The next capital campaign still months away

While plans and a timetable are still undeveloped for the University's next capital campaign, the fund raising aspect remains a priority for the administration and development office.

This year's campaign will be created as soon as "we first finish building a new information management system necessary to support such a campaign," President Larry Bacow said.

Tufts' last capital campaign -- Tufts Tomorrow -- ended in June 2002 after raising $609 million. The details of the next campaign -- namely its dates and monetary goals -- remain unclear.

Trustee Secretary Linda Dixon said a campaign is "not going to happen for another year or two -- there's just too much to be done. The President's office has to decide upon its parameters, put it all together, and then submit it to the trustees for their approval."

In the meantime, according to Bacow, "we are nonetheless still continuing to raise money." Last year the University raised a record $94 million, topping the previous record of $91 million raised in the next to last year of the Tufts Tomorrow campaign.

Vice president of the Advancement Division, Brian Lee, has been working heavily on the fund-raising aspect of development, to show that the department of development is not entirely about deciding what needs to be done with available resources. These significant fund raising efforts go to a variety of University groups, including Alumni Relations, Educational Travel, and the Parents Program.

"Any of our respective outreach efforts are closely aligned with the goals of president Bacow and provost Bharucha, and the deans and directors at Tufts," said executive director of development, Lawrence Link. "Building on the momentum generated by the ideas and experience of the president and provost, and the wonderful array of programs and research by faculty, the division is an important factor in helping make Tufts an ever-stronger university."

Link outlined the key financial goals of the University Advancement (UA) division: to support "university-wide initiatives" -- from the basics of faculty and student support, to the facilities and operations of Tufts -- to the "new and innovative", such as the success of the Summer Scholars program that debuted this summer.

"Two other tangible signs of progress include the marvelous new basic research laboratories in the building on the Boston health sciences campus," said Link. "The neurobiology complex has provided an enhanced workspace, and has become an instant success in recruiting new faculty and graduate students to Tufts."

The second major example of progress is the donation from trustee Bernie Gordon for faculty development at the School of Engineering, and well as for funding the environmentally-friendly Sophia Gordon Hall

"Gordon's gift and commitment has strengthened the next generation of faculty through an endowment which will supplement salaries, equipment, new labs, and sharing the costs for funding faculty research projects," added Link.

The University also set a record for the annual fund, raising over $10 million. "Gifts to the annual fund support unrestricted current giving and are always given in cash. By contrast, capital gifts may be paid in over five years," Bacow explained.

Important financial goals for the future include raising significant endowment funds to eventually make Tufts a "need-blind" admissions institution -- "a status nearly every one of our peers already enjoys," said Link. Funding for faculty and students is continually sought after, and the Task Force on the Undergraduate Experience has been feeding ideas to the administration and development offices.

Recommendations from the Task Force, which issued its final report last spring, will play a strong role in the next campaign. Its most expensive recommendations include the construction of a residential college system, a caf?© inside Tisch Library, and expanded research opportunities for undergraduates.

Bacow remains optimistic that all of these options are within reach. "I expect the Task Force to inform our priorities for fundraising in the area of undergraduate education and life for the next campaign," Bacow said.

"While we were very successful in our last 'Tufts campaign', you can tell we have many of these objectives that require more and sustained support," added Link. "We set ambitious goals each year, both to 'touch' individuals and constituencies, as well as to raise resources."

The Tufts Tomorrow campaign yielded $609 million over seven years. It began in Nov. 1995 under the administration of then President John DiBaggio. Originally planned as a five-year effort to raise $400 million, the campaign met with early success and was extended two more years to raise another $200 million.