Last year the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences received more than $422,000 in unrestricted gifts from alumni and friends. Another $233,000 in income was earned from unrestricted endowment funds. While these funds represent only a fraction of the college's total revenue, their unrestricted status provides Dean Susan Henry with flexibility in determining how best to use the funds to achieve the greatest impact on the college's priorities.

Each year, these gifts and income provide half of the unrestricted resources available to address the college's highest priority, according to John Finamore, associate dean for financial affairs. These are the primary resources available to the dean to address the greatest needs and efforts of the college. Without the support of private gifts through endowments and annual contributions, there would be very few resources available to respond to new opportunities and emerging priorities such as the New Life Sciences Initiative.

The college is committed to recruiting and retaining the best faculty members. While most faculty support is provided by core or department funds, occasionally additional funding is needed to provide specific laboratory renovations, equipment purchases, or program support for highly sought new faculty members. Over the past years, special projects have included funds for new Undergraduate Business Program faculty, a usability lab for the human-computer interaction group in the Department of Communication, renovation of greenhouses for applied field research, and labora-tory space in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics.

"The college's unrestricted funds also allow us to move forward with critical capital improvements that just are not possible through the State of New York budget," says Finamore. A few years ago, the college was in desperate need of renovated laboratories for the plant genomics group. Through the use of $600,000 from unrestricted resources, the college was able to move forward with the renovation of dedicated space in Emerson Hall, supporting this important project within the New Life Sciences Initiative and retaining top-notch faculty.

Unrestricted gifts have benefited many efforts in the college, including special one-time projects and startup costs of new initiatives. For example, after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Dean Henry sponsored a one-credit course on Global Terrorism. Resources also have been used for startup funding for the college's Genomics Initiative, a video for the Maple Production School, an informational brochure on agricultural biotechnology, and initial support for the Community, Food, and Agriculture Program (formerly the Farming Alternatives Program). Each year the college is host to many professional conferences and meetings involving faculty, researchers, producers, and alumni; on occasion, some support is provided directly to those meetings that match the college's highest academic priorities.

"Annual, unrestricted support from the college's alumni and friends is critical to our future success. The only way we can respond to emerging needs is with the kind of flexible resources provided by unrestricted gifts and endowment income," states Michael Riley, assistant dean for public affairs. "As alumni plan their end-of-year charitable contributions, I hope they will consider an unrestricted commitment to the college."

For more information on making a gift to the college, please visit www.cals.cornell.edu/development or call the development office at (607) 255-7652.

- Ben Davis '88