Operating Policies and Procedures Manual
Effective Date: 07/01/93
Policy Number: 06-08
Section: University Advancement
Subject: Minimum Endowment Levels
POLICY
The following minimum dollar amounts have been established for meeting endowment fund objectives:
Endowed Chairs require a total investment of $1 million. Chairs may be named according to the wishes of the donor with a contribution of at least half the required amount. Major contributions of less than half the endowment could result in donor recognition by naming offices, classrooms, laboratories, library and/or materials collections, or teaching, research and service programs related to the chair.
Endowed Centers of Excellence require contributions of $500,000 to $1 million, depending on the specific program. Centers may be named according to the wishes of the donor with gifts of at least half the required amount. Other major donors to specific centers will be afforded recognition through named rooms, permanent plates on equipment, or name special activities within the center (lecture series, workshops, scholarships, etc.).
Endowed Distinguished Professorships require gifts of at least $250,000. Gifts less than the required amount may be recognized by naming activities related to the professorship, such as a research lab, an annual lecture given by the professor, etc., in honor of the donor.
Endowed Faculty Fellowships require gifts of at least $100,000.
(As faculty support endowment funds grow from a fellowship to a professorship to a chair, appropriate recognition will be given the holder of the support as well as the donor(s).)
Endowed Faculty Enhancement Funds. Gifts of $50,000 or more may establish funds designated for purposes related to enhancement and/or recognition of teaching, research and service.
Endowed Graduate Fellowships require $50,000. Annual income from such endowments provides stipends for students participating in masters, specialist or doctoral programs.
Endowments for Trustees' Scholars enable Arkansas State University to attract the brightest students in the state. Each named endowment requires a $50,000 commitment. Annual income is used to attract students who score 30 and above on the ACT test.
Other Academic Scholarship Endowments require gifts of $10,000 and above. Such gifts enable donors to name funds for a wide variety of academic scholarship needs, including gifts for specific disciplines or geographic regions, transfer scholarships, and minority scholarships.
Endowed Lecture Programs require a minimum of $25,000 and may be designated for a specific field or topic of interest within the university's overall Lecture-Concert Series.
Endowed Student Development Funds. Gifts of $10,000 or more may be used to establish student development funds designated for special areas or specific disciplines, such as travel to participate in academic programs and conferences, special awards and recognition, recruitment and retention, leadership training, etc.
Other Endowments:
Endowment funds may be established for other purposes, such as visiting scholars and artists, equipment, maintenance and other activities and programs as appropriate. Minimum endowment levels will be established by the Office of Development in accordance with the goals and objectives of the specific endowment. Such endowments are intended to relieve budgets, rather than over expend them.
Therefore, annual funds generated by endowments should be sufficient to cover all costs of the program being endowed or supplement funds already being expended available through other sources.
An endowment fund may be established with amounts less than those stated herein if within a reasonable period of time from the date of the receipt of the first resources and approval of the desire of the donor, the entire principal (including capitalized earnings and additional gifts) shall equal at least one-half on the stated minimum of the desired objective. If one-half of the minimum fund has not been so provided in a reasonable time, the fund may be terminated and the amounts given used for the general institutional purposes most resembling those desired by the donor. The earnings from a fund established as herein provided and not terminated shall continue to be capitalized annually until the minimum stated above has been reached and the purposes of the fund activated.
A fund also may be activated when it is under the stated minimum if the donor undertakes a binding obligation to supplement the income of the fund with annual gifts to complete the endowment or with irrevocable estate plan provisions.
This page is maintained by
Cassey Tune
Last updated on
02/16/2004