A Publication of
the University
of New Mexico
Foundation, Inc.
| The University of New Mexico |
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A Publication of the University of New Mexico Foundation, Inc. |
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By Alice Trabaudo and Ellen K. Ashcraft Unrestricted funds are becoming a greater necessity to University programs in these times of line item funding and fiscal cutbacks. Mindful of this need, the University of New Mexico has created a new way to expand your giving.
The President's Club affords new and existing donors an option for unrestricted giving: The President's Fund for Academic Excellence. This fund is set aside for use in programs of academic excellence that may not receive funding from traditional sources. Giving to the President's Club allows for giving outside of the line item, freeing the president to fund programs which might not find funding elsewhere. The money raised by the club funds initiatives that encourage excellence at the University and in the community. The idea of a President's Club is not really new. A small group of members existed during President Peck's tenure. Under President William Gordon, the idea is being revived and revitalized. At this writing, a group of 23 charter members, all longtime donors to UNM, are enthusiastic and committed to this program. Charter membership in this club will be open until June 30, 2001. Membership requires an annual gift of $5,000. Members can designate $2,500 to another fund or department, but $2,500 goes into the Fund for Academic Excellence to be used for presidential initiatives.
"Those people who support us really are the difference between operating as a university and being able to achieve something of true quality," praises President Gordon. "Because it is that source of unrestricted funds that allows us to try things, to be innovative, to go a step beyond the traditional modes of education." Doug Brown, a Stanford graduate who moved to New Mexico 15 years ago, chairs the President's Club and is committed to this innovative type of giving. He believes that a major university has the responsibility of aiding a region in successful and intelligent growth. "I'm hard pressed to think of a city of any size that doesn't have the intellectual underpinnings, energy and vitality of an excellent university," says Brown. "We who are not in academia per se, all benefit greatly when our flagship university is in good financial health, engaged in new initiatives and reaching out to the community." Gale Doyel, director of donor relations at the UNM Foundation, says that the President's Club is a way for new donors to set a threshold amount and for present donors to increase their giving level into the hardest money to raise-unrestricted. She emphasizes that President's Club members are asked to give over and above their current giving to UNM. Members' contributions, therefore, should not take away from other important programs that are funded through annual gifts. Some past projects supported by the President's Fund include those that aid the University in recruiting and retaining distinguished scholars and researchers, community outreach programs and innovative curriculum to help ensure success for freshmen. For example, this year President Gordon has been establishing "learning communities" for the freshman year experience. A group of 20-30 students take a freshman level seminar linked to a Freshman English 101 course, both taught by a senior level faculty member. The result is exposure to research, scholarship and a sense of an intellectual community. In the 2001-2002 school year, a quarter of the freshman class will enter learning communities. UNM is better able to retain students already benefiting from learning communities, compared to other freshmen (90 vs. 85 percent returning). In addition, they are making higher grade point averages (3.2 vs. 2.6 overall) and 19 percent more are qualifying for the New Mexico Lottery Scholarship. Another learning community focuses on second semester freshmen and sophomores. In these, a group of students enroll in clusters of three courses that satisfy one of UNM's core requirements, e.g. courses in mathematics, anthropology and languages. "We have a team of three senior professors in charge of each cluster," explains President Gordon, "and even though they may come from very different areas, they link their three courses in terms of a theme so that students can recognize that mathematics concepts are in fact related in some way to anthropology. They begin to see linkages between the disciplines. "This is something that we feel is absolutely necessary if we are going to dramatically improve the quality of undergraduate education at the institution, if we are going to be able to improve retention rates and graduate students in a more timely manner," President Gordon continues. "We already see from initial data that these things can really have a very positive impact, but they're very costly. "Most of the unrestricted funds that have come to the University over the past few years, particularly those that have gone into our Academic Excellence Fund, have been used to support all of those new learning community cluster programs at the freshman and sophomore level," says President Gordon. UNM
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© 2006 The University of New Mexico. |
Spring 2001
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