Samford's Challenging Goal
In the boldest effort in Samford’s 168-year history, the university seeks to raise $200 million by 2014. A Campaign for Samford will advance the university’s mission and bolster its place among the nation’s most respected universities. The university has acknowledged that a volatile economic climate presents unique challenges, but tough times often call for bold actions. These goals, more than two years in planning, are critical to the university’s current and future success.
This attainable financial goal requires the commitment of all Samford alumni, students, faculty, staff, parents and friends. Together, the Samford community will fund new scholarships, enhance quality teaching, expand academic programs, enlarge and renew campus facilities, and sustain Samford’s annual operational needs. Success will further support the university’s ability to claim “Samford . . . the world is better for it.”
Scholarships
Samford is an inspiring place. But, the university is more than just the physical beauty of the campus. Samford is also the minds of scholars and the souls of disciples. A Samford education should be available to every capable and committed student.
Total cost of a four-year undergraduate degree at Samford now exceeds $100,000. In the absence of a scholarship, to achieve the dream of a Samford education, many students and their parents incur debt. Other students may not be able to attend Samford at all because of financial considerations. A generous scholarship can provide these students with the opportunity to join the Samford community.
Every top-tier university attracts talented students. Individuals with distinctive academic, artistic, and/or athletic abilities that enrich an entire university community are aggressively recruited. Many of these students desire—and deserve–a Samford education.
The University Fellows program is designed to meet the needs of the most academically curious and highly motivated students. University Fellows enjoy innovative liberal arts courses, international study opportunities, undergraduate research support, and close working relationships with Samford’s outstanding faculty. The demonstrated academic ability of the students admitted to this highly selective program proves they could enroll at most other prestigious universities in America. Samford must be able to offer scholarships that compete with the opportunities that top students are offered elsewhere.
Additional endowment would provide program-specific and needs-based scholarships for other deserving Samford students and also could supplement ongoing university-funded grant programs such as preministerial, ministerial dependents and athletics, among others.
The challenge is clear: to provide more scholarships for deserving students. This must be a top priority in the immediate future to ensure Samford’s long-term global impact.
Scholarship Endowment Goal: $65 million
Faculty Enhancements
Samford professors are inspiring mentors, and their teaching reaches beyond classrooms and laboratories to engage students in critical thinking and creative action. University professors not only mentor and teach; they are committed to research and to service. Samford professors connect with students and colleagues through research that expands understanding and reveals truth. They also serve the larger community of scholars by filling roles of responsibility and leadership.
The recent addition of new programs such as social entrepreneurship and nurse anesthesia, and burgeoning programs in journalism, business, pharmacy and exercise science, among others, increase opportunities for Samford to recruit and retain the best faculty possible.
Prospective faculty members are attracted to Samford University because of its unique mission and the university’s commitment to the blending of scholarship and faith. These faculty members will help to shape the leaders of tomorrow in business, politics, community, church. But, these faculty members must be compelled by more than mission. They must know that resources are available that will help them accomplish that mission.
Endowed chairs and professorships attract and retain the best and brightest faculty. They also attest to an institution’s academic vitality and reputation, and enhance the institution’s stature for its graduates.
As a national doctoral research university, Samford is at a pivotal moment of destiny when it is challenged to expand its influence and do even more. Income from an endowed faculty chair or professorship will empower the university to support remarkable teachers by funding research and service opportunities to sharpen their skills that shape a student’s real-world experience. Funding for faculty enhancements will enable Samford to attract and hire renowned and noteworthy prospective faculty to join its team of esteemed professors. The quality and commitment of Samford’s faculty is central to achieving the mission of providing the best possible Christian higher education.
Faculty Enhancements Goal: $25 million
Academic Programs
Academics are the lifeblood of a university, and students are attracted to Samford University because of its commitment to vigorous, quality academics. As human knowledge expands and our culture changes continually and dramatically, each of Samford’s academic schools must create new centers, institutes and programs to meet the needs of a student population pursuing diverse interests. Samford’s academic programs already are nationally recognized, but resources must be in place to ensure the future vitality of those programs.
A Campaign for Samford will provide new funding for a cadre of distinctive academic centers and interdisciplinary programs that will unleash the creativity and imagination of students and faculty. These centers and programs are critical to a successful environment for learning and professional development.
A Samford education shapes a student’s life forever. A mature identity is forged by creative and challenging experiences in the classroom and beyond. Dynamic opportunities for personal growth must abound at Samford. Study abroad, internships, leadership and ethics education, cultural and artistic events, service learning, spiritual formation and undergraduate research, along with fitness and recreation programs, enable students to explore and develop every dimension of a life prepared for leadership at every level.
Academic Programs Goal: $10 million
Annual Fund Support
Samford University’s mission is not simply one of economic necessity or academic curiosity. The Samford community is called to serve humanity. Every day, Samford is on mission. But, the resources must be in place to accomplish that mission.
As with most mission endeavors, Samford’s work is largely supported by philanthropy and Christian stewardship. Annual gifts and endowment income provide necessary funding–30 percent of the annual operating budget–because tuition alone cannot support the unique and growing needs of a major private university such as Samford.
A sprawling campus requires regular maintenance. Academic programs require constant attention. Aging equipment must be replaced. Continuously changing technology needs must be met. Resources must be available for aggressive, competitive student recruitment. Even with Samford’s prudent financial management, it is a challenge for tuition costs to remain affordable for most students while providing adequate funds for the university’s physical plant and other program needs.
Additional resources are needed for annual scholarships, program development, student life, faith formation and service, undergraduate and graduate research, library enhancements, and school-based equipment. These projects undergird the university’s mission, enhance the university’s reputation, and attract the students and faculty that will continue to make Samford a leader in higher education.
Annual Fund Support Goal: $60 million
Campus Facilities
Most people never forget the emotion of their first time through the Samford gates on Lakeshore Drive. The vision for a uniform campus of Georgian-Colonial design, first conceived nearly 60 years ago, has been realized. But, as programs and enrollment expand, the university must respond with new facilities that meet the reasonable 21st-century expectations of students, faculty and the larger community.
A Campaign for Samford will provide an environment that nurtures community life, with needs for academic, athletics and residence facilities to accommodate anticipated enrollment growth and academic program expansion. This includes both new construction and renovation/refurbishment of existing facilities. Preliminary studies are underway for anticipated academic and residence facility needs. A new football field house already is funded and was completed in August 2009. A joint project with the City of Homewood, Homewood City Schools and other entities could provide a world-class track-and-field facility in the near future as funding becomes available.
University Facilities Goal $40 million