Administration

Proposed fundraising opportunities for donors to have more impact

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Several new fundraising opportunities aimed at providing donors to the University more options in benefiting faculty were approved today (Nov. 4) by Penn State’s Board of Trustees. The move provides two new faculty position endowments and broadens the current future funding policy for some faculty positions.

“These new endowments and annually-funded awards will enhance our fundraising opportunities,” said Dave Lieb, interim vice president for Development and Alumni Relations, “and create more ways for donors to support our faculty at various levels of impact.”

Broadening the future funding policy allows donors to create named annually funded accounts without the requirement of a future pledge to endow the position in perpetuity.

The first proposed endowment is the Associate/Assistant Dean’s/Chancellor’s Chair, which will provide unrestricted support to the Associate or Assistant Dean/Chancellor of an academic college or campus. The funds are not meant for long-term commitments to support any specific project, program or person. They are not intended to be used to supplement the salary of the beneficiary. This would be an outright gift or pledge commitment with a minimum endowment of $4 million, payable over not more than five years. This new endowment type falls between the existing Dean’s/Chancellor’s Chair and the Department Head’s Chair endowments.

The second proposed endowment is Faculty Fellowship which will provide supplemental department support for outstanding University mid-career faculty in order to provide a holder of the fellowship with critical financial support to be used for, but not necessarily limited to, salary supplementation, research expenses, education and travel expenses, graduate assistantships, and support services. The holder of the fellowship must be a full-time or visiting faculty member with the academic rank of associate professor or higher. This would also be an outright gift or pledge commitment with a minimum endowment of $750,000 payable over not more than five years. This new endowment level falls between the existing Early Career Professorship and the Professorship endowments. The intention is that the named faculty fellowship positions would be rotating opportunities every five years.

The named Annually-Funded Accounts will allow donors to fund several types of faculty positions for five years at 5 percent of the endowment minimum paid annually.

In addition to these faculty positions, it will be possible for donors to annually fund graduate fellowship positions for either three or five year commitments at 7.5 percent of the endowment minimum paid annually. The Graduate School felt it could be flexible and allow donors the option of either a three-year or five-year commitment. A 5 percent payout would not fully fund a position so a higher percentage is recommended.

Donors currently are only able to annually fund positions by early activating their future pledge commitment to endow a position.

Last Updated November 14, 2016