The NJIT NEXT comprehensive campaign has surpassed its $150 million goal to become the largest philanthropic fundraising effort in university history, NJIT officials reported today. The 10-year campaign raised $153,700,251 or 102 percent of the goal, two years ahead of schedule, to undergird a campus transformation that has received national attention.
"The NJIT NEXT campaign has been a keystone in a decade of significant growth and development. The tremendous success of this campaign sustains and advances the University's leadership in education, research and economic development," said President Joel S. Bloom. "These historic gifts show strong belief in our students, faculty, programs and community, while providing them with the necessary tools to help solve some of the world's difficult problems. Our donors understand that we are preparing for what is NEXT in a technology-based economy."
The campaign, which raised $9,006,727 in private funds in FY2015 alone, supports NJIT's transformation and lays a solid foundation for 2020 Vision: A Strategic Plan for NJIT. Since the campaigns launch, NJIT endowed funds surpassed $100 million. Some 125 new student scholarships have been established, providing opportunities that attract the brightest students. NJIT enrollment is at an all-time high, of more than 11,000 students.
"We are deeply grateful for the engagement of our alumni, the commitment of our donors and the tireless efforts of campaign volunteers and staff," said Dr. Charles R. Dees, Jr., president and COO of the NJIT Foundation and vice president for university advancement. "This support has helped NJIT become the first choice for so many high achieving students and faculty superstars, all of whom contribute to the vitality of this campus."
Academic Excellence
Private gifts have supported financial aid, faculty recruitment, research and the establishment of new academic institute and centers. Gifts and grants for research are ensuring that NJIT students and faculty have ample opportunities to explore the leading edge of science, technology and design in their chosen fields. When the campaign was announced, NJIT financial targets included a combined $75 million goal for endowed scholarships, fellowships, and endowed chairs and professorships. The funds raised allow NJIT to provide essential assistance for students pursuing degrees in the university's core academic specialties.
Endowed chairs and professorships are used to retain and recruit outstanding faculty to enhance NJIT's distinctive learning environment and support professor-student research projects. In the past four years, 97 new faculty and lecturers have joined NJIT, including 17 new faculty this academic year.
Alumni Connections Soar
More than 19,000 donors (alumni, students, faculty, staff, friends, foundations and corporations) contributed gifts to NJIT NEXT since its launch in July 2007. Of those gifts 75 were leadership contributions of $250,000 or more, including several multimillion-dollar donations.
Campaign Co-Chair C. Stephen Cordes '72, former managing director of Clarion Partners, said, "Our alumni connections and spirit are greater than ever. The outpouring of donations from friends, foundations, corporations and alumni is overwhelming and humbling. NJIT supports education, innovation and an environment for next generation technologists to flourish. These gifts benefit us all."
NJIT NEXT set the stage for the university's largest-ever philanthropic gift: a multimillion-dollar commitment from Ying Wu '88, co-founder of UTStarcom, Inc. and founder and CEO of its China-based subsidiary, UTStarcom (China) Ltd., one of China's major telecom equipment providers. Wu's generous gift will be endowed and used for undergraduate scholarships, international graduate student fellowships and for the purchase of key equipment.
Alumni attendance at NJIT events also reached an all-time high, with 40 percent more alumni attending events this year than last. The number of planned alumni events also has increased by 40 percent, and recent alumni pledges have increased by 35 percent.
Alumni annual giving has remained strong, and support of NJIT's annual fundraising event, Celebration, scheduled for Nov. 13 at the Pleasantdale Chateau in West Orange, is increasing. This year's event celebrates 20 years of the Albert Dorman Honors College.
A Growing Campus
Private contributions for capital improvements are transforming the university's physical presence and continue the development of NJIT's next-generation campus. By 2017, some $300 million in capital improvements will have been completed, including a new 4,000 seat Wellness and Events Center, which will serve the entire campus and become the new home of athletics. (A groundbreaking for this center is scheduled on campus for Nov. 12, 2015.) Capital improvements include:
- advanced wireless systems
- new and upgraded wet and dry laboratories
- flex space that encourages multidisciplinary work and student interaction
- new Albert Dorman Honors College Residence Hall, with 360 beds, computer labs, project studios, a library, student lounges and offices
- new Warren Street Village, a three-acre mixed-use complex that added 600 beds to NJIT's existing inventory of residential housing. The complex features dining services, a convenience store, fitness center and five duplex houses for NJIT fraternities and sororities
- complete renovation of the Central King Building, underway and includes smart-classroom technology, state-of-the-art telecom and computer networks, and advanced labs. It will be a STEM teaching and learning hub, providing educational opportunities at all levels, including pre-college programs, and serving as home to NJIT's New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII)
- A 7-floor 981-space parking deck, currently being constructed in Science and Technology Park
- On Oct. 1, ground was broken for a $19 million Life Sciences and Engineering Building, which will assist NJIT's major presence in biomedical engineering and other leading fields.
NJIT is one of our nation's top public polytechnic universities and the largest college of its kind in the New York metropolitan area. NJIT has a growing national reputation for its return on investment and for academic excellence, as noted by entities including the Brookings Institution, US News & World Report and PayScale.com.
The NJIT NEXT campaign was guided by a group of dedicated alumni volunteers including campaign co-chairs: C. Stephen Cordes '72, former managing director of Clarion Partners; Nicholas M. DeNichilo '73, '78, president and CEO of Hatch Mott MacDonald; and Vincent Naimoli '62, chairman emeritus/founder of the Tampa Bay Rays, chairman and CEO of Anchor Industries International and Naimoli Baseball Enterprises.
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About NJIT
One of the nation's leading public technological universities, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is a top-tier research university that prepares students to become leaders in the technology-dependent economy of the 21st century. NJIT's multidisciplinary curriculum and computing-intensive approach to education provide technological proficiency, business acumen and leadership skills. With an enrollment of 11,000 graduate and undergraduate students, NJIT offers small-campus intimacy with the resources of a major public research university. NJIT is a global leader in such fields as solar research, nanotechnology, resilient design, tissue engineering and cyber-security, in addition to others. NJIT ranks fifth among U.S. polytechnic universities in research expenditures, topping $110 million, and is among the top 1 percent of public colleges and universities in return on educational investment, according to Payscale.com.