NAA President Tommy Mitchell has made raising unrestricted
funds a key priority of his tenure. Most donations that universities receive are
restricted funds that are designated for a specific school or scholarship
program. But unrestricted funds permit universities wide flexibility to invest
in critical areas such as research.
For example, FAMU is continuing the process of searching for
top-rate researchers to fill a number of its vacant endowed chairs. The
university can use unrestricted funds to provide endowed chair professors with research support packages
that include: laboratory equipment, travel funds, graduate research assistants,
and postdoctoral aides.