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The Bucks Start Here: Mars Hill's Grant Seeker Phyllis Stiles
by John J. Walenczyk
Phyllis Stiles
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On the second floor of Blackwell Hall, in a small office tucked in the corner of one end of the building, works one diligent Phyllis Stiles. Stiles is director of corporate and foundation relations, which carries responsibility for digging up funds through grants.
Since this position was created and she was hired four years ago, Stiles has raised about $2.5 million for the college. In addition, she has raised more than $1 million for programs run collaboratively by the college and other schools and agencies in the area.
Stiles graduated from Mars Hill in 1979. Later, she spent two years serving in the Peace Corps in Tunisia. Her career then took her back to the United States, where she became the director of the southeast office for the non-profit organization Save The Children. She was stationed in Asheville and was responsible for six states. After five years there she decided to step down and find a different career. That led her to Mars Hill College, where she is one of several fundraisers in the Office of Institutional Advancement who work to raise money for the school.
Stiles' job includes oversight of existing grants, looking for new grants, and fulfilling goals set by her yearly plan, which she must present every June. "Things are going well for this year, but it is hard to say just by looking at the numbers," she says. "It depends on how you count since some grants are spread over several years."
The biggest grant, accounting for much of her work at the moment, is for the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) program in the Education Department. Worth $564,730, it was given two years ago and is a three-year grant. It has allowed the college to become the first institution in the state to offer initial certification in teaching English as a Second Language. The money helps pay for faculty and scholarships. As the grant comes to an end, Stiles is beginning to search for more funding from the same source or a different one.
The Teagle Foundation grant for the General Studies program will end next summer in June. This grant is worth $381,000, which pays for faculty to get together on their own time to revise the Liberal Arts in Action (LAA) curriculum and then to implement their plans.
According to Stiles, only the ESL program is totally funded by grant money. LifeWorks receives $375,000 in grant money as well, but the college's general fund supports it, too. "Grants are great for filling in gaps and starting projects; they pay for expenses until the initiative becomes self-supporting," Stiles says.
A few of the smaller grants awarded over the last three years include $30,000 for renovating Belk Auditorium, $45,000 in several grants for renovating and maintaining the swimming pool, $162,000 for the new Ramsey Center, and $40,000 for renovating Wall Science Building.
Looking to the future, Stiles at the moment is applying for money from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. This would help the science department buy new lab equipment. Even though she has seen a many great successes from her desk, she also confessed that there were some opportunities that just never came through, such as a Lilly Foundation grant that would help support students looking for a future career in ministry. It would have contributed up to $1,000,000 over several years.
A Getty Trust grant of $156,500 was another one that got away. Mars Hill was competing with many schools whose buildings date back as far as those at Mars Hill College. It would have helped pay for the restoration of the buildings that surround the Quad, including Marshbanks and McConnell.
Stiles looks towards the future with optimism that more money can be raised, as she continues to apply to different companies and organizations for their support.
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