Your Gift. Your Choice.

Your Gift. Your Choice.

Opportunities to Give

Assist Students
Lack of money is often the biggest obstacle faced by students wanting to attend college. And the need today is greater than ever. Dwindling state support for higher education has driven tuition and fees higher and higher, just as America’s economic downturn sapped family savings and income. Scholarships are often the deciding factor in whether a student can attend college, and funding them is one of the University’s greatest needs. Here are some of the scholarship endowment opportunities at Austin Peay.

Academic Scholarships — In-State $150,000
Earnings from these endowments are used to attract outstanding in-state students, especially local and regional students. Students compete for full scholarships on the bases of academic achievement and community service.

Academic Scholarships — Out-of-State $250,000
Earnings from these endowments are used to attract outstanding students nationwide. Students compete for tuition and book scholarships on the bases of academic achievement and demonstrated potential. These endowments, which have naming opportunities, bring the best and brightest to APSU.

President’s Emerging Leaders Program Scholarships $50,000
The principal from these endowments is used to support the President’s Emerging Leaders Program, which is designed to attract outstanding student leaders in each year’s entering class. All President’s Emerging Leaders Scholars engage in rigorous academic and leadership development activities.

Honors Scholarships $25,000 - $50,000
These endowments are used to support students with the potential for accelerated academic performance. Acceptance to the program is granted on a merit basis without regard to financial need of the candidates.

Nontraditional Student Scholarships $25,000 - $100,000
These endowments are used to attract and assist talented and highly motivated adult students. Many of these students work or care for a family in addition to attending college. A scholarship
provides much-needed assistance and can be a determining factor in whether these students can continue their pursuit of a degree.

Partial Scholarships $25,000
Earnings from these endowments are used as annual awards to students. Awards may be based on financial need, academic and/or extracurricular activities. Awards cover a portion of students’ tuition and fees.
Earnings from these endowments will be used to support students with books or tuition assistance.

Graduate Assistantships $250,000
Graduate assistantships are used to attract and assist students who want to pursue a master’s degree. Financial assistance decreases the educational debt of the recipients as they establish skills and knowledge in their chosen field.

Graduate Scholarships $50,000
Like graduate assistantships, these funds are used to attract and assist students pursuing a master’s degree.

Annual Scholarships
These scholarships are awarded to deserving students on an annual basis and may bear a name. Amounts can range from $250 to $1,500 a year.

Tuition Scholarships
Currently $2,500 per year, these scholarships assist students who need help with tuition. Donors may set guidelines and identify particular disciplines for these scholarships.

Book Scholarships
Typically gifts of $1,000 per year, these awards are given to students who need assistance in covering the cost of textbooks. Donors may set guidelines for the awards and pay annually.

Support Scholars
Under-recognized in the University’s hierarchy of needs, gifts offered in support of the faculty make an incredible difference in the quality of faculty the University attracts—and how successfully it retains them. It also affects how effectively faculty members teach and serve their students. These gifts can be designated for an endowment, an award or a purpose, as listed below.

Chairs $2,000,000
Endowed chairs help APSU attract faculty with a national or international reputation for quality teaching and research. Occupants of endowed chairs share their knowledge of the latest developments in their field of study. Chairholders are responsible for guiding, nurturing and developing a particular area to its fullest potential and serve as role models for students and other faculty members in the department. Endowed chair opportunities include the following:
Chair of Excellence in Information Technology
Chair of Excellence in Education
Chair of Excellence in the Sciences
Chair of Excellence in Health Sciences
Chair of Excellence in Communication

Distinguished Professors Awards $250,000
Bestowed from an endowed fund, the Distinguished Professor Award is given to faculty members who have demonstrated exemplary professional performance with an emphasis on teaching.

Professorships $100,000
Bestowed from an endowed fund, professorships provide incentives to faculty to achieve ever-higher levels of academic excellence and student service.

Faculty Recognition Awards
Funded and bestowed annually, these awards recognize faculty members who have enhanced the University’s reputation through their excellence in teaching, service or research.

Research Incentive Awards
Viewed as a key benefit by academicians, these awards help Austin Peay attract and retain outstanding scholar-teachers. The awards also assist them in their efforts to introduce new knowledge about their respective fields. Awards from this endowment are used for research and research-related travel costs.

