At a time when the University community is expressing heightened concern about finances, plans are becoming more specific for the next fund-raising campaign and University Presdient-elect Graham Spanier's role in it.

William Schreyer, University Board of Trustees president, said the new campaign's goal could be as high as $1 billion. The money will go toward student scholarships and endowed funds for faculty.

"It-will at least be twice the size the last one," Schreyer said after the board's meeting on Saturday.

The last campaign of this type was called the Campaign for Penn State and raised about $352 million from 1984 to 1990 for projects such as scholarships and library improvements. The University's most recent campaign, the Campaign for the Library, raised about $14 million by the time it ended last year.

G. David Gearhart, senior vice president for development and University relations, said he doubts the goal for the new endeavor will be any more than $1 billion, but it will be more than the last Campaign for Penn State.

A specific amount has not been determined, Gearhart added. Currently, the new fund raiser is also being referred to as the Campaign for Penn State.

"The committee will decide the official name," he said.

Current University President Joab Thomas, deans of the University's colleges and schools and the National Development Council, a Penn State fund-raising organization, have been involved in planning the campaign for more than a year.

And Spanier will lead the fund raiser, but Gearhart said the public fund raising will not begin until 1997 or 1998.

"Privately, we'll get things underway soon," Gearhart said. "Publicly, we're years away."

Schreyer said when choosing the new president, the ability to lead fund-raising efforts was high on the list of qualifications.

"It was important," Schreyer said. "It has to be the president's campaign -- it requires time and a well thought out plan."

Spanier is no stranger to moneyraising efforts at a large university. He said he has been involved in fund raising at the University of Nebraska, where he is currently chancellor.

"The size of our university-wide endowment is about the same," Spanier said. "Penn State raises more in a year."

Spanier said he is ready for the fund-raising challenge, but said it is premature to put expectations on it. However he does have a specific way of going about the task.

"I like to get out and meet friends of the University," he said.

Because a university president cannot just go out and ask for money, Spanier said he first lets potential donors know his goals for Penn State.

"They need to know the University is in good hands and why it's important to invest in its future," he said. "If you've done these things, asking (for money) is easier.

Trustee Marian U. Coppersmith Fredman said Spanier enjoys fund raising and has shown a lot of experience in it during his career She said he has a different way of going about it.

"He places a higher emphasis on interaction with alumni and friends of the University -- more than his predecessors," Coppersmith Fredman said. "He knows how important it is."

And when the whole campaign officially comes together, Spanier will be at the heart of it.

"If he and the board decided to move it forward, I would think he'll be front and center and very active in the campaign," Gearhart said.