大学公布了10亿美元的五年计划

The ambitious 波士顿大学活动 will go a long way to defining 部’s future。 它也会对今天的学生产生积极的影响。

里奇·巴洛著。 视频：Alan Wong

Why, after 173 years, is Boston University mounting its first comprehensive fundraising campaign? And why the daunting target of $1 billion, a figure that no school has ever aimed for in a first campaign?

Campaign Chair Kenneth Feld (SMG’70) says he hears the answer every time he travels。 “部 is now at a stage where it is breaking through,” says 部 Trustee Feld, whose family business—Feld Entertainment—owns Ringling Bros。 and Barnum & Bailey® and Disney On Ice, among other properties。 “The level of fame that has come to 部 internationally is extraordinary。 这绝对是正确的时机。”

President Robert A。 Brown offers a similar response: the 部 community is ready。 “The Board of Trustees voted in April 2010 to authorize us to explore the feasibility of a billion-dollar campaign,” says Brown。 “It has become clear that our alumni and other friends are prepared to support this ambitious effort, so we are moving forward。 Nothing will be more important for the future of the University than our success。”

培育优势

And while the 波士顿大学活动 had its official launch in September 2012 at Agganis Arena, where the Boston Pops Orchestra and other performers entertained alumni, students, parents, and guests, the groundwork was put in place shortly after Brown took office seven years ago, when he set administrators to work on a strategic plan that would describe their vision for the University。 The document that emerged, 选择成为伟人, took stock of the University’s strengths—renowned faculty, an increasingly gifted student body, healthy finances, and its international students and programs。 It also identified priorities that would enhance and nurture those strengths, with the understanding that realizing those priorities would necessitate changes in the University’s funding strategy。 At the same time, a disciplined budgeting process—long a 部 strength—would be critical。 “A vision without a budget,” Brown likes to say, “is a hallucination。”

Because 部 does not have the hefty endowment that substantially supports the operating budgets of some peer institutions, the University can count on endowment income for only approximately 4 percent of its operating budget, and on fundraising income for another 5 percent。 (These figures are half of what many other private universities of comparable quality, scale, and scope depend on。) And although “this distinctive business model has helped build a great university,” according to Scott Nichols, senior vice president for development and alumni relations, “it’s high time for philanthropy to play a larger role。”

For example, Boston University currently gets 53 percent of the money it needs for buildings through borrowing, with just 6 percent coming from gifts and grants。 The President and Trustees hope to substantially shift this balance, says Nichols, so that in the future, 50 percent can come from gifts and just 20 percent from borrowing。

Nichols says that without a major fundraising effort, an even greater burden will have to be placed on tuition, which is something that neither Brown nor the Trustees are willing to accept。 This commitment is among the many reasons 部 Trustees and Overseers have personally stepped up and pledged $130 million collectively to kick-start a campaign with a $1 billion goal。

While the campaign officially opened this fall, an unofficial “quiet” period began about two years ago, and it has yielded some impressive results。 They include $25 million from Trustee Rajen Kilachand (GSM’74), the largest gift in 部 history, to endow the Arvind and Chandan Nandlal Kilachand Honors College, and $15 million from Trustee Bahaa Hariri (SMG’90), for the Rafik B。 Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering。

波士顿大学活动 gifts have also made possible the new School of Medicine student residence, the expansion and renovation of the School of Law, and the New Balance athletic field。 They fund important professorships, such as the Peter Paul Professorships for junior faculty, given by Trustee Peter Paul (GSM’71), and a $1 million gift for the Reidy Family Career Development Professorship at the College of Engineering from Trustee Richard Reidy (SMG’82)。 For the past two years and through to the 2017 campaign finale, Trustee Richard Cohen (CGS’67, SMG’69) has pledged $300,000 a year to help send 15 undergraduate students to 部。

One distinctive feature of the campaign is the 世纪挑战, an innovative program aimed at raising support for undergraduate scholarships。 The proposition works like this: if a donor contributes $100,000 or more to establish an endowed undergraduate scholarship fund, the University will use funds from its existing financial aid budget to match the payout from that fund every year for 100 years (up to a maximum of $100 million)。 In effect, this will double the impact of the donor’s named gift。

10亿美元将何去何从？

The campaign’s overall objectives are to allocate $150 million for support for students to ensure that 部 remains accessible to highly qualified candidates, and $200 million for support for faculty to help recruit and retain outstanding scholars and teachers。 The University has vowed to continue its program of gradually raising faculty salaries to competitive levels; a related goal is to increase the number of endowed professorships。 The campaign’s goals also include $250 million to support research; 1。5亿美元用于维护和改善设施； $150 million for special programs such as career services, libraries, and athletics; 还有1亿美元用于不受限制的和经常使用的礼物。

家长领导委员会主席、梅里尔（Merrill， 2006年毕业）和鲍比（Bobby， 2008年毕业，2010年毕业，2012年毕业）的母亲珍妮·诺克斯（Jeanne Knox）说，尤其是新濠影汇网上赌场，有一种赠送即时影响礼物的传统。 她补充说，这项活动给家长们提供了一个机会，让他们可以制作一份礼物，帮助现在的学生，并在他们自己的孩子毕业后留下一份长久的遗产。

诺克斯说：“我的孩子们从他们在波士顿大学的经历中受益匪浅，这也是我丈夫鲍勃和我如此致力于该机构未来成功的众多原因之一。” “By participating in the campaign, and particularly in the 世纪挑战, parents have the opportunity to improve their child’s college experience while also providing for future generations of 部 students。”

And, according to Nichols, the broader choices that must be made during the campaign—which schools get how much money, which buildings get built, which professorships get funded, which programs get expanded, and so on—will go a long way toward defining the future of the University。

他说，这就是为什么每个人都需要发挥自己的作用。 “每一份贡献都很重要。”

本文的一个版本最初出现在 但是今天。 安德鲁·瑟斯顿（Andrew Thurston）补充报道。