Gifts and Grants

FairfieldNow

While the 2004-05 academic year may have been a time of transition for Fairfield University's new president, it quickly became clear that President Jeffrey P. von Arx, S.J., had no intention of easing into his new duties. Mirroring that "all hands on board" spirit, the Advancement Division proceeded in earnest with its fundraising activities, which resulted in a 12.6 percent increase in overall giving (to $14.1 million) and, most encouraging, a 15 percent rise in gifts to the endowment.

As important, the Annual Fund, which raises the "no strings attached" gifts that help underwrite day-to-day needs such as financial aid, campus upkeep, and the operating costs of new buildings, climbed 5.5 percent to $2,745,000 - exceeding its goal by almost $100,000.

Lest anyone think this is easy, think again. The "art" of fundraising requires the ability to ask others for money. What animates that ability is a firm belief in the cause for which one is asking - in this case, the value of Jesuit education as it is offered at Fairfield University and the ways it benefits students, and ultimately, the world. "The satisfaction comes in knowing that our work serves a great purpose," says George E. Diffley, vice president for advancement, whose division includes the offices of development (Annual Fund, planned giving, major gifts, corporate and foundation relations, development services, constituent relations), advancement research, special events, alumni relations, and public relations.

This greater purpose also motivates Fredric C. Wheeler, associate vice president for development, who has been at Fairfield since 1981. "The growth in our numbers is encouraging," he says, adding a cautionary note. "We have to realize, however, that these increases are a by-product of the $138 million capital campaign that ended in June 2004, because donors were still paying off their pledges in 2004-05." Nonetheless, some 9,000 individual gifts were processed and more than 1,200 people (including 174 new members) joined the University's highest donor society, The President's Circle. The Fairfield Awards Dinner, which underwrites multicultural scholarships, raised a recordsetting $636,000 in April.

In many ways, Fairfield University's fundraising patterns mirror national trends in giving, which reveal decreases in donation levels since the 1990s, when a strong economy and rising stock market fueled greater giving. In the last four years, for example, the percentage of alumni giving has decreased each year nationally. One reason is the economy; a second is the growing number of young (without established careers) and mobile alumni; a third is the increased number of charitable giving options.

"Most Annual Fund gifts are made from a person's income," says Wheeler, "so the decision to give often depends on what other bills need to be paid, including tuition and other family-related expenses." Because of rising housing costs, young alumni tend to have less disposable income than they had in the past, he says. They also move a lot, as the 11,500 address changes and updates processed on campus last year indicate.

To help offset some of these challenges, Fairfield's fundraisers have launched a number of initiatives in their striving to reach the University's financial goals. These include technology upgrades that will soon add to the development repertoire an alumni online community, e-newsletters, and reporting mechanisms that more efficiently track donor trends. "Basically we are positioning ourselves to reach out to our constituents in new ways and inspire them to be responsive to us," says Wheeler. "The technology initiative will also allow us to communicate with young alumni through media they are most comfortable with."

Another initiative involves a closer alliance with the Academic Division through the assignment of advancement liaisons to the University's schools. In 2004-05, the liaisons worked with the deans to launch or reconfigure advisory boards for the College of Arts and Sciences as well as the Schools of Engineering, Business, and Nursing. To assist the School of Nursing in launching this endeavor, the McKeen Fund allocated $14,000 of a $51,000 grant (with the $37,000 balance funding a challenge grant to establish a nursing lecture series. Not only will board members of the various schools assist in fundraising, but the schools will also be able to solicit their alumni for specific program needs. This change addresses a growing trend in philanthropy, in which donors prefer to direct their gift to specific projects.

MISSION AND IDENTITY

A $23,875 grant from a donor who wishes to remain anonymous helped the University convey its Jesuit and Catholic mission and identity in a dynamic new way - by underwriting the Companions Program." An emergent aspect of Ignatian Residential College (the University's living/ learning program for sophomores), the companions are juniors and seniors who wish to stay involved by assisting their successors in reflecting on life's deeper vocational questions.

