The ExxonMobil UT ChE Alumni Fund
The ChE Department, Faculty, and Students
Our Chemical Engineering Department consists of 28 internationally recognized faculty, four of whom are members of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Department has approximately 600 undergraduates and 180 graduate students. We graduate between 100 and 110 BS students and 20 to 25 PhDs each year.
Interest is high for the ChE degree and freshmen enrollment is restricted to 140 elite students.
Graduate students are recruited nationally and internationally and are highly sought by other top programs as well; 65% to 70% are US citizens or Permanent Residents.
Over the last five years 96.5% of our graduates have found employment in industry within three months after graduation.
Vision and Mission for our UT Austin ChE Department
- Vision - to be the premier ChE department in education and research by serving the State of Texas and the world with high-quality graduates and the creation of innovative technologies.
- Mission - to provide a superior ChE engineering education grounded in the fundamentals of science and engineering. Through research, scholarship, and service, enable our graduates to develop the technological advances of the future that improve society and quality of life.
Realizing the Vision and Executing the Mission
Of the 158 chemical engineering programs in the United States, our program has ranked in the top 5 or 6 for the past two years – truly among the elite programs. Getting to this point was no accident. It took commitment of the State of Texas, faculty with a vision, industry donations, generous support of friends and alumni, and outstanding graduates who made a difference in their organizations and society. To succeed in the future our graduates must be at the forefront of the discipline and have the education and sound foundations that will enable them to add value.
The Future
The ChE Department needs alumni help to continue to provide the excellent educational environment that played a major role in your professional development. The momentum that propelled the ChE program into the elite rank will not last due to fundamental changes in funding and support over the past two decades.
The Challenge—Corporate Support: During the last ten years restructuring in the Chemical Industry has reduced annual corporate giving by half to less than $100,000.
The Challenge—Declining State Support while we strive to maintain quality:
Since 1985 increases in State funding for UT have been less each year than the annual rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
The ExxonMobil UT ChE Alumni Fund is a free-standing part of on-going efforts in the ChE department (including the Alumni Excellence Endowment Fund) established to secure vital support from alumni to address ChE’s short-term and long-term needs. Here are the high points:
- XOM Fund Focus #1: Increase alumni support for the ChE Department— Only 28% of XOM UT ChE alumni are active donors. Approximately 10% of our 5600 UT ChE graduates are consistent donors.
- XOM Fund Focus #2: Encourage UT ChE alumni who work at ExxonMobil to make one-time gifts or provide gifts consistently over several years to reach a specific personal goal. Recognize alumni who are progressing toward the goal and those who have reached their goal.
Due to departmental short-term needs, 50 percent of the total gifts received is used to meet immediate needs and 50 percent is placed in an *endowment to build a stable source of funds long-term.
Proposed 2005 – 2007 XOM Fund goal: $2,000,000 ($1 Million to Endowment and $1 Million Spendable)
For 2005, the ChE Department has projected a basic need of $590,000 (see below), of which $350,000 is un-funded.
| Meet start-up commitments to recently hired young faculty | $265,000 |
| Recruit/ retain the brightest undergraduate/ graduate students with scholarships and fellowship programs | $210,000 |
| Upgrade Department facilities, equipment and teaching programs | $75,000 |
| Enhance learning through lecturers and visiting professors from academia and industry and by using the latest information technology-based tools in the classroom | $40,000 |
|
Total: |
$590,000 |
Making the Legacy Happen
Our goal—pass along the “Legacy of Opportunity” to our future fellow UT ChE alumni by engaging in “impact giving”—to provide the resources to develop chemical engineers!
- Make a commitment over three years to give to the Department of Chemical Engineering. Leverage XOM's 3:1 matching gift program to increase your contribution.
- Outcome #1—with part of this gift create a $1 million endowment* for the ChE department which the department can rely on in the future as a steady source of income.
- Outcome #2—allow the department to use part of our gift (and XOM match) as “spendable funds” to invest now in the transformation of lives of current students.
- Encourage as many as possible of the 170 UT ChEs with XOM now (and annuitants) to make contributions over three years. The two tables below provide guidance on gift levels and participation levels as well as breadth to achieve the $1 million endowment.
| Annual Contribution from an XOM-UT CHE | XOM Match | Total Annual Gift Amount | Three-year Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| $7,500 | $22,500 | $30,000 | $90,000 |
| 5,000 | 15,000 | 20,000 | 60,000 |
| 2,500 | 7,500 | 10,000 | 30,000 |
| 1,000 | 3,000 | 4,000 | 12,000 |
| 500 | 1,500 | 2,000 | 6,000 |
| 100 | 300 | 400 | 1,200 |
| Number of Gifts from CHE Alumni | Contribution from an XOM CHE | XOM Match | Total Leverage | Annual Amount Total This Category | Three-year Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | $7,500 | $22,500 | $30,000 | $150,000 | $450,000 |
| 8 | 5,000 | 15,000 | 20,000 | 160,000 | 480,000 |
| 12 | 2,500 | 7,500 | 10,000 | 120,000 | 360,000 |
| 30 | 1,000 | 3,000 | 4,000 | 120,000 | 360,000 |
| 45 | 500 | 1,500 | 2,000 | 90,000 | 270,000 |
| 67 | 100 | 300 | 400 | 26,800 | 80,400 |
| 167 | $666,800 | $2,400,000 |
Recognition
Recognition is important for two reasons:
- It is a way to say thank you for your support.
- It tells today's students that our alumni want to help students and inspire them to be "givers" in their community rather than just "takers". As our students grow professionally, we hope they will continue the tradition of alumni support.
Donors who give a total of $30,000 or more over three years ($7,500 plus the XOM match) will be honored through the creation of a special endowment fund in the donor's name and the placement of a individual plaque in a prominent location in the ChE building. Donors who give less than $30,000 will be honored as well on one plaque which lists the group. A celebration of success is scheduled for Fall 2005 at a home football game.
Gifts to this program are recognized through the Friends of Alec program as well.
How to Give
Print the ExxonMobil ChE Pledge card (PDF format), fill it out and mail it in per the instructions on the card. Be sure to select your gift level and decide whether you want to fulfill your pledge as a one-time gift or over three years.
You may give online. Please be sure to designate the ExxonMobil UT ChE Alumni Fund as the recipient and indicate that ExxonMobil will match your gift. A Matching Gift form (PDF format) is available.
For additional information, please contact Boone Powell in the College of Engineering Development Office, (512) 471-4046.
*Endowment: Money given which is never spent. It is invested permanently with only distributions from earnings spent. Corpus stays intact forever, providing an annual income stream for the ChE department.