While the idea of raising and allocating over $1 billion may seem like
a daunting task, UCSD has recently joined the ranks of 33 other
American universities that have done exactly that.
Nearly a month ahead of schedule, the campus met and surpassed its
billion-dollar goal in June, culminating a seven-year fundraising drive
to improve all facets of the UCSD experience.
Funds from the campaign, titled “The Campaign for UCSD: Imagine What’s
Next,” are being used to pay for scholarships, fellowships, academic
programs, research, faculty recruitment and retention, as well as
improvements to other campus infrastructures and services.
The largest allotment of the campaign funds, $400 million, will be
distributed to support specific fields in faculty research that include
health sciences, engineering, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography
and the physical and biological sciences. Donors will determine how
their funds are to be used.
Approximately another $330 million, or 33 percent, will be allotted to
academic programs and facilities — 10 percent to meet the university’s
highest priority needs and 7 percent for faculty support.
Donors have provided support for hundreds of students, with
contributions of more than $100 million that will be available through
various organizations on campus.
With rising costs of tuition, scholarships funded by the campaign have
helped students bridge the gap between college expenses and financial
aid limitations.
“[This] can be the deciding factor in whether a student attends UCSD —
or if he or she attends college at all,” Associate Vice Chancellor of
University Communications Stacie A. Spector said.
Earl Warren College senior Beatrice Salcido received the Buzz Wooley
and Ann Parode Scholarship — funded by the campaign — before her
freshman year in 2004.
“It was the most influential part in my decision to choose UCSD as the
university I would attend,” Salcido said. “I would have had to cut my
education short [and] drop out after two years.”
Another campaign beneficiary, Earl Warren College sophomore Kenneth Wong, received the Alumni-Regent Scholarship.
“This scholarship meant a lot because I have two sisters in college,”
Wong said. “For our family it’s a time of lots of education, but much
expense. Receiving this scholarship has helped me take care of my own
tuition costs.”
Wong said he was very impressed by the campaign’s success.
“I find it amazing how much work and dedication the UCSD community put
into raising the money for such things as scholarships,” he said.
The campaign also bolstered UCSD’s reputation in the graduate school
community with the creation of two new graduate schools — the Rady
School of Management, which was just relocated to Eleanor Roosevelt
College, and the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
A $30-million donation from the Skaggs Institute for Research helped to
secure the future of the Skaggs School, the only public pharmacy school
in Southern California.
“When we launched ‘The Campaign for UCSD,’ even our fundraising
consultants said that a $1-billion campaign might be too ambitious for
a university not yet 50 years old,” Chancellor Marye Anne Fox said in a
press release. “But with the support of generous alumni, parents,
faculty and staff, students and friends, we achieved the extraordinary.”
At a celebratory event in June, Fox acknowledged that there is still a
need for continuous fundraising efforts to finance more undergraduate
and graduate scholarships and student life initiatives and to recruit
and retain faculty.
“With higher education’s share of state revenue declining each year,
UCSD — as with other public universities — must increasingly rely on
gifts from alumni, parents and friends,” Spector said.
Currently, only 12 percent of UCSD’s operating budget comes from the state of California.
Of the $1.03 billion raised, 51 percent came from friends of the
university contributors who had not attended UCSD 28 percent from
alumni and 14 percent from parents. Various corporations, foundations
and organizations donated the remaining 7 percent.
In September, Keith Brant stepped down as UCSD’s vice chancellor of
external relations — the position that oversaw the fundraising campaign
— in order to “pursue other business interests.” UC Senior Vice
President of Business and Finance emeritus V. Wayne Kennedy was
appointed as Brant’s interim replacement. However, neither the
chancellor’s office nor university communications mentioned any side
effects caused by the transition.
Though no date has been set for the launch of UCSD’s next campaign, Fox
said that it will focus on increasing donations from corporations and
foundations.