Invest in the Future of the School of Human Ecology
Every gift to SOHE is a vote of confidence in the future of the university. You can designate your gift to be used for a purpose that is important to you. We highlight our active fundraising priorities, as well as the many ways you can support the School.
Active Fundraising Priorities
Nancy Prideaux Endowed Excellence Fund
Student Support
Increased funding for graduate fellowships and undergraduate scholarships will allow the School of Human Ecology to attract the best and brightest students. Students who will transform our university today and the world tomorrow.
Our Top Student Funding Priority: Graduate Student Support
Over the last two decades the role of graduate students has changed from that of "apprentice" to often a co-researcher with a supervising professor. In addition, graduate students support undergraduate education by helping faculty in both laboratories and classrooms as tutors, advisors and lab instructors for our undergraduates.
Competition with other graduate programs is fierce, with many of our peer institutions providing lucrative, multi-year financial packages and fellowships for prospective students. The college will thrive by recruiting the best and most diverse graduate students, endowing them with resources to excel, and helping them become scientific leaders that have high scholarly, societal and economic impact.
In order to recruit, cultivate, and retain the highest quality graduate students and remain competitive, we must continue to increase our graduate student funding support through travel awards, seed research grants and fellowships.
Travel Awards | $1,000-$5,000
Travel to scientific meetings is central to the career development of graduate students. Such meetings represent a key opportunity to gain exposure to the newest ideas in the field and thereby expand a student's knowledge base. Possibly more important is the networking aspect of such meetings. In addition to offering the chance for students to meet others in their peer group and to interact directly with leaders in the field, these meetings are an important next step for students as they begin looking toward postdoctoral positions.
One-year Competitive Fellowship | $25,000-$50,000
Our PhD students spend their years working in the lab, teaching undergraduate students and collaborating with their faculty colleagues. It is this phase where the real scientific training takes place and it is also this time when students give the most back in terms of discovery and innovation.
A one-time/one-year named fellowship would provide the funds necessary to support a graduate student during one of the most critical and important phases of their education.
Endowed Graduate Fellowship | $100,000-$1,000,000 (can be pledged out over 5 years)
Graduate fellowships play a key role in attracting the best students in the country to our department, and in order for us to be competitive, we must be able to offer the same recruiting incentives. You can help us by making contributions to graduate student fellowships or you may create a new endowed fellowship.
Learn more about establishing an Endowment at UT »
Undergraduate Scholarships
Undergraduate scholarships enable students to devote more time to their studies and participate in research activities that help prepare them for productive careers as leaders in academia, medicine, and industry. You may make an outright, one-time donation to provide scholarship support for a student (or multiple students) in one year or over multiple years.
These scholarships may be one-time, outright gifts to provide immediate funding for student needs or endowed to provide a lasting, permanent source of funding.
Here are some ways in which you can help our undergraduates:
One-time Competitive Undergraduate Scholarship | $1,500-$5,000
Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship | $25,000 (can be pledged out over 5 years)
Endowed Presidential Scholarship | $50,000 (can be pledged out over 5 years)
Considered one of UT’s most prestigious scholarship programs, Endowed Presidential Scholars have a strong academic record and exhibit a consistent employment history through paid or volunteer work. An annual distribution from your endowment will provide approximately $2,500 to support undergraduate students, and the endowment will grow over time supporting undergraduates in perpetuity.
Learn more about establishing an Endowment at UT »
Research and Program Support
You can invest in the department’s programs and research by providing gifts for immediate use or by creating an Excellence Fund – an endowment that provides funding for the most promising or pressing initiatives.
Program Endowments and Excellence Funds | $25,000 (can be pledged out over 5 years)
Endowed Excellence Funds require a minimum of $25,000 and enable the Department Chairs and program coordinators to support initiatives that will make an immediate impact. Endowments can be established through a one-time gift or may be paid over a multi-year window up to five years, and, once established, you or anyone else may add to its principal at any time. Annual distributions from endowments support seed grants for proof of principle projects, faculty recruiting, student scholarships or fellowships, lab enhancements and student organizations. Endowed Excellence Funds are named according to the donor’s wishes and are promoted any time funds are used from that endowment.
Faculty Support | Endowed Faculty Chair $1,500,000 Endowed Faculty Professorship $500,000
Partner with us to attract and retain exceptional faculty whose teaching and research inspire today’s students and prepare them to be tomorrow’s science leaders. Awarded to faculty who have distinguished themselves as academic leaders, endowed Chairs and Professorships provide the annual support necessary for these scholars to remain at the forefront of their field. Often used for program development to supplement budget allocations, professorships encourage faculty to expand their activities and those of their students in the areas of teaching and research.
There are several options to more broadly invest in the college and join our efforts to develop leaders, promote discovery, create impact and transform lives. Discover them on the College of Natural Sciences Giving page.
Learn more about establishing an Endowment at UT »
Contact Us
For questions, or to learn more about ways in which you can support and invest in the School of Human Ecology, please contact:
College of Natural Sciences Office of Development
(512) 471-3299
cnsgiving@austin.utexas.edu
