Development office hires new officer to raise money

Laura Anderson

While enrollment at Utah State University

continues to grow, a new Development Officer has been hired this year to raise money for the University.

Workers at the Development Office is hoping to raise $10 million for a fully equipped engineering building to be erected in the next few years, said Jim MacMahon, University Advancement vice president.

Utah State University has hired Ernest Isemenger as the new director of Major and Special Gifts. Isemenger has come from Oberlin College, a private university in Ohio, where he served as an assistant director in the same position.

There are already many tasks in force on which Isemenger will be working. The two primary focuses are raising money to hire more professors and creating more scholarships for students of all capabilities.

The Development Office also hopes to create a new School of the Arts in an effort MacMahon calls “Programatics, ” meaning areas of interest and education that are not necessarily research or constructed classes.

An example of putting the funds is the Eccles Science Learning Center, a new centrally located building on campus. Funding toward the

building was made possible through the George S. and Dolores D Eccles foundation, MacMahon said.

These benefactors are sought after because they value education and help sustain the growth of the university, MacMahon said.

There is expanding enrollment each year, so new instructors are

needed yearly. USU has a high teacher-to-student ratio so even if there is a decrease in enrollment, the goal still remains to give students the best classroom experience

possible, allowing more one-on-one time with

professors, MacMahon said.