Executive Director

Executive Director's Letter

Jerry Lazarski

"Bouncing Back"

It was a year to begin to recover. The UWSP Paper Science Foundation assets are nearly back to the pre-recession levels and both corporate and alumni contributions are both headed in the upward direction again. And just in time. Another year of solid recruitement of freshman means additional scholarships to be awarded. More faculty are on board as well as Gerry will report later.

We see our scholarship needs to support our increasing number of students growing dramatically as these larger classes work through the program. Our ABET engineering accrediation is also bringing us smarter students with higher incoming GPA's. In order to attract those top high school science and math students, our scholarship program must also be competitive with other engineering programs. It is likely that there will be more students qualifying for more of the Foundation's scholarship dollars. The bottom like is that this translates into more required financial support from everyone.

Of the ten Paper Science & Engineering programs across the nation, U.W.S.P. continues to be considered in the top three. We appear to be the school showing the most student growth in the Pulp & Paper disciplines. One of our handicaps is the total size of our endowments. With assets of $1.8MM, we pale in comparison to longer established schools such as Syracuse and Maine with 3 to 10 times the financial resources. We can certainly improve our asset base to generate more interest income, with your help.

The UWSP Paper Science Foundation is in the business of helping the students of the Paper Science & Engineering program at the UW-Stevens Point. We are here to help them grow academically in the art and science of papermaking, enabling them to become competent, professional engineers. Our financial assistance to them can only come about through the generousity of our supporters. We rely on industry and our alumni to fulfill our mission to provide the next generation of leaders to the paper and allied industries.

From the business perspective, the UWSP Paper Science Foundation, Inc. continues to meet its obligations according to our bylaws. The rebound over last year is noted in the following:

Over the past 36 years, over 700 students have achieved their goal of graduating into the paper industry in part because of your generous support. Key to our success this year is to achieve double digit per cent of alumni contributors and to increase corporate giving.
What an opportunity to build our future.

Thank you,

Jerry Lazarski
Executive Director
UWSP Paper Science Foundation
UWSP Paper Science Class of 1974