The University's table of needs, which outlines fund-raising priorities for the Campaign for Academic Enrichment and serves as a menu for donors, has been posted to the Brown Web site. The fund-raising master plan is now open to a critical and unhurried examination by students, faculty and staff.
In the months leading up to the official October launch of the Campaign, a general overview of the $1.4 billion plan - $660 million for endowment, including financial aid and professorships, $200 million for facilities and $540 million for immediate programmatic support - was presented by University officials to various constituencies, including the faculty, Undergraduate Council of Students and Brown University Community Council, and was frequently reported on in The Herald.
But student leaders often complained that they received little more than a cursory look at PowerPoint slides containing a general overview of the fund-raising priorities.
UCS President Brian Bidadi '06 told The Herald that students who don't attend UCS or BUCC meetings were usually unfamiliar with the University's fund-raising goals. Now that the table is available on the Internet, all community members will be able to review the table, he said.
The nine-page document posted to the Brown Web site allows interested parties to examine the fund-raising plan in great detail. The table's 10 sections, including "enhancing undergraduate education" and "leadership in biology, medicine and public health," correspond to the 10 sections in the Plan for Academic Enrich-ment.
The table divides fund-raising goals for each section into two categories. "Category I" goals represent items that the University has already committed to undertaking in the Plan for Academic Enrich-ment. Lower-priority "Cate-gory II" items are initiatives the University is willing to undertake if sufficient funds can be raised.
The highest-priced "Cate-gory I" items are $300 million to endow 100 professorships, $250 million for undergraduate scholarships, $150 million in support for graduate students and $100 million to endow and name the Medical School.
Undergraduate financial aid is the area due to receive the most funding. In addition to the $250 million to endow undergraduate scholarships, the table calls for $20 million to endow aid for transfer and resumed undergraduate students and $40 million for international student aid.
The table also reveals the cost of many Plan for Academic Enrichment initiatives that have already been introduced, even before the University secured long-term financial support for them. The University needs $30 million to sustain first-year seminars. The Life Sciences building, currently under construction, requires $50 million in additional funding. The table calls for $75 million to support the Target of Opportunity hiring program, which was created by the Plan for Academic Enrichment to allow departments speed and flexibility in securing top-quality candidates by bypassing the slower and more cumbersome standard hiring process.
According to University officials, the table of needs is a "dynamic" and "living" document that is subject to change and will evolve as the University's needs and priorities change. In a campus-wide e-mail Friday, Provost Robert Zimmer invited students, faculty and staff to contact his office with questions or comments about the table.
The table of needs is posted on the University's Web site for the Plan for Academic Enrichment, which is linked from the Web site of the Office of the President.
Selected "Category I" fund-raising items from the University's table of needs:
Enhancing undergraduate education
- Undergraduate scholarships/need-blind admission: $250 million
- First-year seminar program: $30 million
- Support for Commerce, Organizations and Entrepreneurship program: $27 million
- Support for the Brain Sciences program: $23 million
- Improve safety and security: $5 million
- Life Sciences Building: $50 million
- Pembroke Hall renovations: $30 million
- Creative Arts Building: $18 million
- Endow and name the Medical School: $100 million
- Professorships: $90 million
- Target of Opportunity program: $75 million
- Club and intramural sports programs and support: $2.5 million
- Endow University chaplain position: $2 million
- Graduate fellowships and support: $150 million
- Chaired professorships: $300 million
- Funds for faculty start-up and recruitment: $140 million
