"What we see is tremendous challenge, and unprecedented opportunity."
University of Mary president Monsignor James Shea says that’s why the Bismarck-based university is launching what it calls “Vision 2030.” It’s an ambitious capital campaign.
"Over the course of the next 15 years, for Vision 2030, we will need $272 million," Shea told supporters at U-Mary. "A quarter of a billion dollars of needs for services, for education, for facilities."
Shea says it will done in phases. The first phase -- $96 million – will be a three year goal. And he says that money will go toward new facilities and a face lift on campus. That will include a new women’s dormitory, a new fieldhouse and a ballroom facility. Shea says already $37.8 million has been raised. He says other plans in the works call for an engineering school on campus, and a Graduate School of Health Sciences to be located in downtown Bismarck. Shea says the area and the state of North Dakota are demanding these kinds of services.
"Can we do it?" Shea said. "I say to you, not only can we do it, we must do it."
U-Mary’s strategic plan also calls for the possible pursuit of a medical school.