The Campaign for CAS
In the first six years of the Campaign for Boston University, 26,042 alumni, friends, and parents have generously made gifts of $106,636,751 to CAS—exceeding our aggressive goal to raise $100,000,000 for CAS by September 2017. Like several other colleges within BU, we’ve celebrated that success but are now extending our campaign until September 2019.
During the past year, private gifts have made important contributions to the college. In a snapshot of three areas, here is a glimpse of the impact that this campaign is having on BU and CAS.
(left to right) Athena Hantzandis (CAS’18) and Gahouray Dukuray (CGS’19) discuss a question in Dave Sullivan’s intro computer science course. Photo by Jackie Ricciardi for Boston University Photography
Examples of recent gifts and their impact:
- The study of Turkey and the Near East
In her estate, Suzanne Campagna (CAS’52) left a bequest for a graduate fellowship and a lecture on modern Turkey. Elisabeth Kenosian (DGE’49, CAS’51, GRS’52) created a graduate fellowship in the Department of History with a preference for the study of Armenia. - Research and students in the natural sciences
A number of donors supported this area, including David and Susan Caron (Parents CAS’16), who provided funds for Professor Angela Ho’s research on Alzheimer’s; Patricia M. Leavitt (CAS’54, MED’58), who endowed a research award for female faculty in the chemistry and biology departments; Steve (CAS’84) and Diane Rudis, who created a Century Challenge undergraduate scholarship for a female student pursuing a STEM major; and Robert Weissman (Questrom’58), who established another Century Challenge scholarship for a CAS student majoring in natural sciences or math. - The humanities
Susan Jaffee Tane (SED’64) continued her generous annual support of Professor Robert Pinsky’s Summer Poetry Institute, and Dr. Hideo Itabashi (CAS’49, MED’54) made a gift to the Peter Bertocci scholarship for philosophy undergraduates. Generous support from more than 4,600 alumni and friends provided the CAS Annual Fund with more than $782,000 in 2015–16. This incredibly valuable support makes it possible for the dean to recruit new faculty to campus, renovate labs and other research space, and provide enrichment opportunities for faculty to take student learning outside of the classroom. The dean also uses the CAS Annual Fund to bolster undergraduate student organization budgets and to support individual CAS students with interesting funding requests or emergency financial aid.
In addition, on Giving Day in April 2016, faculty, students, alumni, and friends made 617 gifts totaling $98,419 for the CAS and various department funds. That was an increase of more than 60 gifts and nearly $30,000 over last year. Giving Day will return again in April 2017.
Many generous alumni and other friends have given gifts of all sizes to the CAS Annual Fund that allow the dean to move resources where they are most needed quickly and with great flexibility. In just the past year, these dollars have been used to retain faculty against attractive offers by other universities, provide exciting enrichment opportunities for students to take their learning outside of the classroom walls, and provide our teachers with the opportunity to improve their skills.
The additional resources raised through the campaign will provide more scholarships for talented students, funding for impactful research and innovative teaching, and resources to hire the best and brightest faculty. To learn more about the Campaign for CAS, visit www.bu.edu/cas/impactx2.
View the full Donor Roster for FY2015/16
CAS Leadership Advisory Board
The CAS Leadership Advisory Board (LAB) has played a leading role in ensuring the success of the Campaign for CAS. The alumni, friends, and parents who comprise the board advise the dean on broad matters of policy and planning within the college. They also help foster relationships and connections with potential students and their families, alumni, and potential employers, as well as with individuals, corporations, and other organizations that might be in a position to support the college and its mission. (See Appendix, The Campaign for CAS: 2016 Status Report.)
Stewarding Our Resources
The successful Campaign for CAS, robust demand for our graduate and undergraduate programs, and Boston University’s wise financial management have put the College of Arts & Sciences in a strong fiscal position. However, in order to achieve all of our many goals we must remain careful stewards of our still-limited resources. This means monitoring closely and modifying as needed our long- and short-term goals, aligning resources at the college level according to these priorities, and being on the lookout for better ways to leverage our resources.
At the close of the 2016 fiscal year, the college achieved a balanced, unrestricted expense budget of just over $111 million. Faculty, staff, and student salaries account for the vast majority of expenditures, and regular operating expenses account for most of the rest. The other major revenue sources available to the college are a portion of the indirect cost recovery generated by federal grant expenditures generated by CAS researchers (almost $1.9 million) and gifts. Thus, the faculty themselves, as well as the many alumni, parents, and other friends who have participated in the capital campaign, are directly responsible for contributing to the financial health of the college. (See Appendix, Budget.)
Annual Report 2015/2016
The Difference a Year Makes
From enhancing research excellence to recruiting ever-better faculty and students, academic year 2015/16—the first under Dean Ann Cudd’s leadership—saw CAS continue to grow its capacities.
Improving Undergraduate Education
Providing a world-class undergraduate education is the core of what we do at CAS. In 2015/16, we made curricular improvements, launched new career preparation programs, and welcomed a tremendous class of 2019 that will benefit from our ongoing efforts.
Strengthening Graduate Education
The Graduate School of Arts & Sciences’ continued evolution in and out of the classroom has resulted in a 5.6% increase in master’s applications in 2015/16, as well as an affirmation of the strength of its humanities and social science PhD programs, with more than half of students accepting their offers.
Enhancing a World-Class Faculty
The quality of CAS’ academics and research depends on the quality of its faculty, and so we work hard to hire the best and brightest. In 2015/16, CAS hired 28 new professors across the humanities, mathematics, and the social, natural, and computational sciences.
Conducting Pathbreaking Research
Discoveries and innovations at CAS helped make BU one of U.S. News & World Report’s top 35 research universities in the world. Faculty received nearly $61 million in funding this past year, advancing understanding in the fields of subatomic physics, Alzheimer’s disease, and classical studies, to name a few.
Building Our Future Together
In 2015/16, the sixth year of the Campaign for Boston University, we achieved our initial goal of raising $100 million for CAS—and we reached that goal a year early. More than 26,000 alumni, friends, and parents have generously made gifts of $106,636,751 to the college via the ongoing campaign.
Appendix