Campaign Introduction

The City University of New York launched the first-ever Comprehensive Campaign in support of public higher education in New York City on November 9, 2004. This initiative seeks leadership support for the Colleges of CUNY from alumni, friends, corporations, foundations and families in the philanthropic community of New York City. Donors at all levels will be asked to invest in the future of our great city by investing in the Colleges of CUNY.

$1.2 billion will be raised from private sources by the end of FY 2012
$1.4 billion in capital expenditures from public sources
(which provide additional opportunities for naming and support from the private sector

Campaign Background

The City University of New York is the nation's largest urban public university with 23 institutions: eleven senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E. Macaulay Honors College at CUNY, the Graduate School and University Center, the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, the CUNY School of Law at Queens College , the CUNY School of Professional Studies and the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education.

CUNY traces its beginnings to the founding in 1847 of the Free Academy, which later became The City College, the first CUNY College. CUNY has a rich tradition of educating New Yorkers and our 1,000,000 plus alumni since 1966 have enriched this city's institutions. Awarding academic degrees from the associate through the doctorate level, as well as certificate programs, our campuses serve as indispensable cultural, social, and educational resources to their communities. According to New York State Education Law, CUNY is "an independent and integrated system of higher education ... that ... will maintain and expand its commitment to academic excellence and to the provision of equal access and opportunity for students, faculty and staff from all ethnic and racial groups and from both sexes."

It is in the spirit of this law that CUNY has undertaken a comprehensive strategy of institutional renewal. Since 1999, Chancellor Matthew Goldstein has collaborated with CUNY's Trustees, college presidents, faculty, administrators, alumni, foundation boards, students, and friends on this effort. In large part, this strategy derived from a series of recommendations in the 1999 Report of the Mayor's Advisory Task Force on the City University of New York, authored by current Board Chairman Benno Schmidt.

A quiet transformation has resulted from this strategy. Today, the University joins the ranks of the best institutions of public higher education in the country. Among our accomplishments:

We have strengthened our academic standards-and, as a result, we have seen an improvement in the academic preparation of freshman admitted to the University. Average SAT scores have increased, first-term GPAs for freshmen have increased, retention rates are up, and graduation rates have increased.
Enrollment is at its highest level in almost 30years.
We have invested significantly in new faculty, adding more than 900 since 1998.
We have reformed our teacher education programs, and today the passing rate of students in programs requiring state tests is 93 percent-the highest since testing began.
We have created new and important relationships with public schools. From 2001 to 2004, the number of students served through our College Now program grew 70 percent.
We have created the first-ever CUNY Honors College. Already, more than 1,000 of the city's most talented students are enrolled.
Faculty and staff garnered more than $300 million in contracts and research awards last year, 22% more than the previous year.
We have established a School of Professional Studies, and we are creating the first Graduate School of Journalism.
For the first time in the University's history, we have instituted performance-based management to inject accountability in the operation of the University.

The Colleges of CUNY are proud of these accomplishments but find themselves today at a point where progress has outpaced our resources. Public funding will continue to be a critical component of CUNY's success but supplemental resources will grow in importance. Nationally, government support for higher education has decreased from 62% to 49% share of the total budget. For CUNY's colleges, state aid has fallen almost 31% and city support more than 44% in the last 11 years, when we compare inflation-adjusted numbers.

The Campaign for The Colleges of The City University of New York will provide an opportunity to supplement public resources with private investment from our alumni and friends. The Colleges will join together for the first time to secure private philanthropic investment in the future of higher education in New York. The Colleges will each identify the special case needs necessary on their campus to produce an educated and prepared future for New York as well as continue to prepare Nobel Prize winners, national leaders, acclaimed scholars and successful artists for our nation.

The Colleges will be seeking your investment in the following core areas:

Student Support - Help the Colleges attract top students, encourage diversity, endow new scholarships and educate the leaders of tomorrow;

Faculty Support - Assist in the recruitment and retention of top scholars, scientists, artists and professionals as full-time faculty for our students;

Research and Innovation - Foster a research environment, promote interdisciplinary approaches, recognize and promote new work, leverage the connections to industry and utilize the latest educational technologies;

Facilities and Equipment - Supplement public implementation of the Master Facilities Plan, create an environment that fosters the work of students and scholars, renovate our buildings, equip new scientific facilities and create interaction with the community.

The Board of Trustees, the Chancellor and the College Presidents have been planning for this Campaign over the past couple of years. Our emphasis has been to carefully design an initiative that adequately assists the Colleges to continue the great strides of the last five years. Of equal importance is to provide each College the flexibility to develop their own targets and campaign plan around specific College needs.

Campaign Goal and Timetable

The campaign is a comprehensive initiative designed to raise $1.2 billion from private philanthropy. All gifts from private sources received by the Colleges from FY2001 through FY2012 will be included. Each College will be asked to set their own financial Target by June 2005.

The Campaign timetable has been designed to count all gifts from private philanthropy received by the Colleges. The Quiet Phase of the Campaign (Nucleus Fund) will recognize all those donors who have contributed in the past four years (FY01 to FY04). It is estimated that the Nucleus Fund announced on November 9, 2004 will surpass $450 million.

The Public Phase will commence after the Campaign Launch in November 2004. Each College will conduct their campus campaign on individual schedules over the next eight years. A typical College campaign timetable will run five to seven years. We anticipate that all College Campaigns will be completed, and the overall campaign goal will be surpassed, prior to June 2012.

Participation of the Colleges

The Colleges and Schools of the City University of New York will each be responsible for identifying their own Case Statement initiatives in coordination with the University, determining College Financial Targets, appropriately recognizing volunteers and donors, and setting a special timetable for Campaign implementation on their campus. Several Colleges, notably Baruch College, Brooklyn College, City College, the Graduate Center, Borough of Manhattan Community College and La Guardia Community College are already in campaigns or preparing for campaigns. These campaigns will continue and serve as models for the remaining colleges and schools. All Colleges will determine their individual campaign timetables and set financial targets by June 2005 in coordination with the University.

Campaign Summary

The Campaign for the Colleges of The City University of New York seeks to raise $1.2 Billion from private philanthropy prior to June 2012.
When combined with the availability $1.4 billion in public funds to make capital improvements to the Colleges, the University will be transformed by an investment of more than $2.56 Billion in the next five to eight years.
The Campaign represents a comprehensive fund raising initiative of all the CUNY Colleges.
The Campaign will be announced publicly in November 2004.
The Campaign Nucleus Fund, to be announced at the November 2004 Launch, will represent the aggregate total of funds raised by the individual colleges from July 2001 through October 2004, in excess of $450 million.
The Colleges will each set their own Campaign target, recruit campus leadership,approach their respective alumni, friends and supporters, and set the implementation timetable on their campuses.
It is anticipated that individual campaigns will be implemented over a five to seven year timetable. All Colleges will initiate campaign activity within the next 18 to 24 months.
All gifts and pledges from private sources received during the period of the campaign will be included in the aggregate goal.
The City University in support of individual College campaigns will promote the over-arching theme, "Invest in New York, Invest in CUNY". The Colleges will each define and promote individual funding priorities and prepare campus-specific Case Statements.