Although it may be as many as two years away, it appears the University's next major capital fund-raising campaign will benefit students by focusing on scholarships and endowed funds for faculty.

"There are broad parameters that the president has set," said G. David Gearhart, senior vice president for development and University relations.

The campaign will focus on scholarships and endowments, but University President Joab Thomas said the campaign will also benefit other areas.

"A campaign of this size will cover many needs. We must be sensitive to donor interest," Thomas said. He said some donors may have an idea of where they want their money to go, and if it is an area of need for the school, the University will go along with it.

The campaign is still in the advance-planning stages. Planning for this type of major fund-raising campaign can take up to four years, Gearhart said. The planning has been under way for more than a year now, and he said the campaign probably will not be publicly launched for at least another year and a half.

The plan must be presented for approval to the University Board of Trustees by the University president.

"We're really in the very preliminary stages right now. The decision to launch the campaign has not been made yet," Gearhart said.

Thomas, deans of the colleges and schools at the University and the National Development Council, a Penn State fund-raising organization, have been involved in the planning.

Campaign planning should, for the most part, be complete when Thomas leaves the University in August. He added he does not think his departure will affect the campaign, although he said the new president may want to have some input when he or she arrives.

Rodney J. Reed, dean of the College of Education, said the deans have been involved since last spring and added they have worked on it through the Fall Semester.

"We have been intimately involved in determining how we would use the money that is raised. We've determined the number-one priority is to raise money for students," Reed said.

Students and faculty from within the various departments in the College of Education were involved in the planning, he said.

He said he is satisfied the money is going toward scholarships.

"That's not all that a capital campaign will involve, but that is where we see our needs," Reed said.

The new University fund-raising campaign was first hinted at by Thomas last January, and then in March he said he hoped the campaign would focus on academic programs and scholarships. The Campaign for the Library, the University's last fund-raising campaign, ended in January, raising about $11 million.

At the trustees meeting Sept. 16, both Thomas and William Schreyer, board president, announced work was being done on a new campaign.