Choosing to support the College of Fine Arts is an investment with multiple impact – current students and faculty, future students, and the legacy of a lifetime of arts enrichment. With many different opportunities to give, you can choose the investment option that best fits your personal passion and intention.
Top Funding Opportunities
Dean’s Fund for Excellence
Your support allows continued progress and ensures a superb arts education in a supportive setting that prepares students for a life in the arts.
General Scholarships
Scholarship support enables the College of Fine Arts to attract the most promising undergraduate and graduate students to our artistic and academic programs.
Medici Circle
Support emerging student artists the gift of opportunity and an advantage in the very competitive world of arts professionals.
Major Areas of Focus
In addition, other major areas of focus for the College of Fine Arts provide diverse opportunities to invest. Contact us if you are interested in investing in these areas.
Students
Scholarships, teaching assistantships, and internships directly benefit students by defraying some of the costs of their education. These programs also enable the College of Fine Arts to recruit the very best talent to our artistic and academic programs and to compete with other top universities. Donations can also support travel trips for students to participate in competitions or to attend and present their research at professional conferences.
Faculty
Donor funds for faculty support ongoing professional activity that brings vitality to their teaching, and prominence to the College. Funds can support research; provide travel to present, perform, or exhibit at important national/international conferences; or sustain the salary package for a prominent teaching position.
Programs
Many donors provide support for a specific academic program or area. Some donors prefer to lend their support for programs within one of our schools. You can also select to designate your gift to cover varied expenses such as materials, marketing, travel, or other costs.
Facilities and Equipment
The College of Fine Arts needs modern facilities and equipment to maintain our reputation for strong academic and research programs. Modern instruments, classrooms, labs and libraries, rehearsal and performance spaces help the college attract and retain the most qualified faculty and students. There are many levels of support available to donors, including naming opportunities for buildings, classrooms, laboratories and public spaces.
Endowments
Endowments are permanent funds in which the principal is invested to grow over time. A percentage of the accrued interest is available annually for use to support the endowment purpose. With a strong endowment base of support, the College of Fine Arts will be able to maintain a consistent and long-term standard of excellence despite economic fluctuations.
Endowed Scholarships
Endowed scholarships at the university begin with a minimum investment of $50,000, which may be pledged over five years or gifted in a lump sum. These scholarships exist in perpetuity, are invested, and awards made from interest earned. The annual award amount is based on the current spending rule of 4.125% of the three-year rolling average of the fair value of the principal balance of the fund.
For example, an endowment fund with a balance of:
- $50,000 generates approximately $2,000 annually
- $100,000 generates $4,000
- $200,000 generates $8,000
- $500,000 generates $20,000
- $1M generates $40,000
Donors can provide their preferences on who would be eligible to receive the annual award such as demonstrated financial need, merit, by major, or class year. Proceeds from scholarship endowments help to:
- Supplement a student’s financial aid package provided by the university
- Assist the college in attracting the best students regardless of their financial situation
- Provide a student with a financial road map to graduation
- Limit the amount of student debt
Endowed Faculty Positions
Endowed faculty positions are invaluable to the college and to our four schools. Distinguished professorships; visiting professorships; and endowed chairs all provide naming opportunities and allow the donor to enrich the College or a discipline by enhancing our ability to recruit, reward, and retain outstanding faculty.
Endowed chairs, in particular, play an important role in the prestige of a School, the College, and the University in the national and international community of scholarship. While it is one of the highest honors a university faculty member can receive and a mark of distinction for the College, an endowed chair can also be a source of great pride for the donors as they play a key role in the future of the College of Fine Arts.
Endowed Faculty Chair
- Minimum investment: $2,000,000
- Pays all or part of chair holder’s salary; research; equipment and publication expenses; fellowships and assistantships
Endowed Professorships
- Minimum investment: $1,000,000
- Provides supplementary salary or program support for a faculty member; may also provide research funding or cover other expenses related to the professorship.
Endowed Fellowship
- Minimum investment: $500,000
- Provides one or more fellowships or funding to support expenses for the fellowship, such as physical space and equipment.