The Campaign for Texas – Power of Participation
Reinventing the Student Experience
Groundbreaking Gifts
Forty
Top UT Research Stories of 2012–2013
the
Annual Giving Newsletter 2013
: From rn ho g n o L n io t Na
THE POWER OF PARTICIPATION
LET’S MAKE HISTORY TOGETHER. It’s time for some straight talk. Today, we open the final chapter of this great undertaking we call the Campaign for Texas. We have one year left in an eight-year campaign, and we have reached 75 percent of our goal. It doesn’t take a UT mathematician to figure out that it’s crunch time. Seven years ago, when my team and I set the goal at $3 billion, we knew we were taking a risk. But I also knew something else — that we’re Longhorns, and that Longhorns are a different breed. I knew that the bond between UT alumni and their alma mater is powerful — that alumni and friends have risen to meet one audacious challenge after another and have done whatever it took to keep this a university of the first class. I believed then — and I absolutely believe now — that we can do this, and that we will. I can say it no more plainly: UT needs you, and it needs you now. Of course, the bigger the gift, the better, but every gift counts. Last fiscal year more than 46,000 alumni made a gift to UT — that’s a lot, but it’s only a fraction of you. If you’re one of those 46,000, thank you. Now talk to your classmates, your Longhorn neighbors, your children, your parents, and get them to be part of history, too. There are two main ways to give: • Support your university’s core purpose, which is to transform lives for the benefit of society.
• Or give a targeted gift to a program that advances knowledge in an area of your own interest and passion in a college, school, or unit. This could include a contribution to our lifechanging scholarships. Furthermore, if you have ever considered leaving a gift for UT in your will, I urge you to do it now and make that gift a part of this historic campaign. Last year, a record 208 individuals included a gift to UT Austin in their estate plans, totaling $76 million. I know that we can top that, and we must. For information on planned giving, go to giving.utexas. edu/giftplanning or call 800-687-4602. If you have given before, thank you, and please give again. If you haven’t given yet, join the team and be a part of this historic effort. Please go to giving.utexas.edu/forty and make a gift today. I know we can do this. Let’s make history together.
It Counts. Nearly
850,000 gifts of less than $1,000 since the campaign began.
UT Austin gets
13%
of its budget from the state.
Gifts, grants, and income, not including oil and gas revenue, make up
54%
of UT’s budget.
The Forty | Fall 2013
66,000 donors have made at least one gift of $25 or less during the campaign.
110
new faculty endowments supporting teaching and research have been created.
690
scholarships have been created, helping more than 3,600 students.
The power of participation can change the world. It’s happening in our classrooms, our labs, our libraries, and in coffeehouses brewing genius across the Forty Acres.
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It’s a group of researchers on campus using one of the most powerful advanced computing systems on the planet to find breakthrough ways of identifying brain tumors more accurately. The power of participation is a team of freshmen — yes, freshmen — working with faculty on real-world applications in biosciences, computer science, and more, in UT’s Freshman Research Initiative. It’s a single donor joining nearly 850,000 others who, since the Campaign for Texas began in 2006, have made gifts of less than $1,000 to UT. Large or small, the dollars matter, but the participation of our alumni like you matters equally as much. More than 46,000 alumni — 11.4 percent — made gifts to UT last year. If that number were to increase to 15 or 20 percent, tens of thousands more Longhorns would be directly helping students. Turn the page to learn what your gifts have done to change the world. Then give a little or a lot. It’s a team effort. Anyone proud enough to be called a Longhorn knows we move forward in herds.
Make a gift today: giving.utexas.edu/forty
Student Experience
REINVENTING HIGHER EDUCATION FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
“That’s just doing your part as an alumnus. You don’t have to get your name on a building, but giving something back is really important.”
