“I’m very dedicated to the education that people receive at Pacific, and I want to make it accessible and sustainable for our students,” said Linda Hunt, an occupational therapy and gerontology professor at Pacific University.

Hunt is among the 66 percent of Pacific faculty and staff members who give back to the University with financial support. That figure is well beyond what similar institutions see. Pacific’s closest competitor in employee giving, Willamette University, saw a 60 percent employee giving rate in 2011-12, but typical numbers among Northwest Conference schools (George Fox, Lewis & Clark and the like) hover between 20 and 40 percent. Linfield College drew contributions from only 33 percent of its employees.

Hunt chose to make her contribution in the form of a scholarship in memory of her belated grandmother. Other employee contributions support the ongoing work and goals of the University, from the annual fund and endowment to scholarships and capital campaigns.

Those employee contributions are worth more than the financial investment that faculty and staff make, though. They also convey the value that employees place on a Pacific University education—a message that is passed on to other potential supporters and granting agencies with success.