Slettens give MSU scholarship fund a $1 million present

Great Falls residents Bob and Pat Sletten donated $1 million to Montana State University-Bozeman’s $18 million "Putting Students First" campaign.

The couple serve as co-chairs for the campaign and were expected to make a gift. However, the amount was a shock.

By JO DEE BLACK
Tribune Staff Writer

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20040224/localnews/463158.html

"We are very pleasantly surprised," said Dave Gibson, president and executive director of the MSU Foundation.

The Slettens, along with Sletten Cos., also announced Sunday their donation of $1.3 million to Benefis Foundation to build a regional cancer center in Great Falls.

The Slettens’ gift of common stock to MSU will be part of a scholarship endowment and is designated for four areas.

# Sletten Family University Scholar fund will provide $300,000 for an undesignated, renewable scholarship aimed at recruitment and retention.

# The Sletten-Thomas Family Electrical Engineering Scholarship is getting $200,000. Pat Sletten’s father, Cecil Thomas, was a 1928 electric engineering graduate from MSU.

# The Sletten Family Civil Engineering/Construction Engineering Technology Scholarship will get $300,000 of support.

# And $200,000 will support the Sletten Family Athletic Scholarship.

The first scholarships will be available for the 2005-2006 academic year, with about 4 percent of the endowment available.

Bob Sletten is the former chief executive officer of Sletten Construction of Great Falls. He currently is chairman of the board. He graduated from MSU in 1956 with a degree in architectural engineering and was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1995.

Sletten serves on the MSU Foundation Board of Directors and has served on the College of Engineering advisory committee.

"Pat and I are very happy to be able to support this great endeavor to raise $18 million dollars for the scholarship campaign at MSU," wrote Sletten in a news release.

"The university has been very good to us and our family, and without the outstanding education we have received at MSU, the opportunities that we have had would not have been possible," he added.

The Slettens were out of state Monday and unavailable for comment.

"This is a great investment in Montana’s future," said Great Falls International Airport Authority Director Cynthia Schultz, who graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from MSU in 1988.

"Education is the future as far as economic development and Montana’s prosperity is concerned," she added. "The Slettens are wonderful people, and I have great respect for them."

Gibson said the Slettens have been consistent supporters of MSU, often hiring engineering graduates to work at Sletten Cos. and offering summer internships for students. The are also Bobcat Boosters, a separate fund-raising organization for the university’s athletic programs.

The "Putting Students First" campaign is designed to increase the competitiveness of the scholarships MSU offers, Gibson said.

"The size of scholarships needs to increase, and we want to be able to guarantee scholarships can be renewed," Gibson said. "Tuition has gone up rapidly in Montana. The average debt MSU graduates have is approaching $20,000."

Doug Wilmot agrees. A 1987 MSU construction engineering graduate, he’s now the Great Falls district engineer for the Montana Department of Engineering.

"It’s so much more important to have scholarships available now," he said. "MSU has a very good program, and a donation of this size will definitely make a sizeable impact."

College of Engineering Dean Robert Marley said the Slettens’ recent donation comes on the heels of long-standing support for MSU and the engineering program.

Currently the College of Engineering awards $5 million in scholarships to students. There are about 2,100 students enrolled in MSU’s College of Engineering.