Comprehensive Campaign update

The preliminary planning for the university's first-ever major fund raising campaign is currently under way, and the most crucial element, the academic goal setting process, is nearing completion. President Welty and Provost Echeverria soon will issue the third “white paper” to update to the university community on the Comprehensive Campaign.

Here are some excerpts from the document:

The final meeting of the spring semester concluded with a meeting on April 23, 2004, with the deans, development officers, the Provost, President, Campaign Director, members of the Campaign Planning Committee, and members of the campaign's Senior Leadership Team in order to review progress made and identify next steps.

It was agreed that over the next two months the campaign's Senior Leadership Team would continue to work with the deans and development officers to pare down the list of projects, identify those projects in need of additional development, and identify possible additional areas of collaboration. It was decided that the President would make a decision on June 30, 2004, on the academic priorities that would remain on the campaign goals list during this stage of the planning process. Additional goals would need to be prioritized for inclusion on the opportunity fund raising list.

It was also decided that during the summer months, the campaign Senior Leadership Team would set a working goal for the comprehensive campaign, the draft case statement would be finalized, and a feasibility study would be implemented during the fall 2004 semester.

This meeting marked a major turning point in the academic planning process, as we moved into the final phase of identifying projects that would be included in the draft case statement and feasibility study that the university will undertake with members of the external community in the months and year ahead.

The next steps in the planning for the comprehensive campaign include the development of the university's draft case statement and the implementation of our feasibility study.

The case statement is the document that the university will prepare to make the case for private support. The case statement will include a description of the goals of the campaign, a rationale for the goals identified, and the amount of financial resources that will be necessary to meet these objectives.

The feasibility study is the process by which the university administration will consult with major donors in order to receive feedback on the “fundability” of these goals. Approximately 100 members of the external community will be consulted to evaluate the university's case statement and identified goals, in order to determine the likelihood that private funds may be raised to support these projects and initiatives.

The feedback from donors, alumni, and community and business leaders from throughout the region, state and nation is critical to the planning process as a key measure to ensure the long-term success of the campaign.

As many of you are aware, the comprehensive campaign is designed to conclude in 2011, coinciding with the university's centennial anniversary. Planning for the campaign has proceeded at a remarkable rate and we are now well on our way to embarking on this ambitious and long-term project that will take our university to new levels of excellence and serve generations of future students from the Central Valley and beyond.

The first two communication updates from the President and Provost published during the 2003-2004 academic year as “white papers” for members of the campus community are available on the university's Web page at www.csufresno.edu .

Comments or suggestions on the Comprehensive Campaign may be sent to campaign@csufresno.edu .