Back in February and March, the Aviation program at Minnesota State Mankato appeared to be finished.
Now it has been granted a reprieve.
After a fairly stressful couple of months, the Aviation Program at Minnesota State University, Mankato will be brought back on probationary terms for the next three years.
Students and staff placed balloons and signs thanking the City of Mankato and North Star Aviation throughout the Mankato Airport today. The program will have three years to prove itself, thanks to some large contributions from donors throughout the area.
"We'll want to see the enrollment numbers increase fairly dramatically in order to increase the student/faculty ratio in order to make the program pay," said President Richard Davenport.
North Star Aviation is included in that amount of money as well. They have pledged 3 percent in revenue sharing with Minnesota State Mankato in order to cover costs, as well as awarding scholarships. Eight other area companies and individuals have pledged their support as well, getting the group in the ballpark of the university's funding goal.
"We've successfully launched a campaign that raised $600,000 over the course of the next three years to keep the program up and running," said North Star executive Mark Smith.
"This is a very positive thing," Davenport added. "It speaks well to the community to step up to the plate when they needed to provide the support and funding."
While the Aviation program is out of reach for now, the remainder of the cuts to 20 other programs will stay in place. And administrators at Minnesota State Mankato say more cuts in other areas are on the way.
"Besides the academic division, we have the finance side, the PR and Marketing side, Technology, the Office of the President and the general student services as well," Davenport said. He said the administration is presently putting those numbers together, though no hint was given for any official announcement.
To watch the KEYC-TV video, click on http://www.keyc.tv/node/36551.
For more KEYC-TV news, go to http://www.keyc.tv/.
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