Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

December 12, 2003

'Investing in People' campaign surpasses $50 million goal

A two-year initiative to secure private support for Iowa State faculty and students is now complete. The "Investing in People" effort, which President Gregory Geoffroy announced at his installation on Oct. 6, 2001, surpassed its $50 million goal.

Of the $51.5 million in commit-ments to date, donors have designated $39.7 million for student support and graduate student fellowships, and another $11.8 million for faculty support through chairs, professor-ships and faculty fellowships. A portion of the Investing in People commitments will be realized in future years through deferred gifts.

Most of the funds raised -- $44.6 million -- are specified by the donors as endowed gifts, which will provide a perpetual source of funding. The other $6.9 million are expend-able, one-time-use dollars.

Investing in People funds designated for faculty will support 11 existing and six new chairs and professorships, and two new faculty fellowships at Iowa State. Donor-designated funds for students were directed to 577 existing accounts and created 172 new student support accounts.

Private support for faculty positions enables Iowa State to attract and retain the nation's most outstanding scholars. These funds supplement the faculty member's salary or provide assistance for research, graduate assistants, scholarly travel or other purposes.

"The difference between a good university and a truly great university is the people," Geoffroy said. "Iowa State has great students and faculty, and increased private support for them is the key to attracting and retaining such outstanding people. These funds will create important opportunities for our students and faculty and will keep Iowa State on track in its aspiration to become the best university in the nation in fulfilling its land-grant responsibilities."

"We've reached a significant milestone for the future of Iowa State," noted Dan Saftig, president of the ISU Foundation. "Although this initiative is now complete, we must continue to focus on gifts for faculty and students, especially in light of tuition increases and budget cuts."

The need for more private undergraduate scholarship support continues. Last year, more than 70 percent of Iowa State under-graduate students had financial assistance needs. Only 28 percent of those needs could be met by scholar-ships or grants. Much of the rest typically is made up by loans and work study programs, which the state of Iowa also has cut in recent years.