Annual Support

Enriching students and faculty

During UCA’s first century, alumni and friends supported many of the university’s needs through annual support. These annual gifts have provided a foundation for the growth and development of UCA.

Securing annual support will be a vital part of UCA’s first comprehensive fundraising campaign. Annual contributions, both large and small, give alumni and friends the chance to make an ongoing, significant impact on virtually any area of the university. In many respects, it is the most important gift you can make to our university.

Annual gifts may be designated for needs such as scholarships, which support students in their higher education goals, or they may be used to provide educational resources for faculty to enhance classroom teaching and learning.

Alumni and friends who want their annual contributions to support areas with the greatest need, designate their gifts to the UCA Foundation’s Margin of Excellence Fund.

In UCA’s second century, we must build the Margin of Excellence Fund, strengthen our scholarships and upgrade faculty resources through annual support. But no matter how a gift is directed, it will support the vision of this university and enrich the lives of future generations.

Building the Margin of Excellence Fund

When a critical need arises and other means of support are unavailable, the UCA Foundation’s Margin of Excellence Fund has the flexibility to provide necessary resources. Gifts to the Margin of Excellence Fund support many of the university’s most important roles.

Gifts to the fund may be used to strengthen efforts to provide the best learning environment possible, maintain open lines of communication with alumni and friends, and help highlight our university to potential students.

Strengthening Scholarships

Annual support may be designated to strengthen a scholarship fund that has already been endowed, or it can be used to provide immediate scholarship support on an annual basis.

Endowed funds have been established over time with the help of alumni and friends who commit to regular, annual support. Through your annual giving, these funds will continue to grow to provide much-needed assistance to students.

Immediate scholarship assistance can be provided through an annual scholarship gift. While assistance is provided at the time the gift is made, these funds do not provide a permanent source of support.

Annual gifts of every size are welcome, as they provide an opportunity for everyone to share the new vision for UCA’s new century.

Upgrading Faculty Resources

Annual support can be used to enhance traditional classroom learning, allowing faculty to better connect with students. To help students succeed, faculty need access to resources such as cutting-edge technology, an electronic library, and properly equipped laboratories.

While computers are not intended to replace pen and paper, professors must use the latest technologies to complement classroom instruction. As new technologies emerge and old technologies improve, upgraded hardware and software for the classroom will be central to tomorrow’s learning environment.

The newest generation of faculty is accustomed to having information at their fingertips. While a comprehensive library is central to a university setting, access to electronic books and periodicals also is imperative. These resources provide immediate access to information necessary for faculty and students to engage in research projects that further their fields of study.

Research laboratories are a vital component of a university setting. Faculty utilize these resources to carry learning beyond the classroom and to give students hands-on experience in a variety of disciplines. Our vision is to provide programs ranging from biology to world languages with up-to-date laboratories and equipment so faculty can make the learning process interactive and engaging.

Funding for critical learning tools, such as these, cannot be covered by state support alone. As public university budgets are stretched, annual private support will become increasingly important to ensure such resources are readily available for faculty and students.