Taking Control and Dreaming Big
FY23 exhibited a sense of renewal and adaptability as the campus community embarked in its second year of full-service operations as the nation continued to operate within a hybrid capacity. From new groundbreaking research to the return of long-standing, beloved events, our students, faculty, staff, alumni and partners showed their steadfast commitment to forging forward.
University Business Partnerships & Services (UBPS) supported campus through the University Partnership Program (UPP), as they worked with current partners to improve campus facilities, support student programming and prioritize campus initiatives. Also, after an extensive beverage RFP and evaluation process, the university approved the recommendation to move forward with an intent to award to PepsiCo. The benefits of these relationships with partners can be seen throughout this report.
In addition, UBPS’ Partnership Services – which provides guidance to campus departments and organizations looking to stand up their own sponsorship opportunities – continued to lead the charge in connecting units with sponsor support while also providing preferred benefits to the campus community. Sponsors included Berkeley Repertory Theater, Columbia, Marriott by Residence Inn, Metlife, The National Society of Leadership and Success, and United Airlines.
UBPS continued to lead the University of California Partnership Programs (UCPP) – a program that focuses on extending rev-gen opportunities across the UC campuses by supporting campus and multicampus partnerships. Successes from this past year include leading the RFP process for banking relationships, which was used to announce a new partnership between UC San Diego and University Credit Union As we head into FY24, UCPP – which initially started as a pilot program – continues to show great value across the UC campuses and will transition to a permanent program underneath UC Procurement’s Strategic Sourcing team.
Lastly, UBPS continued to maintain a leadership role nationally for the University Partnerships Community of Practice (UPCoP) by serving as a 22-23 board representative. As one of the original co-founding universities of this community, I am glad to share that I will lead UPCoP as president for the 2023-2024 term and am looking forward to advancing, evolving and growing the impact of sponsorships and partnerships in higher education.
Looking forward, UBPS is committed to on-going support of our campus communities as we navigate an ever-changing campus and national environment. For Fiscal Year 24, this includes welcoming the launch of a new beverage partnership, transitioning the Bank of the West relationship to Bank of Montreal and continuing to explore additional opportunities for our campus community. We remain committed to purposeful and collaborative partnerships that continue to support Berkeley’s vision and mission of teaching, research and public service.
Fiat Lux!
Amy Gardner,
UBPS Executive Director
