As Raderclyde said the model for higher education is changing and the change is being exacerbated by the pandemic. There will be a "new" normal which no one can predict.
Question for you posters: Assume you are a silent billionaire who has a few million (let's say around 500 million - half a billion) you wish to give to your alma mater spread among academics, athletics, and endowment. After careful consideration would you expect any long-term ROI regardless of how you allocated the funds? I know for me, if I had that kind of disposable funds, I would probably give elsewhere regardless of how much I love "my" school.
FABULOUS Question! Half a billion in 2020 dollars is really the bare minimum for a university endowment to be relevant as an academic institution that has the reach of a regional institution, such as MT. Really, it isn’t much money to go around but it’s an enormous amount of money for one individual. I don’t know of an MT Alumnus who can write that check, but it a starting point. To answer the question, I would look at following merits:
1. Endowed Undergraduate and Graduate Scholarships (30%). This is where one inspires and plants seeds for the future. At my age, I’ve lived about half my life even if the Good Lord grants me a full hundred. Attracting the brightest, hard working, and those meriting a second or even third chance at getting a higher education provides opportunity for the future. It drives the highest ROI for the community, nation, and world even if only 5-10% of alumni return or directly give back directly to the university. The student is the #1 primary mission of the university. Not sports or anything else. Half this money would stay invested so it could keep pace with inflation and sustain full scholarships for decades to come.
2. Sciences and technology (STEM) (20%): These disciplines are the higher paying jobs and garner professional research grants. It provides seed to the future. Having sufficient faculty, support staff, and facilities to stay ahead help keep us focused as an institution for generations and is an engine for ROI. About 20-25% of this allocation would remain invested in endowment to extend the shelf life of this grant.
3. Education and Libraries (10%): A high value discipline that provides students with resources to teach and do research on advanced studies. Nearly all this money would be spent in the here and now for infrastructure, but would withhold 2-5% for endowment investment.
4. Law School (10%): Middle Tennessee urgently needs a professional school of some kind. Medicine or veterinary would also work here, but $50 million is a tight budget to start a completely new program, and law would be more economically feasible as a brand new offering at MT. It might not cover everything, but it would be enough to get off the ground for sure. One cannot replicate UAB’s Medical School for $50 million. Fully spent money.
5. Athletics (10%): This is a hard call. I do agree with James E. Walker’s vision that “athletics is the front porch” of a university. It builds engagement in the community in terms of pride and reconnecting alumni every year. Sadly (to some), I would recommend that we spend our allocated money on basketball and Olympic sports more than football. Upgrades to Murphy Center and having higher levels of training, nutrition, and conditioning programs. Better fundraising should pay for football and stadium improvements, not a one time grant. Jumbotrons get dated in 3-5 years, we need more ROI than spending $3+ million on a scoreboard every few years. Let the advertisements pay: get sponsors such as Coca Cola, Nissan or GM to take care of that. I read somewhere a librarian left $4 million of their life estate to University of New Hampshire and a large chunk went to a scoreboard for the football field ($1.5 million) because it was “unrestricted”. That’s poor ROI.
6. Arts and Humanities (10%): The university is the cultural center of a community and theatre, arts, and music should be appreciated. Many remember concerts at Murphy Center and we have a connection through our RIMS and Mass Comm to Nashville and the music industry. Individuals and philanthropy will be drawn to exhibitions that we can host or sponsor. $50 million can go a long way here and if wisely deployed, better ROI with contacts in Nashville and LA.
7. Health and Wellness: Since we cannot afford a medical school with the other priorities, the final ten percent should go to promoting health, wellness, and nursing programs that we currently have. We need to be stronger advocates for senior citizens and the elderly as more of the baby boomers generation reaches retirement age and those individuals often have money that can be bequeathed to the university if we reach a fair percentage. Wellness and wholeness of life can go a long way to reaching those living here in Murfreesboro. Perhaps stronger partnering with Meharry or Vanderbilt Health can gain our programs more credibility and visibility for the dollars invested.
I’ve covered a wide spectrum of programs that we mainly have at MT to give us the greatest impact for our money. It’s easy to spend all of it on just one category, but are we reaching the highest level of engagement if we do? My thought is MT is an institution of higher learning FIRST and our mission should speak towards direct impact of Murfreesboro and Middle Tennessee (our primary service area) before we can effectively reach the hinterlands of the world over. Technology can and will change us in the years ahead, especially AI and the broadband connections, but we have to have a strong foundation or otherwise it won’t matter in the eyes of many.