Jesuit mission and identity was also the focus of a grant made to the School of Nursing - one of many grants received by the School from federal, state, corporate, foundation, and private sources. A $5,000 gift from the John J. Barcklow Foundation provided Dr. Meredith Wallace, associate professor of nursing and the Elizabeth DeCamp McInerny Professor of Health Sciences, with the means to raise awareness of the deep connections between spirituality and nursing, including a guest lecture by an expert in the field.

FINANCIAL AID

As one of the University's most pressing needs, financial aid was not only a focus of the Annual Fund, but the purpose of a major fundraiser and several valuable grants. In April, the Fairfield Awards Dinner, chaired by University Trustee Ron Carapezzi '81, president and CEO of GE Commercial and Industrial Finance, raised a record-setting $636,000 for the Alumni Association's Multicultural Scholarship Fund. More than 500 benefactors attended the event, held at theGrand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.

Closer to home, the William Pitt Foundation renewed its support of the Community Partnership Scholars program with a $55,000 grant, thereby affording another five students from Bridgeport public schools to benefit from a Fairfield education.

With a gift of $50,000, the Fundación Banco Popular of San Juan, Puerto Rico, established an endowed scholarship to help underwrite tuition of students from Puerto Rico wishing to attend Fairfield.

The William T. Morris Foundation renewed its annual scholarship, established more than a decade ago, with a gift of $100,000. It also provided a new gift, $25,000, for the scholarship needs of students who are studying abroad. For the eighth consecutive year, the William G. McGowan Charitable Fund helped underwrite the senior-year tuition of a business major, in this case Christopher Marvel '05, an accounting major from Manasquan, N.J., who received an $18,000 award. General scholarship support was also provided by renewed gifts from the Thomas and Elsie Deeley Foundation ($18,806) and the Crane Fund for Widows and Children ($10,000).

To help address a critical nursing shortage and ensure the quality of new hires, Stamford Hospital established a partnership with the University's School of Nursing, wherein two accelerated degree nursing students (in the process of making a career change) receive a $10,000 scholarship in exchange for promising to work at the hospital for at least a year after graduation. Likewise, TransCon Builders (owners of rehabilitation and assisted living facilities) offered undergraduate and graduate nursing scholarships ($7,500 and $15,000) in exchange for one or two years of subsequent work. "This is truly a win-win situation," says Dr. Jeanne Novotny, dean, "both for our students and for the local hospitals and healthcare agencies looking to employ them." Additional support for nursing students was provided by a $50,000 grant from the Paul L. Jones Fund, which has faithfully provided such assistance since 1982.

CURRICULUM

The four major undergraduate schools of Fairfield University - the College of Arts of Science, the Dolan School of Business, the School of Engineering, and the School of Nursing - each received corporate or foundation grants to support their work.

In the College of Arts and Sciences, a generous gift from the Carrier Corporation has provided the means to upgrade the greenhouse located atop the Rudolph F. Bannow Science Center. The three-year, $90,000 grant will fund the new equipment to control the temperature, humidity, and other environmental factors, so that faculty and students conducting botanical experiments and research can count on accurate data to guide their work.

Also in the College, the Schnurmacher Foundation renewed its $50,000 grant to support the Carl and Dorothy Bennett Center for Judaic Studies and the Frank Jacoby Foundation renewed its support as well. The F. M. Kirby Foundation renewed its support, at $27,500, of Dr. Judy Primavera's family literacy program in Bridgeport, and in a new initiative, the Earl W. and Hildegund A. Brinkman Private Charitable Foundation contributed $7,500 to underwrite the creation of a diversity course geared to psychology majors.

To assist the School of Engineering in its growth, Sikorsky Aircraft made a $5,000 grant toward establishing a program in automation engineering. Dr. Michael Zabinksi's Technology Camp for Girls received a total of $5,500 from the American Association of University Women and the Fairfield County Community Foundation Fund for Women and Girls.

