Focus on Students, Double Your Impact
January 1, 2009
The Jackson School of Geosciences was created through John and Katie Jackson’s extraordinary generosity. And their gift carried with it extraordinary expectations. The Jacksons bestowed their gift with the intention of advancing geosciences excellence across the nation, and quite possibly the world.
One of the most remarkable features of that vision—and one of its great strengths—was its flexibility. The Jacksons did not prescribe a set of activities which their gift would support and by omission, activities which it would not support. This allows us the freedom to be nimble and continuously strive for improvement. We asked our alumni, faculty and researchers what areas they would like to see the school grow in. One of the top responses was for the school to foster a student centered environment, recognizing that students are where the future of the school reside.
To answer that call, the Jackson School Match Program was created in January 2008. The program matches dollar-for-dollar gifts of $50,000 to $100,000 made in support of student scholarships, student fellowships, or student program support. Gifts over $100,000 will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
One sure measure of academic excellence is the quality of students enrolled in the curriculum. Many factors impact the attraction and retention of the best and the brightest students—the distinction of the faculty with corresponding mentoring opportunities, the academic environment, and possibly the most critical, financial support.
Scholarships are vital to attracting deserving, high-caliber undergraduates who have difficulty affording higher education. When recruiting graduate students who have their choice of prestigious universities, a persuasive fellowship package can be the deciding factor. High quality programming, like the Freshman Orientation Program, the Field Camp Experience or the Honors Undergraduate Research Program, encourages the retention of our students within the geosciences, demonstrates our commitment to their growth and development and assures their preparedness to be leaders and innovators in the geosciences.
The Jackson School Match Program honors our commitment to the Jacksons by leveraging their investment and encouraging additional support by doubling a donor’s contribution. This program will empower our alumni and friends to direct a portion of the distributions from the John A. and Katherine G. Jackson Endowed Fund in Geosciences to enhance the lives of students, advance geosciences education and move the Jackson School further along the path to becoming the preeminent geosciences program in the nation, creating an exciting win-win-win opportunity.
Gifts may be used to create new endowments or, with prior notification of the development office, to contribute to already established endowed funds. These gifts may be pledged over a five year period. The program will continue through August 30, 2014.
The Jackson School is poised to make a profound impact on the geosciences. Your partnership is critical to our success as we strive to achieve our shared vision of making the Jackson School the best in the nation.
For more information, please contact Ann Flemings, director of development and alumni relations, aflemings@jsg.utexas.edu; 512-471-1993/512-471-1282.
by Marc Airhart