Enhance Colleges and Programs
Donors often feel an affinity for a particular academic area or program. Some prefer to direct support to a college related to a particular profession, or to an area they believe has particularly strong needs. Austin Peay’s giving program is structured to allow donors to choose specific centers, colleges or schools as recipients of financial gifts. Examples include:

African American Cultural Center
APSU Center at Fort Campbell
Center of Excellence for Field Biology
Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts
Child Learning Center
College of Arts and Letters
College of Science and Mathematics
College of Business
College of Graduate Studies
College of Professional Programs and Social Sciences
Counseling Center
Extended Education & Distance Learning
Geographic Information Systems Center
Learning Resource Center
Library Media Center
School of Education
School of Nursing
Small Business Development Center

Enhance Fine Arts
Gifts designated for fine arts provide scholarships for students and improve equipment and facilities. Examples include:
Art Scholarships
Choral Scholarships
Theatre Scholarships
Band Scholarships
Ensemble Scholarships
Art Gallery
Concert Hall
Theatre

Enhance Athletics
Gifts designated for athletic programs provide scholarships for athletes and help the University meet equity guidelines as its athletes represent Austin Peay in the Ohio Valley Conference, Pioneer Conference and nationally. Gifts to athletics also present naming opportunities for benefactors. Here are some examples:
Full student scholarships
Partial student scholarships
Training room
Weight room
Football stadium
Locker rooms
Soccer field
Softball field
Dunn Center bleachers

Help the University Meet Other Important Needs
Gifts to support students, faculty and programs are important, but they are not the only needs the University has. Others are equally vital.

Science and Technology Equipment Acquisitions
Funds designated for this purpose will be used to update and maintain scientific and technological tools such as computers, microscopes and lab equipment.

Cultural Enhancement
College is about more than tests and textbooks. It is a time for students to discover great art, music, drama and literature. Cultural enhancement gifts are used to bring musical performances, dramatic presentations, dance performances, art exhibits and other cultural events to the campus. It also allows the University to expose students to lectures by renowned speakers.

Facilities Development
Austin Peay has been greatly enhanced by recent campus additions: the Sundquist Science Complex, which was funded by the state, and the Joe Morgan University Center, which is being funded through student fees over many years. But many other facilities are in great need of repair and refurbishment, including the Felix Woodward Library and the Trahern Building, which houses art classrooms and an art gallery. The University also would like to build an International House, a Student Services Building, an Agricultural Pavilion and a University Club. Naming opportunities are available for both refurbishment and construction gifts and include rooms, wings, departments or buildings.

Staff Training and Education
University employees often earn less than their contemporaries in the private sector. Yet, most bring a tremendous level of dedication to their positions, along with the desire to improve their performance and efficiency in any way possible. Gifts to enhance staff excellence recognize dedicated employees and support their desire for learning by providing funds for professional development.

Get the Most From Your Charitable Donation
“Give and it shall be given unto you.” With today’s economic structure, the phrase is true in a practical as well as spiritual sense. Well-placed and properly handled charitable donations can bring about reductions in income taxes, capital gains taxes and federal estate taxes. They also can be used to establish a lifetime income for yourself or a loved one.
There are numerous ways to give: charitable remainder trusts, gift annuity agreements, life estate agreements and revocable living trust agreements, to name just a few. You can give through a will, a life insurance policy, securities—or simply write a check. A University representative or trusted financial adviser can explain the benefits of each method and help you decide which is best for you and your loved ones. Here is a brief list of the forms gifts can take.

• Shares of stock in publicly traded companies and, in some cases, in closely held private
companies
• Planned gifts, including those made through wills (in the form of bequests) and
charitable remainder and lead trusts
• Life insurance policies that make the University the owner and beneficiary of the policy
• Retirement plans that name the University as beneficiary
• Gifts of personal property such as books, jewelry, art, professional equipment and other
items

Though the methods of giving are varied and can seem complex, the act of giving is not. Simply call or write Austin Peay’s University Advancement Office. Our staff will answer any questions and, if you’d like, visit you personally to explain every option. Or you can simply mail your contribution.
Whatever the amount of your check, and wherever it is designated to go, the true recipients of your generosity are the students of Austin Peay.
You also could complete the “Pay to the Order” line with “Myself.” Because a better-educated society means a better future for all of us, and for those who follow us.

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