Dean’s Priority Endowment Fund
Since its founding in 1998, the Texas A&M University School of Public Health’s influence has grown exponentially in both quantity and quality metrics. Currently the largest school of public health student enrollment in Texas and fifth largest in the nation, the School of Public Health has significantly increased the number of faculty, programmatic offerings, research output and service while maintaining a stellar academic reputation. These achievements are gaining notice, as evidenced most recently by U.S. News and World Report ranking the school 38 th out of 209 similar U.S. schools and programs and the Master of Health Administration program 27 th out of 101 healthcare management programs.
As a result, the school enjoys a growing number of promising opportunities—as well as the need for financial resources that can support the school’s strategic priorities. That’s where the Dean’s Priority Endowment Fund comes in.
Promoting Excellence
The Dean’s Priority Endowment Fund, which is dependent on donor support, is instrumental in helping the school achieve its three strategic priorities: promoting innovation that translates to better health, population health and safety during vulnerable periods through the life course; making public health educational opportunities more accessible for Texans and the world; and transforming public health knowledge into action and influence.
“This is all about investment in the future because the fund pays for items that help push forward the strategic plan,” said Dean Shawn Gibbs.
The fund also offers financial flexibility beyond the school’s budget. While this fund expressly cannot be used for operational costs, it does provide the school with resources to support excellence and innovation.
“Often in higher education, money is categorized in certain areas where it can only be used in specific categories,” Gibbs explained. “The Dean’s Priority Endowment Fund is an open general fund that people can donate to that allows us the maximum flexibility to put resources where they benefit immediate school needs.”
Those needs can--and do--change over the course of an academic year. The school has used the fund to augment endowed scholarship stipends to recruit outstanding prospective students and also paid for student travel to professional conferences. Gibbs also has tapped the fund to cover some of the costs associated with a faculty search process, pay for a celebratory dinner to honor newly tenured and promoted faculty members, and provide a cash award to faculty who receive the school’s Research Excellence Award. Most recently, the fund has been used to increase the number of graduate student scholarships in support of the school’s strategic priority to expand its master’s-level graduate programs.
Accessible to Any Donor
Any donor—whether an individual, organization or corporation--can make a gift to the Dean’s Priority Endowment Fund. Furthermore, this fund does not have a specific philanthropic threshold, making it accessible for donors at any level.
“This fund offers an avenue for donors who may be early in their career and want to give between $25 and $500—to support the school,” Gibbs said.
Additionally, many donors can extend their giving through tapping their employer’s match programs. According to Charity Navigator, these types of corporate philanthropic programs are designed to encourage and reward employee giving by substantially matching the gift—sometimes by as much as a three-to-one match. Tapping a matching program substantially increases a gift’s value, meaning that a donor’s gift can ultimately be two to four times the amount of their individual donation.
Like all Aggies, the school’s former students are committed to giving back in appreciation of the educational experiences they received at Texas A&M—and the Dean’s Priority Endowment Fund offers a way to make a meaningful contribution that benefits the school’s most pressing needs.
Do you want to support the School of Public Health’s culture of excellence and innovation? If so, you can make an online donation to the Dean’s Priority Endowment Fund. If you wish to make a larger donation, please contact Megan Wilkinson at megan.n.wilkinson@tamu.edu
