Through a partnership with the Martin Luther King Center, Associate Professor Dr. Sarah Lashley (left) and students gather data designed to help elevate resident voices and inform revitalization efforts in Rock Island's west end.
$1 million endowed gift to advance engaged teaching/learning
When the work matters, it doesn’t go unnoticed. An anonymous alumna has stepped forward with a $1 million endowed gift to support Augustana’s Center for Engaged Learning, Teaching, and Scholarship (CELTS).
Launched in 2025, the center has become a hub for collaboration and innovation, offering programs that support faculty and staff educators across the different stages of their careers.
“This endowment secures engaged teaching and learning as a defining strength of Augustana, amplifying the impact of our faculty and staff educators for generations to come,” said Dr. Dianna Shandy, Augustana provost.
“This endowment is a major investment in giving our faculty and staff the resources to do their best work in service of our students.”
The gift is designed to sustain CELTS’ work in perpetuity. Once fully mature in approximately two years, the endowment will provide an estimated $45,000 annually to support professional development for faculty and staff educators.
“This very generous gift is a vote of confidence in the work Augustana faculty and staff are doing every day and is an investment in their long-term educational development,” said Dr. Erin Kempker, director of CELTS. “It allows us to build enduring programs that will strengthen teaching and learning for the entire Augustana community.”
The endowment will help create, sustain and expand initiatives including those recognizing teaching excellence, supporting faculty mentorship, promoting community engaged teaching/learning, and helping educators utilize emerging technology, as well as additional workshops and learning communities developed under Dr. Kempker’s leadership.
The gift also provides a critical throughline as external grant funding, including support from The Teagle Foundation, concludes. By ensuring stable, ongoing resources, the endowment strengthens the infrastructure faculty need to pursue the engaged learning goals outlined in Augustana’s Bold and Boundless strategic plan.
“To empower students for lives of leadership in a changing world, our educators must innovate and collaborate like never before,” Dr. Kempker said. “This endowment is a major investment in that future, giving our faculty and staff the resources to do their best work in service of our students.”
College leaders believe the anonymous gift underscores how CELTS’ early successes have inspired confidence and momentum. The endowment stands as both a celebration of progress and a promise for the future.