College Sponsored-Teams: How does your college support you?

[Jeff Waegelin]

I've posed this question in the past, but it's been a long time, and most of my data is out of date: If you are part of a college or university-sponsored team, what kind of assistance do they provide you? I'm interested in all aspects, from technical support personnel, to machine shop access, to monetary sponsorship.

The reason I'm looking for this data is, I'm trying to put together a presentation for the University of Michigan College of Engineering to try to recruit them as a major sponsor. In the past, we've always had U-M students as mentors, but we've never had official University recognition or sponsorship. Last season, we were able to get a small donation from them for the first time ever. This season, we want to build on that, and try to secure more funding. Part of my presentation is going to include some statistics on other universities that sponsor FIRST teams.

So, if you are part of a college-sponsored team, I'd appreciate it if you could answer a few questions to help me with my presentation. If you don't feel comfortable posting things like sponsorship amounts on the forums, you can PM me that information.

My questions:

• What college/university sponsors your team?
• How much funding do they give you each season?
• Do you have any university staff or faculty involved? If so, what roles (technical or non) do they serve?
• Does your college/university give you access to campus facilities? If so, what facilities?
• Do they provide you with any other resources not mentioned above?