TCC Announces Campaign for Completion

Tulsa Community College kicked off the public phase of Clearing the Pathway: The Campaign for Completion, the largest fundraising campaign in TCC’s history. The Campaign will raise $20 million in private funds to support student scholarships, academic advisors, Student Success Centers, science lab renovations and diversity and inclusion outreach.

Focus on Scholarships, Academic Advisors, and Student Success Centers

“This multi-year Campaign is about removing financial, navigational and physical barriers, with every element guiding a student to a college degree, from endowed student scholarship funds to Student Success Centers on each campus,” said TCC President & CEO Leigh B. Goodson, Ph.D. “When our students succeed, our communities succeed. Research shows 90 percent of our graduates live and work in the greater Tulsa area.”

Stacy Schusterman, Campaign chair, announced Clearing the Pathway: The Campaign for Completion at the annual Vision in Education Leadership Award Dinner in a room of college supporters and community and business leaders. She explained the effort, at its core, is about graduating more students.

“I chose to lead this Campaign because I believe it is an investment in our future. TCC is our community college. Hardly a family has been untouched by TCC, therefore, we are calling on the community for support,” said Schusterman.

Schusterman, on behalf of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, is a lead donor. As a part of its gift, the CLSFF is providing $1 million as a dollar-for-dollar match, up to $100,000, for new donors who have never given to the TCC Foundation.

Clearing the Pathway: The Campaign for Completion is already producing results and making a positive impact for student success by assisting TCC with an on-going multi-year initiative to increase the number of academic advisors. With the help of the Campaign, the College has reduced the student-to-academic advisor ratio to 350-to-1 from the high of 1,044-to-1 in 2014.

“The TCC Foundation committed to raise $20 million and launched the Campaign’s quiet phase in November 2017. The strong leadership of our Campaign Cabinet and Foundation means 10 months into the effort we are already 79 percent or $15.9 million toward our goal,” said Lauren Brookey, TCC vice president of external affairs and president of the TCC Foundation.

Clearing the Pathway: The Campaign for Completion Cabinet members are Konnie Boulter, M. Ted Haynes, Alana R. Hughes, Phil Lakin, Jr., Bill Major, Ruth Nelson, Pierce H. Norton II, Meredith Siegfried-Madden, Jana Shoulders, and TCC President Leigh B. Goodson. The Campaign will end June 30, 2019, just in time to launch TCC’s year-long 50^th Anniversary celebration.

Campaign goals are:

• $5 million to remove financial barriers by creating new endowed scholarship funds that provide additional support for nearly 90 percent of our students who secure financial aid from existing sources.
• $7 million to remove navigational barriers by providing initial funding over five years for 22 Academic Advisors and 10 Answer Center Advisors increasing student access to advisors and lowering the student-to-academic advisor ratio to 350-to-1 as well as increasing online support services.
• $5 million to remove physical barriers by creating one-stop shops on each campus where students can complete the administrative process of going to college including admissions, financial aid, tuition payment, career counseling, academic advising, placement testing, and academic preparedness programs.
• $2.5 million for chemistry and biology lab renovations at TCC Metro Campus to support STEM fields through hands-on experience critical for undergraduate research and to prepare students for the workforce of tomorrow.
• $500,000 for diversity and inclusion outreach including the implementation of the Equity Scorecard, a program to support TCC’s equity effort to increase degree attainment and improve student success for racial/ethnic minorities, low-income students, first-generation students and adult learners through initiatives such as the Summer Bridge Program, Diverse Faculty Fellowship/Grow Your Own Program, and Student Success Completion Grants.