Daily Skiff

Now that the public portion of The Campaign for TCU is in full swing, it's time to follow the money.

Don Whelan, vice chancellor for university advancement, said the administration developed four core priorities for the campaign - one of which is increased funding for academic programs.

The School of Music, the College of Education, the Neeley School of Business and the Schieffer School of Journalism all stand to benefit from campaign funding, Whelan said.

"These schools are not more important than any of the other colleges on campus," Whelan said. "They're just the next in line to receive the funding from this particular campaign."

Whelan said the largest gift the campaign has received so far came from a private donor to the tune of $8 million - $5 million of which is dedicated to the College of Education.

Sam Deitz, dean of the College of Education, said that gift will go to the Andrews Institute of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, which he said is designed to educate teachers on how to better teach math and science through research in those areas.

Tommy Thomason, director of the Schieffer School of Journalism, said the majority of campaign funds will be dedicated to new facilities, including the construction of a state-of-the-art broadcast studio and the renovation of the second floor of Moudy Building South, which will become a converged media lab, combining print, online and broadcast journalism.

"We don't view this converged media environment as a luxury," Thomason said. "It is integral to prepare our students for the situations they will be faced with in the industry."

Dan Short, dean of the Neeley School of Business, said the school will utilize its funds in a different way.

"We decided that we wanted to invest in people and programs," Short said.

Short said the money the school receives from the campaign will support various centers within the business school. For example, the leadership center has already received a generous gift from Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Short said.

Whelan said the majority of donations have come from private individuals and not corporations, and said he thinks there will be a lot of generous support from the community.

"People realize - what's good for TCU is good for Fort Worth," Whelan said.

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