Taking Stock: State of the University, Overview of Accomplishments: 2003-2004, Office of the President, University of Maryland

III. Build The Maryland Family

In 1999, my vision for the future of an extended Maryland family was built on spreading a new sense of pride in the University of Maryland throughout alumni and friends far and near. Pride in the University, a natural consequence of growing achievements of faculty and students, translates into allegiance, loyalty, involvement.

Building the Maryland Family means better communications with the University's stakeholders; greater involvement by alumni as measured by donors and memberships; and increased support by friends who lobby on behalf of the University, champion its causes, and give generously for its activities.

Better Communications

One of the major success stories at the University over the past five years is the outstanding work of the Marketing and Communications division of University Relations. Without doubt, the University of Maryland has the best marketing program in the nation, and it is widely copied.

The Chronicle of Higher Education featured the ZOOM campaign and highlighted its success and innovative new approach in its October 24, 2003 issue. The ZOOM campaign (initiated in 2000), which was entirely different from the usual bland fare that characterizes university spots, was followed by the equally successful "Fear the Turtle" (2003) campaign, which has caught the imagination of the public in even more striking ways than ZOOM. Staffers in federal agencies and congressional offices have "Fear the Turtle" signs posted. The ZOOM and "Fear the Turtle" campaigns successfully underscored the competitiveness of Terps in athletic competition and were used very effectively during sports games as a means to call attention to and highlight our academic achievements. Fear the Turtle banners on campus focus on gpa's, sat's and other academic highlights.

This past summer Marketing and Communications won two silver and five gold awards for various media activities in the national annual competition sponsored by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). UM Marketing and Communications won a Grand Gold medal, CASE's most prestigious and rarely awarded honor, in the Total Advertising Category for the "Fear the Turtle" campaign. This imaginative work has helped put the University front and center in the metropolitan area and throughout the State and nation.

Maryland Day

One way of communicating with our extended family is to invite them to the campus to see and experience first hand what we are about. In 1999, I noted that 20,000 had attended Maryland Day in its first year (April 1999), and I set a goal of having over 50,000 attend by Maryland Day 2004. We did better than that as the following table shows:

FY99	20,000+
FY00	35,000+
FY01	60,000+
FY02	66,000+
FY03 (rain)	60,000+
FY04	70,000+

The 6th annual Maryland Day attracted more than 70,000 visitors to the campus. The event has become a signature of the University and was widely publicized in all of the major area media. Four hundred events and activities staffed by more than 7,000 volunteers highlighted the University's academic mission and service role and informed the larger community. It was extraordinarily successful. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and at least one other major public university has adopted the Maryland Day pattern in its entirety.

Increase in Number of Alumni

The number of alumni who joined our association has increased almost 22%.

FY 2000
FY 2004

26,708
32,504

An extremely important event for the future of alumni involvement at the University occurred during the past five years with the groundbreaking (Summer 2003) for the much-needed Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center, the first campus footprint for alumni.

Increase in Number of Annual Donors and in Amount of Annual Gifts

Over five years, the number of annual donors went from 27,600 to 42,000, a 45% increase, and the amount of donations grew from $70.9 million to $85.7 million, an increase of 21%.

UM is vigorously increasing the donor base in number and amount of individual contribution. As of March 31, 2004,

· more than $51 million had been raised toward an $82 million goal; as of this time last year, only $32 million had been raised.

· membership revenue is ahead by more than $100,000 over last year.

UM Foundation

In 1999 I promised the establishment of a University of Maryland, College Park, Foundation. Thanks to the efforts of the Larson Task Force, we were able to establish the University of Maryland College Park Foundation, Inc. The foundation is overseen by a Board of Trustees composed of alumni, corporate leaders, and individuals influential throughout the state and nation. Their commitment to the University and its advancement is unparalleled, and their involvement plays a critical role in furthering our success. Most importantly, having our own foundation ensures greater responsiveness to the needs of the University community. The Foundation has enabled us to set policies, procedures and guidelines that best serve a nationally eminent research university, providing faculty and staff with maximum flexibility to spend the funds raised for their programs.

The Board members are personally committed to our success. Their efforts on behalf of the University have been significant and include:

· Providing broader connections to regional business leaders. Board members have opened doors for us that were previously closed. Their commitment and passion for the University has inspired other leaders to take a closer look at the University and become involved.

· Propelling the University to new levels of philanthropic support. Under the Board's leadership, we successfully completed the Bold Vision ( Bright Future fundraising campaign with $476 million, well above our goal of $350 million.

· Encouraging the University to set even greater goals for the future. The Board has challenged us to strive for more and has spearheaded the effort for a new campaign, now underway in the silent phase, with a preliminary goal of $800 million over seven years.

>>What's Past is Prologue

Office of the President, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742