Florida State students launch Protect Our Professors campaign

Florida State University students have launched Protect Our Professors, a fundraising campaign conceived and organized by students at the university.

Student leaders from across campus, led by the Senior Class Officers, are embarking on the campaign to raise money and participation among all students, to ensure the future of Florida State University. In a time of an uncertain economy, students want to show that the heart and soul of the University, the faculty and staff, needs to be supported.

The idea for POP grew out of a discussion concerning the 2009 senior class gift. Florida State students decided they wanted to provide moral and financial support to the people who touch their lives on an almost daily basis — their faculty. And, they decided this gift was much bigger than the senior class alone; they crafted a campaign that now invites all students to show their support for FSU and its talented faculty.

Protect Our Professors hopes to accomplish several goals that will have a positive impact over time. This campaign will be a platform to show all of Florida State's constituents that students care about the destiny of the institution. In addition, this effort will help educate students on the current state budget crisis that will affect students profoundly over the next few years. Students feel that it is critical to hire and retain the best faculty and staff in order to increase their chances of being better prepared for the world. This grassroots campaign will help ease the budget crisis and serve as an opportunity to create and harness a spirit of philanthropy amongst our students.

The student-led Protect Our Professors campaign will turn this generation of students' compassion into action. A group of diverse leaders from around campus have already committed to establish this as the cornerstone effort of the student gift campaign.

Protect Our Professors is critically important to Florida State. By establishing and increasing student participation, annual giving rates increase the rankings of the institution. This will also send a powerful message of student satisfaction, which is also a factor that influences rankings. Student giving rates will have a much needed positive effect on motivating alumni to support Florida State. In addition, major donors are more likely to support the university if they see high student satisfaction. Finally, student giving rates encourage the administration to allocate resources to areas that are most important to students.

Utilizing traditional media and social networking outlets, students are spreading the word and inviting fellow classmates and people from the community to show their support. For more information, visit the campaign Web site at prof.fsu.edu or on Facebook, Protect Our Professors.