The Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute

In 1999 the William Randolph Hearst Foundation approved a further grant of $150,000 toward the William Randolph Hearst Endowment Fund for the Institute. The Institute also began to make use of the three-year grant of $150,000 given in 1998 by the McCune Charitable Foundation in support of the National Demonstration Project. And it continued to make use of a two-year grant of $100,000 given in 1998 by the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation to support operations of the Institute. 

A grant from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation of $177,311 and a grant from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation of $40,000 are continuing to provide support for seminars in the sciences for 1999 and 2000. The Institute also received other gifts and grants from individuals and smaller foundations. 

The four-year support of the National Demonstration Project by the DeWitt Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund has made possible a restructuring and enlargement of the Institute staff to include an Assistant Director, Production Associate, and Financial and Database Coordinator. It has also made possible a new database for the Institute, which will integrate most of the data in four categories—accounting, programs, mailing, and fundraising—and generate various kinds of applications for daily use. 

The Institute is currently seeking funds that might be used for seminars in either the humanities or the sciences. Its principal long-term need is for an endowment that would provide continuing support for seminars in the sciences. 

The Institute is also preparing to seek funds to support the next phase of the national initiative. Although the magnitude and duration of this phase are yet to be determined, its aim will be to assist the continuation of the group of the Institutes now established and to encourage the creation of yet other Institutes across the nation. The initiative may well require a “partnership” between the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute and one or more foundations or funds.