Milestone for Endowment

CHENEY, Wash. - Eastern Washington University's Computer Science Alumni Endowment has reached the $25,000 mark, thanks to a 20-month fundraising effort that reflects the growing interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs.

Starting in the spring of 2011, computer science graduates were asked to give $1,000 back to the department to create an endowment to "pay it forward" for the next computer science student at Eastern.

The fundraising effort resulted in 20 gifts or pledges that ranged from $100 all the way up to $30,000, with many current faculty members contributing to the endowment.

"It is clear this nation must make STEM a top priority because such an education creates critical thinkers who will become the next generation of innovators who will sustain our economy," said Paul Schimpf, professor of computer science at EWU. "This endowment is an important part of EWU's support for worthy students wishing to pursue a STEM education in the area of computing, which is projected by the U.S. Department of Labor and Industries to be the highest demand STEM field through 2018."

In addition to the $25,000 raised so far, there is an additional $81,000 in pledges to be collected.

The endowment will create scholarships to partially fund tuition for students pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science each year, starting in the fall of 2013. The goal is to eventually fully fund tuition for one year for as many computer science students as possible.

For information on how to contribute to the Computer Science Alumni Endowment, contact Stuart Steiner at ssteiner@ewu.edu or 509.359.4296.

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Old Issues of Progress, Milestone Only Mouse Click Away Thanks to EKU Libraries

For alumni, current and former faculty and staff and others with a connection to Eastern Kentucky University, Memory Lane is now just a mouse click away.

EKU Libraries boasts a growing digital repository of the student-produced campus newspaper, The Eastern Progress, as well as the campus yearbook, the Milestone, all easily viewable, fully searchable and free, by anyone with Internet access.

While digital content for the Progress has always been available for issues published since 2009, generous donations from members of The Friends of EKU Libraries have enabled the digitization of all extant copies of the Eastern Progress from 1922 to 1963. It is expected that the digital collection will expand to 1975 by mid-March, with the goal of collecting the funding needed to digitize the remaining collection this year.

A gift of $100 will enable the digitization of a year’s editions of the Progress, and donors of $100 or more can choose to make their gift in honor of a loved one. For more information about supporting the project, visit library.eku.edu/digitization-eastern-progress or contact Kari Martin, director of library advancement, at kari.martin@eku.edu or 859-622-1072.

To search the Progress repository, visit encompass.eku.edu/upubs_progress.

Every issue of the Milestone from 1922 until the publication was discontinued in 2011 – it was not published 2000-2007 – is likewise now available – at archive.org/details/easternkentuckyuniversity or at encompass.eku.edu/yearbooks.

The digital yearbook collection also includes two forerunners to the Milestone – the Bluemont and the Cream and Crimson (Central University).

“By digitizing the Milestone and The Eastern Progress, alumni, former faculty and staff, community members and others will be able to reconnect with the University no matter where they are, all around the globe,” said Betina Gardner, dean of EKU Libraries. “The project makes the social and academic history of student life at EKU easily discoverable and available via the web.”

In 2011, EKU Libraries launched Encompass (encompass.eku.edu), an online institutional repository designed to preserve, spotlight and disseminate the research and creative works of Eastern faculty, staff and students, as well as the history of the University.

In addition to its digitization of the Progress and Milestone, EKU Libraries also features a growing collection of old photographs, early undergraduate catalogues, manuscripts, correspondence and business records at archives.eku.edu (click Primary Sources). Old Eastern photographs will be scanned upon request.

History buffs might also enjoy the Discover EKU site at discovereku.omeka.net.

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