wfn.org | Future Seems Brighter for Alaska College

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

17-February-2000 
00077 
 
    Future Seems Brighter for Alaska College 
 
    Sheldon Jackson likely to stay open for at least one more year 
 
    by Evan Silverstein 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) received an upbeat 
report on Feb. 16 about the future of financially troubled Sheldon Jackson 
College. 
 
    Officials of the four-year, PC(USA)-affiliated liberal-arts college in 
Sitka, Alaska, now believe it will stay open for at least one academic year 
beyond the current one. 
 
    A $490,000 loan approved late last year by the executive committee of 
the General Assembly Council (GAC) was instrumental in allowing the 
historic school to keep its doors open this year. Meanwhile, more money has 
been proposed for the school by the denomination's National Ministries 
Division (NMD). 
 
    A revamped board of trustees, a growth-planning firm, possible 
government and private-sector funding and a task force that has rallied 
community support are among the reasons for the rosier outlook for Alaska's 
oldest college, Duncan Ferguson, coordinator for the denomination's Office 
of Higher Education, told the Mission Support Services division of the GAC. 
 
    "I come to you now with belief that there is a chance - and that 
(Sheldon Jackson supporters) certainly believe there is a chance," said 
Ferguson, who just five months ago delivered a much grimmer report to the 
GAC. "So I come to you not with a report that we're out of the woods, but 
 ... with a report that some people there are deeply committed (to keeping 
the school open)." 
 
    An accounting firm also has been hired to manage the college's 
financial affairs. Moreover, Sheldon Jackson, which is named for a 
pioneering Presbyterian missionary, owns several hundred acres of land in 
and around Sitka, some of which school officials expect to sell to provide 
operating guarantees for the immediate future, Ferguson said. 
 
    College officials are examining a cooperative agreement with the city 
of Sitka, in which the school's Hames Physical Education Facility would be 
opened to the public. The city does not now have a gymnasium for residents. 
Sheldon Jackson also recently received gifts and a federal grant for campus 
upgrades and improvements. 
 
    "They're looking at these things as possible ways of giving them a 
viable future," said Ferguson, who provided a similar report to NMD on Feb. 
17, during which the committee approved asking GAC to match a $200,000 
grant recently approved by Sitka officials. 
 
    "We are working diligently with Sheldon Jackson to do everything we can 
do to help then with this situation," said the Rev. Curtis A. Kearns, 
director of NMD. 
 
    However, Sheldon Jackson isn't out of the woods yet. 
 
    It will need about $6 million to keep operating for next three years - 
$2 million that school officials expect to raise themselves, plus $4 
million from other sources needed to cover the costs of programing changes 
and services necessary for the college's long-term health, said Ferguson. 
 
    It is hoped that the federal government will provide as much as $8 
million for the college, which has about 175 students. 
 
    Ferguson said the atmosphere during a December meeting of the Sheldon 
Jackson trustees was "tense." Some members wanted to close the school, and 
before the meeting ended, seven of the 24 board members, including chairman 
John Sweetland, resigned. Sheldon Jackson trustees expect to vote by March 
16 on the proposal to keep the school open for another year. 
 
    "They will do a go-or-no-go vote at that time," Ferguson said. 

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