Financial investments, gifts to UNL
reach record level during past year
by Jennifer O Cilka
Senior Reporter
Two years into the university’s
Five-Year Initiative, the NU Founda
tion’s focus on the “personal touch’’
has led to a record level of new gifts
and investments, an official said.
Theresa Klein, director of public
relations for the foundation, said gifts
and investments topped out at a rec
ord $46.5 million during the 1989-90
fiscal year.
Credit for the increase goes to the
response by University of Nebraska
alumni after the foundation started its
push in support of the Five-Year Ini
tiative, she said.
The initiative is a program an
nounced in August 1988 for a state,
federal and private partnership to
improve faculty and research at the
university.
“The Five-Year Initiative really
fueled a lot of response because that
focuses a lot on the human resources
of the university,” Klein said.
Such an approach worked “par
ticularly because it had not been done
before,” she said.
Klein said the foundation reached
$46.5 million because gifts and be
quests to the foundation rose to $28.4
million, a $2 million increase from
the past fiscal year, and investment
income increased nearly S1.9 million
to a record of $17.9 million.
The increased money helped the
foundation fulfill its goal of provid
ing the “margin of excellence” be
tween state and federal funding and
the money the university needs, she
said.
The foundation had 56 active pro
fessorships in its 54-year history, Klein
said. During the last two years, 63
more professorships were added.
Forty-six of those professorships
will be active before the end of the
five-year period and the remaining 17
will be financed through deferred gifts,
which are established through a trust
ora will and become the foundation’s
after the person’s death.
Professorships arc annual stipends
typically of S5,(XX) to S25,(XX) used
for faculty rewards or to add more
faculty, depending on department
needs, Klein said.
Besides the additional funding for
professorships, Klein said, the initia
tive led to the designation of more
than $4 million for research in the
past two years, SI.6 million for the
encouragement or retainment of fac
ulty members, more than S8 million
for graduate fellowships and $713,000
for university libraries.
Because of the record donation
level, the foundation’s transfer of funds
to NU jumped to $27.5 million, $10
million more than the $17.5 million
transfer made in 1987-88.
The record transfer level to the
university was possible because of
the greater amounts of expendable
funds, or dollars donated for immedi
ate use; additional endowed funds,
from which the interest is used; and
funds specifically donated for cam
pus buildings and improvements, she
said.
The money donated for campus
buildings and improvements went for
such projects as completion of the
Henningson Memorial Campanile and
Durham Science Center at the Uni
versity of Nebraska at Omaha; con
struction of the Food Processing Center
and Veterinary Training Center; ex
pansion of the West Stadium and Cook
Pavilion; and payments on bonds is
sued for construction of the Lied Center
for Performing Arts at the University
of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Although donors restrict most
contributions to certain uses, unre
stricted funds are donated for the area
they are needed most, Klein said.
“You never know when an oppor
tunity to start a program or fund some
significant research will come along,”
she said. “By unrestricted funds, we
can capitalize on those opportuni
ties. * *
NU Foundation records for
1989-90 fiscal year
I
* Figures are approximate.
Source: NU Foundation
Lax life down under
suits UNL students
By Anita Parker
Staff Reporter
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
students aren’t worrying about life
in the land down under.
“It was such a relaxed and
friendly atmosphere,” said Chris
Sommerich, a senior political sci
ence major. “People went to school
barefoot and girls didn’t wear any
makeup. Americans spend a lot of
time studying and stressing out,
but over there they say ‘Oh mate,
don’t worry.’”
“I don’t get as stressed out as I
used to,” said Doug Agne, a senior
business major. “I take things with
a grain of salt. In Australia there
are no definite plans, you just play
it by ear.”
These students took part in an
exchange program UNL began in
the fall of 1988 with the University
of New England, Northern Rivers
in Australia. It has been the most
requested place to study since then,
said Susan Dahm, UNL study abroad
coordinator.
Craig JcphcotL an Australian
student attending UNL this semes
ter, said, “When I get back home,
I think I’m going to take school
more seriously. There is much mote
pressure to excel here. It kind of
bums me out because things are
always tense and there is always
work to do.”
To participate in the program,
students fill out an application that
is reviewed by a selection commit
tee of faculty and international
studies staff, Dahm said.
The prospective exchange stu
dent’s grade point average is not
the most important factor, she said.
The students’ reasons for wanting
to study abroad and the courses
they plan to take arc more impor
tant, she said.
“If one student has a 4.0 and
wants to study English and another
student has a 3.0 and wants to take
some general classes, the 3.0 stu
dent will probably have preference,”
Dahm said.
The cost to attend school in
Australia is no different than
the cost at UNL, Dahm said.
Tuition and housing is paid di
rectly to the university at UNL
rates, she said, although the
student must pay air fare.
The number of outgoing UNL
students depends on the number
of students coming to Nebraska
from Australia, Dahm said.
The money paid to UNL from
students bound for Australia is
put into an account, Dahm said.
The account then is used to pay
the tuition of the Australian
students who study at UNL, she
said.
There arc four UNL students
in Australia this semester.
The credit is transferable as
long as it is in an area of study
offered at UNL, Dahm said.
Bike
Continued from Page 1
cificdalc for beginning construction
has been set.
The trail would be an extension of
the existing Rock Island Trail that
runs on or parallel to die abandoned
Rock Island Railroad right-of-way.
The trail would deviate from the
abandoned right-of-way at Y Street,
Bricn/o stud.
The Lincoln City Council is pro
viding up to S25,000 for a design
study on the trail. Hammer said this is
part of a SI.7 million bond issue the
city passed in 1989 for the Mopac
trail that officials hope eventually
will link up with the Capitol-campus
trail at 19th Street.
The money left after completion
of the Mopac trail can be used on
other bike trails, she said, although
the 597,000 that Orr allocated should
be enough to build the basic concrete
trail between J and Y streets linking
Capitol Parkway and campus.
St. Paul United
Methodist Church
College Students: Sunday School
i 9:30 a.m.
Worship
11:00 a.m.
Other Fellowship, Social & Study Activities
for college aged
12th & 'M* (Just South of Campus)
Si. [Paul United ITleth odist Church — I
1144 M STREET PHONE 477-6951
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA 69500-2173
THE LIED CENTER T* ^
FRIDAY • OCTOBER 26 • 8 PM
ALL SEATS RESERVED $18.00
Tickets available at The Lied Center Box Office or
charge by phone 472-4747 or 1-800-432-3231 AT
Tickets may be subiect to a service charge
A CONTEMPORAFIV PRESENTATION _Br
-^
One Single Topping Pizza
Plus a Coke
$3.50 i
NAME_|
ADDRESS_I
DATE_ I
PICK-UP ONLY I
Limit One Coupon Per Order |
$1.00 OFF!
Any pizza ordered
11 a.m.-4 p.m.
475-6363 >
NAME_ I
ADDRESS _
_^_j
