Sorbonne university raises academic eyebrows in pitch for private funds
SORBONNE University is appealing for private funds in an attempt to raise £88 million over five years with the aim of becoming a “French Harvard”.
Faculty members at the mainly statefinanced institution in Paris say it is underfunded and lags behind British and American universities.
The fundraising is opposed by Leftwing teachers and students, who believe private funding threatens the principle of free state education where undergraduates pay only token fees.
“We need to change that mentality and usher in a new mindset,” one lecturer said. Universities, as opposed to elite “grandes écoles” and private colleges, have only been allowed to raise funds privately since 2008.
Even if the Sorbonne achieves its aim, it will still benefit from less private funding than top UK universities or elite US colleges such as Harvard, which raised nearly £900million last year. Sorbonne’s annual budget is £590 million.
Barthélémy Jobert, head of the Sorbonne University Foundation, said: “We’ve already been pledged €50million (£44million), mainly from companies. The real challenge for us is individual donors.” The university hopes to solicit donations from successful alumni, and has a team working to identify well-placed potential donors among its 360,000 graduates.
Budget cuts have left buildings in disrepair. “An American was ready to commit to restoring the Sorbonne chapel organ but he when he saw the state of the chapel, he backed out,” Mr Jobert said.
The private funds will help create scholarships and inter-disciplinary faculty posts, and buy an atomic force microscope. In January, the Sorbonne merged with the Pierre and Marie Curie university. It now has three faculties: science, medicine and arts, with 6,700 faculty members and 55,000 students.
Since the ban on private funding was lifted, 49 of France’s 73 universities have set up fundraising foundations.
Provincial universities have had success with private donors because of their links with local industries. Bordeaux university, for example, works closely with the various wine chateaux.