The New York Stock Exchange invested $50,000 toward the Dolan School of Business's BEST (Business Education Simulation & Trading) Classroom, a simulated trading floor that allows students to study real-time market movements while learning how the markets work. The project is directed by Dr. Michael Tucker, professor of finance.

Finally, for the School of Nursing, the Daphne Seybolt Culpeper Foundation gave $10,000 for Dr. Meredith Wallace's creation of an online version of the successful geriatric nurse certificate program.

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH

With exciting pedagogical initiatives taking place through the University's Center for Academic Excellence, faculty are competing for grants that will make their research and teaching even richer. To that end, Dr. Danke Li, associate professor of history, won a prestigious ASIANetwork Freeman Student-Faculty grant that, at $22,779, funded a summer of research in China with three of her students.

Dr. Matthew Kubasikreceived $18,000 in support from the Research Corporation for his continued work on a project.

ARTS AND LECTURES

For members of the University community - faculty, students, and administrators – as well as those fortunate to live within driving distance to campus, the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts is a source of incredible enrichment. Aware of this asset, the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, Culture, and Tourism awarded the Center a $12,600 grant to create an 18-event Jazz Festival during 2004-05. In addition to coordinating that project, Deborah Sommers, director of programming, secured a $5,000 grant from the Bridgeport Area Foundation toward an outreach program that brings underprivileged children to campus for school-age programs.

In addition to the music, dance, theatre, and gallery programs for which it is know, the Center is the venue for a number of lectures underwritten by corporations and foundations. Without their support, Fairfield would not be able to attract the caliber of speakers it does. These generous benefactors, in 2004-05, included:

• The McKeen Fund, which established a $37,000 challenge grant to launch an annual School of Nursing lecture series in honor of its 35th anniversary. That challenge raised an additional $39,000. Among those contributing to the match was the General Re Corporation, whose support of the School has been legendary.
• Bank of Americaand the Bank of America Foundation, which made possible the appearance of the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, for one of the Carl and Dorothy Bennett Lectures in Judaic Studies.
• Somerset Capital Group, which sponsored the Open VISIONS Forum lecture of Charlayne Hunter-Gault, CNN's Johannesburg bureau chief.

Finally, Dr. Laura Nash, assistant professor of music, received two grants to support her music education activities with teachers and children in the Bridgeport public schools: $65,000 grant from theDana Foundation and $5,000 from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Foundation (ASCAP).

GOVERNMENT GRANTS

In giving grants, federal government agencies often award continuation grants, spreading funding over a two-, three-, or four-year period. In this way, the project director can bring to fruition the long-term benefits envisioned in his or her proposal and endorsed by an agency's support. Current federal continuation grants and newly awarded grants include:

U.S. Department of Education – TRIO

Dr. Georgia Day, assistant academic vice president, oversees this trio of programs, each aimed to increase the college preparedness of a different set of disadvantaged students. Project Excel: a $1.1 million grant (year 4 of 4) that offers supplemental instruction, career advising, group tutoring, and summer courses to qualified Fairfield University students. A new, $1.1 million award has been made to continue this program through 2009. Upward Bound: funded at $1,338,800 (year 2 of 4), the program strengthens the academic, intellectual, and social skills of Bridgeport public high school students, ages 13 to 19, who qualify by income and have college potential. Talent Search: a $1.14 million grant (year 3 of 4) that works to identify and motivate promising middle school students in Bridgeport public schools to complete high school and enroll in college.

Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE)

Dr. Dina Francheschi,associate professor of economics: an $80,000 project (year 4 of 4) wherein two U.S. universities (Fairfield and Washington and Lee) and two Brazilian universities collaborated to improve each school's interdisciplinary environmental studies curricula.

Dr. Kurt Schlichting, professor of sociology and anthropology: a $353,200 project (year 3 of 3) to educate high school teachers of disadvantaged, suburban, and inner-city youth in five area schools, on ways to integrate GIS (geographical information systems) into their curricula. By learning to use digitized maps and data, students are seeing increases in analytical skills, technological competency, and geographical literacy.

