As a member of the Close to Home Campaign, which encourages faculty and staff to provide financial support for the University, Suresh Nair likes to point out how easy it is to give to UConn. “Faculty and staff can use payroll deduction to make donations as low as $1 per pay period, and they can designate the support for any one of more than 300 different programs or areas of the University that are meaningful to them. It couldn’t be easier,” says Nair, professor of operations and information management in the School of Business and interim associate vice provost .
His own goal for his philanthropy for UConn is simple. “My aim is to give back my first year’s salary, and I am 90 percent there,” says Nair, who has been with UConn for 24 years and is a regular donor.
The University also makes it easy for faculty and staff to establish an endowed fund. All it takes is a pledge of $10,000 with payments made over five years. “The fund can be named after you, your family, or anyone you care to honor, and it lasts for generations,” says Nair.
This year, faculty and staff can give to a new scholarship fund named for the Close to Home Campaign.
“The committee established the Close to Home Scholarship Fund to give donors the ability to see who their contributions help,” says Nair.
Last year, the Close to Home campaign raised more than $1.9 million for UConn. Nearly 1,400 current staff and faculty made gifts totaling $963,000, while $938,000 was donated by 415 emeriti and retired staff members, Mun Choi, interim Provost and Executive Vice President, said at a reception for Close to Home participants last month.
“UConn has given me everything I hoped for from my career,” says Nair. “It has encouraged and supported me in all my endeavors, and I am sure will continue to do so till the last day I work here. I feel an immense sense of loyalty to the school and feel strongly that I need to show my gratitude by helping students and programs so the University attracts the best students and gives them a top-class education and takes its rightful place among the top competitive public research universities in the country.”
For more information about the close to Home Campaign, please visit the campaign website at foundation.uconn.edu/close-to-home.html