By taking advantage of the best of both worlds — the traditional classroom experience and innovative online technology — UT Austin is at the forefront of innovations in higher education. Faculty are creating smaller learning communities out of large lecture classes — creating intimate learning opportunities and maximizing their interaction with students. The Course Transformation Program has been finding more effective ways to teach large, introductory-level courses, combining online video lectures and interactive learning modules with in-class collaboration and feedback targeted to students’ individual learning needs. Flipped classrooms, a key component of Course Transformation, encourage student success by giving students digital access to lectures prior to class. Students are then guided
Ryan Oliver, MBA ’06 Atlanta, Georgia
through a learning module, which helps the professor anticipate where the students need the most help in the classroom. Looking to the future, UT Austin faculty are working to scale these new educational models. As a partner with Harvard, MIT, UC Berkeley, and other leading research universities, UT Austin is contributing to the development of a nextgeneration technology platform through the edX Consortium. UT Austin’s first Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on edX will launch this fall and will enable students around the world to experience award-winning UT Austin faculty and some of the interactive resources used on campus.
“Costs keep going up every year, and state support keeps going down every year.” Linda Avila, PhD ’86 Sandia, Texas
“I’ve been giving maybe $100, $200 for 30 years, but if you do the math and the interest on that, it gets to be a big chunk of change. It’s like donating to your 401(k).” Kyle McAdams, BArch ’86 Great Falls, Virginia
“One of the things I know from having worked with nonprofits is that small gifts oftentimes can be more flexible.” Sam Woollard, BSW ’88 Austin, Texas
The Campaign for Texas
$25
SMALL DONATIONS,
$25
$25
$25
$25
$25
$25
x
$25 $25
100
There’s strength in numbers. Every gift counts.
While their contributions may not have a lot of zeros in them, these donors find satisfaction in giving to UT every year.
BIG RESULTS
$50
$100
“If 1,000 people give $50, that’s $50,000. It all adds up.”
Pays for a registration fee at the Texas Nursing Students Association annual conference
Pays for an Architecture student’s final semester model
$250
$500
$1,000
Supports one student traveling to a conference to present research
Supports a student studying abroad
Supports a student internship with the Library of Congress
Steve Bryant, MA ’97, JD ’00 Houston, Texas
Your Gifts at Work Your gifts yield big results. Here are a few ways your gifts can benefit UT Students.
The Forty | Fall 2013
Make a gift today: giving.utexas.edu/forty
Please designate my gift to (check all that apply)
YES! I want to support excellence at The University of Texas at Austin with a gift of: £ $1,500 £ $1,000 £ $500 £ $250 £ $100
Research
THE Rx FOR MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS
£ Other $___________ I would like to make an ongoing monthly gift. Please charge my card until instructed to stop: £ $25/month £ $50/month £ $100/month £ Other $________/month My contribution today will be paid by:
The quality of health care in Central Texas will take a giant leap forward when UT’s Dell Medical School welcomes its first class in fall 2016. But that’s just the beginning.
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While Central Texans of all income levels will see more primary and specialty care options, people far beyond Austin will feel the positive effects of this medical school of the 21st century. The reason? Research. And lots of it. Dell Medical School will work with UT Austin’s colleges, schools, and departments to leverage their research strengths, including computer science and information technology, cell and molecular biology, computational medicine, neuroscience, biomedical engineering, pediatric health, chemistry, sociology, psychology, health care delivery systems, and health care policy. The possibilities are immeasurable.
It’s a unique opportunity — the first new medical school for a top-ranked university in 35 years and UT’s first new college from scratch in four decades. And Dell Medical is the only medical school in The University of Texas System on an academic campus. Longhorns can be proud of the discoveries yet to be made on the Forty Acres — ones that will lead to medical advances and new technologies that will change the face of health care for the nation and the world. The Dell Medical School is the result of a $50 million commitment from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.
ATHLETICS
TEXAS EXES
As we like to say on the Forty Acres, it’s always a good time to be a Texas Longhorn. The purpose of UT Athletics is to uphold the university’s standard of excellence while prioritizing the health, well-being, and development of the more than 500 student-athletes who compete in our 20 varsity sports. We exist to prepare students to win with integrity — in academics, in athletics, and in life.
Whether it’s through legislative advocacy, the Alcalde magazine, student leadership programs, or hosting the world’s largest tailgate party before home football games, the Texas Exes and its members support the university and its proud traditions. The association continues to have a lasting impact through its robust scholarship program, including the Forty Acres Scholars Program. We award $2.53 million in scholarships to more than 600 students each year. Texas Exes is able to support the university thanks to contributions by generous donors and dues-paying members. For more information, visit TexasExes.org.
