Tag Archives: donations

December 2016 Newsletter: Spartans Supporting Spartans Campaign Funds Student Scholarships and More

Photo: Christina Olivas San Jose State University staff and faculty gave more than $80,000 in donations to the Spartan Supporting Spartans Campaign in 2016. The 2017 campaign will launch in March.

Photo: Christina Olivas
San Jose State University staff and faculty gave more than $80,000 in donations to the Spartan Supporting Spartans Campaign in 2016. The 2017 campaign will launch in March.

In 2016, the Spartans Supporting Spartans Annual Giving Campaign raised $81,700 in gifts and pledges from 287 faculty and staff at SJSU. The annual fundraising campaign raises money that directly supports students through scholarships, the student emergency fund, and expanding research, scholarship and creative activity opportunities for them to engage with faculty.

The Spartans Supporting Spartans Campaign Committee has already started preparations for the spring 2017 donation drive that is anticipated to kick off onMarch 2. The committee is again planning to bring mobile coffee carts to more than half a dozen locations on campus in March and April, with hot beverages, treats and donation forms in hand. The co-chairs this year include Michael Kimbarow, the chair of the Academic Senate and a professor of Communicative Disorders and Sciences, and Elisabeth Thomas, an outreach librarian.

“I received my bachelor’s and master’s degrees,” she said, “And have made a career here at SJSU. I continue to make great memories full of wonderful people, places and events.”

Thomas joined the committee in spring 2013 and became co-chair in spring 2015. She gives back as part of the Spartans Supporting Spartans campaign because it feels good to give back “to a place that has given me so much.”

“These donations will help give current and future SJSU students the resources they need for academic success so that they too will one day look on the good memories they made at SJSU,” she said.

Kimbarow is serving for the third year as co-chair and he donates because he believes every dollar raised to support students and the mission is a dollar well spent. He donates to his department to support its mission of providing speech and language assessment and treatment to individuals with communicative disorders.

“It’s my way of showing potential donors that I’m not asking them to do anything that I’m not willing to do myself to support SJSU,” he said. “In my opinion, the best reason for faculty and staff to give to the campaign is that it feels good to know that in some small way we are making a positive impact and statement to the campus about our students and programs.”

Faculty and staff may designate their donation to any fund on campus, including one within their own department, college or division. Popular funds in recent years have included SJSU’s General Scholarship Fund, the Support Our Staff Scholarship Fund (a scholarship for SJSU employees who are completing a degree), and the Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity fund.

2016 Spartans Supporting Spartans Campaign launches

Diana Fitts, an occupational therapy student who works with clients on art projects and other activities that help with rehabilitation, received a Support Our Staff Scholarship for 2015-16.

Diana Fitts, an occupational therapy student who works with clients on art projects and other activities that help with rehabilitation, received a Support Our Staff Scholarship for 2015-16.

The 2016 Spartans Supporting Spartans campaign started in March, with SJSU staff and faculty from all divisions invited to donate to University Advancement. The theme again this year is “My Grounds For Giving at SJSU” and Spartans Supporting Spartans committee members will be hosting coffee breaks around campus, with free coffee and snacks for faculty and staff.

Donations support such programs as Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity; SJSU’s General Scholarship Fund; Support Our Staff Scholarship Fund; or donors can select any program or fund they want to support. Those who make one-time donation of at least $53 or enroll in payroll deductions to donate $5 or more a month will receive a t-shirt.

Last year, 36 percent of donors were from Academic Affairs and 64 percent of overall donations benefited students directly. Last year’s Support Our Staff Scholarship Fund received enough donations to give five $500 scholarships to San Jose State staff members who are completing a degree at SJSU.

Diana Fitts works as an assistant residential life coordinator while she is completing her master’s in occupational therapy. Fitts said she was inspired to pursue occupational therapy after spending time in El Salvador and the Philippines.

“People were in need of assistance, but they didn’t have resources,” she said. “I like figuring out what someone’s needs are and how to meet those needs.”

Fitts, who is scheduled to graduate in spring 2016, said the “Support Our Staff” scholarship allowed her to purchase books that will help her prepare for licensing exams and board certification.

Learn more about the Spartans Supporting Spartans campaign.

Upcoming events include:

  • March 15: 9 to 11 a.m. – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library and Student Union
  • March 23: 9 to 11 a.m. – Administration and Clark Hall
  • March 29: 9 to 11 a.m. – Student Services Center, Corporation Yard and FD&O
  • April 7: 9 to 11 a.m. – Human Resources and Student Wellness Center
  • April 14: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Faculty and Staff Dining Room, Student Union

 

November newsletter: Academic division helps Food for Students fund

A volunteer stocks a student food shelf on campus. The Academic Affairs Division raised $7,000 for the SJSU Food for Students fund to support this and other efforts to help students with food insecurities.

A volunteer stocks a student food shelf on campus. The Academic Affairs Division raised $7,000 for the SJSU Food for Students fund to support this and other efforts to help students with food insecurities.

As part of the Academic Affairs Staff Appreciation Breakfast each year, administrators and staff compete in a donation challenge to support members of the community who face food insecurity. Provost Andy Feinstein volunteers a half-day of work with the unit that brings in the most donations. This year, members of the division raised money for the SJSU Food for Students Fund to support students in need.

Provost Feinstein announced at the October breakfast that $7,000 had been donated by staff and administrators in the division. Staff and administrators from the Connie L. Lurie College of Education gave the highest dollar amount.

Food insecurity is a real issue at San Jose State. SJSU Associated Student President LooLoo Amante shared her story this summer about struggling when she first arrived on campus.

According to Tovah Feldmanstern, who works in Counseling and Psychological Services at SJSU, one in three SJSU students say that it is often or sometimes true that they were hungry but didn’t eat because there wasn’t enough money for food and one in three SJSU students also say that it is often or sometimes true that they had to choose between food and living expenses such as rent, transportation or utilities.

Learn more about free and low-cost food sources on and off campus.