A year-long capital campaign undertaken by the College of Engineering will end next week, and its initial $1-million-goal has already been exceeded by $400,000, college officials said.

The fundraising campaign was necessary to purchase laboratory equipment for the College’s new $1.4-million, 75,000-square-foot annex.

This is an example of teamwork paying large dividends, said Tom Britton, vice chancellor for Institutional Advancement. This is, to date, the University’s most successful fund-raising campaign, and it should be used as a model for many other fund-raisers.

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Engineering the Future is the first capital campaign ever undertaken by University officials, and Mike Murray, director of Development at the college, calls it a smashing success.

It’s been a real team effort with the college, faculty, the advisory committee, and the [SIU] Foundation, Murray said. This campaign has taken a lot of good partnerships and a lot of good people.”

The state contributed the brick-and-mortar funds needed for construction, but no money was allotted to equip the facility, Murray said. The University was forced to seek outside funds.

The state may provide 35 percent of the University’s budget. Maybe 14 to 15 percent comes from tuition, he said. That leaves 50 percent that has to come from somewhere else.

Companies are often willing to form partnerships and contribute money and equipment to universities if there is a chance they can get something back from their donation, such as students who are ready to enter the workforce with high-tech knowledge, Murray said.

We have a lot to offer corporate America. We’re not going in with our hand out, Murray said. We have something to give back to them.

Murray’s role in the fund-raising campaign was to make contact with individuals and corporations, especially those with ties to the school. Although he enjoys the job, Murray said fund raising has not been easy.

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There’s no sitting by the phone, he said. You have to get the news out, reach alumni and identify the proper people.

Glenn Norem, owner of MultiMedia Access in Dallas, donated $200,000 worth of computer equipment to the college. The state-of-the-art equipment will allow the school to teach courses, recruit students and conduct interviews via Internet.

Norem, who graduated from SIUC in 1978 with a bachelor’s in Electrical Sciences and Systems Engineering, wanted to help the college enhance its communications infrastructure, but he also had an ulterior motive to establish a video communications talent pool at the college from which to recruit employees.

Norem said it is important for alumni to keep in touch with the needs of colleges and universities.

Alumni have an obligation to help their colleges maintain a competitive position as new innovations change the landscape at an ever-increasing speed, Norem said. With equipment prices increasing, budgets decreasing and new technology obsoleting older systems on an annual basis, I believe it is very difficult for the College of Engineering to maintain its infrastructure.

Significant donations did not come solely from corporations. Faculty and staff at the College donated $110,000 to the campaign. College alumni, Friends of Engineering and retired faculty have donated $260,000. Other donations have come from corporate partners and some foundations, such as the George A. Bates Memorial Foundation, which donated $50,000.

Several corporate partners that made significant donations to the campaign will have labs named after them. Some of these companies include Deere & Co., Sun Microsystems, Peabody Coal Co., Texas Instruments and Emerson Electric.

College officials are actively seeking donations until the last day of the campaign and are still waiting for word about outstanding donations from companies such as Caterpillar, Lockheed Martin, Ryerson Steel, Commonwealth Edison and Boeing. Caterpillar alone employs more than 100 SIU alumni.

After the fund raiser, the college’s new focus will be securing scholarships and recruitment and retention activities.

These new labs will serve as excellent recruiting tools for the college, Murray said.