The Parents Fund

Helping Faculty Say 'Yes' to Berkeley

By Julie Chiron

Attracting and holding onto brilliant faculty members like Robert Tjian, pictured above, remains a top priority for UC Berkeley.

Summer 2005 | Robert Tjian is a world-class professor who can't imagine working anywhere else but Berkeley. Private funding is a significant piece of the intricate puzzle that helps keep faculty of his caliber coming to this extraordinary university.

"I get great colleagues, and I get great students," says Tjian, an acclaimed professor of biochemistry and molecular biology whose pioneering research is elucidating the intricate molecular machinery that turns genes on and off. Tjian earned his undergraduate degree from Berkeley in 1971, obtained a doctorate from Harvard, and returned to Cal as a faculty member 25 years ago. "There's some magic here," he said.

Attracting brilliant faculty members like Tjian and holding onto them remain top priorities at UC Berkeley, with far-reaching intellectual and economic consequences. They are also priorities that present an ever-growing challenge as budget cuts in several successive years have reduced state funding for the University.

Although the best faculty want to come and stay at Berkeley, professors here have historically earned less than their counterparts at private peer institutions, and that gap is widening. Faculty salaries at Berkeley are lagging up to 27 percent behind those of our private peer institutions.

Preserving the quality of Berkeley's faculty is crucial not only to the university's continuing excellence but also to California's vitality. Berkeley professors educate future generations of scientists, policy makers, business leaders, and others. They also fuel intellectual and economic progress by innovating new technology, founding companies, and making discoveries in fields ranging from cancer research and telecommunications to global commerce and human relations.

Gap in Faculty Salaries: Berkeley to Peers Berkeley faces its fiercest competition for faculty from the nation's elite private institutions. Since 2000, Harvard has tried to recruit more of our faculty than any other private institution and has been the most successful in luring our faculty away. In spite of the widening gap in average salaries, Berkeley has had a 75 percent success rate in recruiting new faculty during the past 10 years. However, this success has been achieved only through extraordinary and costly measures that Berkeley cannot sustain over the long term.

Faced with financial cutbacks, university officials regularly must make difficult decisions in order to preserve the stellar quality of the teaching staff and core academic program. In addition, the campus has successfully managed to keep many highly recruited faculty members and attract top new professors by matching the offers of competing institutions in a high-stakes academic market. But those strategies come at a high and ultimately unsustainable cost.

New approaches are needed. One promising strategy calls for the campus to turn increasingly to private philanthropy for faculty support. "Our ability to fund the excellence of Berkeley's faculty will require a growing partnership with private supporters who are committed to Berkeley's academic preeminence," said Donald A. McQuade, vice chancellor for university relations.

Parent gifts through The Parents Fund help Berkeley compete to attract and keep top professors by funding faculty start-up programs, new laboratories, and technological resources to create an environment where innovative teaching and research can flourish.

For Tjian, part of the allure of teaching and working at Berkeley is that it is a public university. "We get students who are the first in their family to go to a university," he notes. "That's part of the attraction to me."

Parents raise a record $1 million for Cal
Gifts to The Parents Fund exceeded $1 million in June, thanks to the collective efforts of more than 4,400 Cal parents. This is the largest gift ever raised in a Parents Fund campaign and marks a new era of parent involvement at Cal.

Measures of Berkeley Faculty Excellence Berkeley has some of the most distinguished faculty in the nation. Recruiting faculty of similar distinction and retaining current faculty are two of Cal's greatest challenges. 18 Nobel Laureates since 1939 216 American Academy of Arts and Sciences 85 National Academy of Engineering 106 National Academy of Sciences 14 National Medal of Science

Funds raised by parents are invested in a wide array of enhancements to the student experience, such as small-class seminars for freshmen and sophomores, advances in classroom technology, and expanded safety programs. Parents also provide critical funding for faculty recruitment and retention programs. Last year, gifts to The Parents Fund helped maintain courses that would have been cut because of mid-year budget cuts from the state.

"We are delighted that The Parents Fund has reached this landmark," says Andrea Roth, co-chair of the Parents Fund Advisory Board. "We hope that every parent will be inspired to give whatever he or she can—and surely we will raise even more to support our students."

To make your gift to The Parents Fund, call Jennifer Kitt at 510/643-2471 or give online with your credit card at givetocal.berkeley.edu (select The Parents Fund under P in the A-Z index).