£ Check enclosed (payable to The University of Texas at Austin) £ MasterCard
£ Visa £ American Express £ Discover
Card No. _________________________________________ Expiration Date ____ /____ Signature ________________________________________ You may also visit giving.utexas.edu/forty to make your gift online.
£ University’s area of greatest need £ Athletics £ Blanton Museum of Art £ Cockrell School of Engineering £ College of Communication £ College of Education £ College of Fine Arts £ College of Liberal Arts £ College of Natural Sciences £ College of Pharmacy £ Continuing and Innovative Education £ Dell Medical School £ Diversity and Community Engagement £ Dolph Briscoe Center for American History £ Graduate School
£ Harry Ransom Center £ Jackson School of Geosciences £ Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs £ McCombs School of Business £ Office of the President £ School of Architecture £ School of Information £ School of Law £ School of Nursing £ School of Social Work £ School of Undergraduate Studies £ Student Affairs £ Texas Advanced Computing Center £ Texas Exes £ University of Texas Libraries £ University of Texas Press £ Other _____________________
GROUNDBREAKING GIFTS If it’s been awhile since you’ve strolled the Forty Acres, you may be in for a surprise — or three. A trio of new buildings – enhancing learning and the student experience – is turning heads, and each was made possible through the generosity of UT alumni and friends.
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The Belo Center for New Media, serving the College of Communication and KUT Radio, could not have been built without substantial help from the Belo Foundation and members of Dallas’ Decherd and Moroney families, whose grandfather established The Dallas Morning News. The new Liberal Arts Building is a model for innovative funding and cost-effective planning and design. The building was self-funded by the college and built without tapping legislative or UT System funding. Nearly a quarter of its cost was covered by private donations. The Gates Foundation and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation joined forces to help build the Bill & Melinda Gates Computer Science Complex, which includes
The Forty | Fall 2013
Dell Computer Science Hall. The complex encourages new levels of collaboration and innovation with open discussion areas and glass-walled labs. Two additional buildings are in the planning stages, and support from alumni and friends will be crucial to both. The Cockrell School of Engineering is seeking funds to build the Engineering Education and Research Center, a teaching, research, and student project space. And the McCombs School of Business is planning a new building to house its growing graduate programs. The building will be called Rowling Hall after a lead gift from alumni Robert Rowling and Terry Rowling and their family. Both the EERC and Rowling Hall could open by 2017.
Make a gift today: giving.utexas.edu/forty
UT’s Landmarks public art collection is funded in part by private support. Projects such as this one by Sol LeWitt at the Gates Computer Science Complex help beautify the campus and engage the university community. Sol LeWitt, American, 1928 – 2007. Circle with Towers, 2005/2012. Concrete Block, 168 x 308 inches in diameter. Purchase, The University of Texas at Austin, 2011.
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PUSHING BOUNDARIES, IMPROVING LIVES UT never stops innovating in science and technology, never slows down in seeking solutions. Here are some research highlights from the past year. Stampede, UT’s newest supercomputer, is one of the most advanced systems on the planet and the most powerful in the U.S. dedicated to academic research. Everything from today’s weather report to the car you drive was designed or improved by a supercomputer, and Stampede is leading the way.
UT received a major National Science Foundation grant to create and lead a center aimed at developing technologies that could lead to foldable laptops and batteries and wearable sensors.
UT astrophysicists have discovered the largest known black hole, a behemoth 17 billion times heavier than our sun. They found the phenomenon, which could be the first object in a new class of galaxy-black hole systems, using the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory.
Nearly a billion people have no access to safe drinking water. But that could change with UT’s development of a “water chip” that separates salt from seawater. This breakthrough turns an expensive and cumbersome process into a potential world changer.
Taking a page from Harry Potter, Cockrell School of Engineering researchers created a real-life invisibility cloak. Practical applications (other than eluding evil wizards) might include uses in noninvasive sensing devices and biomedical instruments.
Strapping on electrodes to monitor the heart may soon be a thing of the past. UT researchers have developed an electronic tattoo that can measure electrical activity of the body, including heart rate, brain activity, and muscle movement.