Public universities court patrons
as state funds shrink
by Robert Becker
and Meg McSherry Breslin
Chicago Tribune
It doesn't take long to figure out who
funded the sleek new College of Business
building at Northern Illinois University. Just
inside the front door of the $2O million hall
there's an entire wall dedicated to the people
who made it happen, NW alum Dennis
Barsema and his wife, Stacey.
The giant photos of the smiling Barsemas
send a message that resonates like never
before with cash-strapped public university
administrators.
More than a fancy new academic build
ing on the DeKalb campus, Barsema Hall
symbolizes the new fiscal reality that has
gripped public universities across the coun
try: To retain prized faculty members, jump
start new programs and fund student aid,
public colleges can't rely solely on state leg
islatures anymore.
Accordingly, schools ranging in size and
prestige from NIU to the University of
Texas are aggressively fundraising like their
private counterparts. And even many com
munity colleges feel obligated to pursue
private cash.
"The only way that the public (universi
ties) are going to be competitive with the
privates is if we increase endowment," said
University of Illinois President James
Stukel, whose university experienced sal
ary freezes and an $B9 million cut in state
funding last year.
Stukel and his fellow officers of public
institutions around the country gathered this
week in Chicago to discuss the role of pri
vate funding and other issues at the annual
meeting of the National Association of State
Universities and Land-Grant Colleges.
Historically, Ivy League or top private
schools claimed the bulk of the billion-dol
lar endowments and major capital cam
paigns. But the academic billionaires club
now includes top public universities such
as the University of Michigan, the Univer
sity of Virginia, the University of Califor
nia at Berkeley and the U. of 1., which just
completed a $1.5 billion campaign.
According to statistics collected by the
Council for Aid to Education, 10 of the top
20 schools in private-giving in 2001 were
public universities, with Indiana University
ranked seventh with more than $3OO mil
lion in gifts. Five other Big Ten schools,
including the University of Wisconsin,
Michigan and Ohio State University, are
also on the list.
Since 1997, private-giving to large pub
lic research institutions is up 62 percent, to
$7.8 billion, according to council statistics.
"The trend is all in that direction for us,
and we're not anywhere unique here," said
Paul Courant, provost and vice president
for academic affairs at Michigan.
In 1980 the state contributed roughly half
of the operating funds for public universi
ties in Illinois. Today, many state schools
see just about a third of their funds coming
from the state.
Given that decline, it is no wonder offi
cials see private-giving as a crucial new
source of support.
"The driving force behind state institu
tions' fundraising efforts has been a desire
to cultivate revenue sources that will not
be subject to the annual vagaries of the state
appropriations process," said David Bass,
an official with the Council for Advance
ment and Support of Education in Wash
ington.
State universities can turn to tuition to
help defray the loss of state dollars but also
have a mission to keep tuition within reach
for poor and minority students. But public
university officials argue that it's getting
increasingly tough to compete with private
university faculty salaries and programs
while holding the line on tuition.
The U. of I.'s Stukel said top private
schools pay faculty as much as 20 percent
higher than state schools.
But private dollars can help public
schools close the gap "which allows you to
be competitive with anybody," Stukel said.
The U. of L's fundraising efforts, for ex
ample, have netted the Urbana-Champaign
campus nearly 200 endowed chairs and
professorships in the last decade.
Michigan was among the first public
schools to vigorously pursue private fund
ing as state dollars became more scarce.
Now with a $4 billion endowment,
school officials say private giving makes a
major difference in everything from pro
gram quality to student aid.
Private money, said Courant, "allows us
to be one of the nation's best universities,
which if we didn't have that source would
be very hard to be."
As state universities step up their private
fundraising efforts, some in academia worry
about the trend. Will universities become
beholden to the interests of the private sec-
tor? Will this pursuit of expanded programs
and prestige further drive up tuitions as well,
making the publics more elite and less acces
sible to minorities and the poor?
"We are still very much a public institution,"
said Michigan's Courant. "We're just a public
institution with a diverse set of revenue
streams."
University officials, however, note that
fundraising is getting harder as there are more
competitors for donor dollars.
"Everybody has a billion-dollar campaign,"
said Mark Yudof, chancellor of the University
of Texas system. "Everybody is getting better
at it ... and it's harder to push that button so
hard."
But that doesn't stop university officials from
NIU President John Peters, who came to
DeKalb 2 1/2 years ago, said that while the
university expects to continue relying on state
dollars to fund its programs, there's no doubt
private dollars have become a bigger part of
the mix.
In the past, Peters said NIU wasn't savvy
about approaching alumni to donate funds.
Even after Barsema built a successful Silicon
Valley technology company, Redback Net
works, he wasn't seriously courted until about
two years ago.
Fundraising successes help to convince Pe
ters that he's on the right path. As he breezes
through his campus, pointing out renovations
under way, he looks the part of the master pro
moter and fundraiser he was hired to be.
"NIU is at a crossroads," said Peters, who
spends close to 60 percent of his time
fundraising, in Chicago, Springfield, 111., and
Washington.
"We have to work hard to get our message
out; we've got a big story to tell."
Friday, November 15, 2002
BAD CREDIT IS LIKE A BAD NICKNAME.
IT WILL STICK WITH YOU FOR YEARS.
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The Behrend Beacon
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