National Professional Development Program

Dr. David Zera, associate professor of special education (GSEAP): an $845,895 grant (year 3 of 3) to increase the number of educators who can work effectively with three populations: special education, bilingual, and bilingual special education students.

Julianna Poole, SSND, assistant professor of bilingual education (GSEAP): a $798,800 grant (year 3 of 4) that provides tuition reimbursement to graduate students seeking to complete a degree in bilingual education or TESOL, or to gain initial certification in those areas.

Office of Innovation and Improvement

Dr. Laura Nash, assistant professor of music: a $319,299 grant (year 2 of 3) awarded to the City of Bridgeport, using the subcontracted resources of Fairfield University to assist in the professional development of music educators in its public school system. As noted above, Dr. Nash also received grants from the ASCAP and Dana Foundations for this project.

U.S. Department of State

Funds made available by the State Department's Council for International Exchange of Scholars will bring a Brazilian scholar to Fairfield through the Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Program. A logical extension ofDr. Dina Franceschi's FIPSE grant (see above), this scholar will teach courses on social science research design, global environmental governance, and land reform in Latin America.

Dr. David McFadden, professor of history: a $294,800 grant (year 3 of 3) to foster faculty interaction between Fairfield and Herzen University in St. Petersburg, Russia, toward curriculum enhancement.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Through a one-year $25,000 grant, Dr. Jean Lange, associate professor of nursing, spearheaded a project to help psychiatric, family, and adult nurse practitioner students develop culturally appropriate, community-based primary care interventions for populations served by local community health centers. This project established a cooperative partnership with Sacred Heart University and two community health centers serving the greater Bridgeport area.

Dr. Jeanne Novotny, dean of the School of Nursing: a oneyear $30,477 grant for advanced education nurse traineeships that provide tuition remission for graduate students.

U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development

Dr. Philip Greiner, associate professor of nursing: a $255,880 grant (year 1 of 3) for the Bridgeport Lead Free Families program, subcontracted to Fairfield by the City. Nursing students offer lead education and screenings to identify children who have elevated blood lead levels. The grant also provides case management to clients, along with recruiting, hiring, and training of community outreach workers in five Bridgeport neighborhoods that have the highest rate of poverty, oldest housing stock, and most documented elevated lead cases. A separate grant from the Connecticut Department of Public Health ($10,000) involves nursing students in conducting lead screenings and recommending diagnostic testing.

U.S. Department of Energy

Dr. David Winn, associate professor of physics: a $5,541 grant for his project, CMS/LHC Forward Quartz Fiber Calorimetry. Subcontracted by the Fermilab (Fermi National Accelerator Lab) Office, the grant supports Dr. Winn's research in high-energy physics - the study of the elementary particles and fields, the smallest objects in the universe.

National Endowment for the Humanities

Elise Bochinski, access services librarian and University archivist: a $5,000 grant for a conservation consultant to assist in creating a long-range plan for the organization and preservation of the archives and special collections.

National Institute on Aging

Dr. Linda Henkel, assistant professor of psychology: a $129,400 grant (year 3 of 3) for her research on cognitive decline of older adults, particularly as it relates to errors and distortions of memory.

STATE AND LOCAL GRANTS

Connecticut Legislation Line Award

Faye Gage, director of the Connecticut Writing Project at Fairfield University: a $60,000 grant to support this program. She also secured a renewal grant of $9,000 from the Tauck Foundation.

Dr. Philip Greiner, associate professor of nursing: a $14,000 grant from the Southwestern Connecticut Agency on Aging for a project that offers comprehensive health promotion for older adults. Through this grant, a mental health component will be added to the cardiovascular screening and medication management services offered the previous year. The project provides these services in a health fair format so as to normalize mental health issues and attract more at-risk elderly persons.

Lydia Greiner, manager of community services for the School of Nursing Health Promotion Center: a $90,000 grant subcontracted by the City of Bridgeport for administrative oversight of recreational and educational after-school and summer programs at Blackham School.