also established stand-alone majors in elementary and secondary education.  Finally, the addition of such academic support programs as the TRIO Student Support Services Program enable us to provide better advisement and counseling for students who need these services.  The outcome that we desire for our students is the same outcome desired by our friends and supporters-- to produce well-educated and refined citizens who feel a sense of responsibility to society and their communities.

            On behalf of the faculty, staff, students, and Advisory board, I thank you sincerely for your continuing support.  We cannot succeed without you.  With your continuing support we will continue to be a source of hope and pride and a vital educational resource for the people of this region.

Sincerely,

Livingston Alexander
President