Drs. Errol L. and Patricia Reese have established The Drs. Errol L. and Patricia Reese Mini Grant Fund which will feed into the Falcon Mini-Grant Program.
As retired university professors, Drs. Errol L. and Patricia Reese have donated $30,000 to Fairmont State University as the Drs. Errol L. and Patricia Reese Mini Grant Fund. The fund will be utilized for the Falcon Mini-Grant Program, which gives faculty at Fairmont State University access to funding that can be utilized for a number of professional development opportunities, technology or equipment upgrades, research projects, and more.
According to an article on Fairmont State University’s website, Dr. Anne Bolyard, who serves as the president of the Fairmont State Foundation, was quoted as saying of the generous donation, “Faculty development is an integral part of the student educational experience at Fairmont State University by providing opportunities to expand the skills, knowledge, and programmatic capacity of our faculty members. We are grateful for the Reese family and their dedication to the advancement of higher education and to Fairmont State University.”
The Reeses set up a similar fund for the University of Maryland, Baltimore, at which Dr. Errol Reese served as the Dean of the College of Dentistry. Dr. Errol Reese is passionate about faculty professional development, and about higher education in general. He attended Fairmont State University and received his bachelor’s degree in only two years before going on to earn a dentistry degree. Like her husband, Dr. Patricia Reese was a lifelong dental professor and also served as a university administrator. For the past 21 years, Dr. Patricia Reese has been on the Council of Regents at Loyola University.
Christy Burner, who is the Director of Grants and Sponsored Programs at Fairmont State University, said, “The generosity of the Reese family will provide long-term support for the Falcon Mini-Grant program. This program helps our faculty and staff develop skills and gain confidence in grant writing, which increases our capacity as a campus to secure more external funding for special projects and initiatives.”
Falcon Mini-Grants are available to any faculty or staff member at Fairmont State University. Anyone interested in receiving a grant in the amount of $500 to $3,000 for the purposes of professional development, equipment upgrades, or research projects must submit an application for review. A selection committee will go over the applications it receives and evaluate in terms of the significance of the need, innovation, cost-effectiveness of the proposal, and whether the intended project aligns with the mission of Fairmont State University.
For more information about Fairmont State University, visit the school’s website.