A faculty member and a staff member who are longtime donors to UC Davis will soon be encouraging their colleagues to contribute to the university, too, especially to help students during this difficult economic time.

“When a faculty person gives back a portion of his or her income to directly support students, the students realize that the faculty really are on their side. Professors do care,” Dean Keith Simonton, Distinguished Professor of psychology, wrote in a testimonial for the new Faculty Giving Program.

The testimonial appears in an e-mail that will soon be arriving in faculty inboxes. The new Staff Giving Program is sending its own e-mail, one that includes a testimonial from Lynn Read, budget and financial analyst for Student Health and Counseling Services.

“We must do all that we can, within our means, to support our students and keep UC Davis moving forward,” she wrote.

The e-mails will be going to most faculty and staff on the Davis campus, inviting them to consider one-time gifts or ongoing payroll deductions to any of the university’s many funds. They include the UC Davis Student Scholars Fund, Graduate Student Fellowship Fund and the UC Davis Annual Fund, all of which provide student scholarships, and the We Are Aggie Pride-Students Helping Students emergency fund.

“There has been such a groundswell of people asking, ‘How can we help our students?’” said Shaun Keister, vice chancellor of Development and Alumni Relations. This prompted the e-mails that will soon be sent out, he said.

The appeal is not limited to student support. Faculty and staff are welcome to contribute to any area of particular interest to them, for example, undergraduate or graduate studies, the arts, student services or international programs, or even honeybee research. Gifts to support a scholarship program for staff are also welcome.

People interested in providing the broadest possible support — including scholarships and faculty awards — may choose to direct their gifts to the UC Davis Annual Fund.

All contributions will count in The Campaign for UC Davis, the university’s first comprehensive campaign.  As of May 28, more than 90,000 donors had given $802.5 million toward the $1 billion goal since the campaign began in 2006.

“Through this effort, we hope to invite the faculty and staff members to support The Campaign for UC Davis and any university initiative or program that speaks to their passions,” Keister said. “Faculty and staff support also leverages additional giving from our alumni and friends who want to know that those closest to the campus are also contributing to the university’s excellence.”

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Giving to UC Davis

The Campaign for UC Davis