The allocation of WEEF money is 100 percent decided by students.
The Funding Council that decides what organizations/teams/departments receive is composed of two members of every undergrad engineering class that is on-campus for that term. There is no faculty or University of Waterloo admin on this council, so the money goes where the students say it goes.
WEEF has indirectly funded 4 million dollars of the engineering building E5.
WEEF provided 1 million which was matched by the Faculty. The University then matched both WEEF's and the Faculty's contributions. This is an unbelievable accomplishment for a 100 percent student run endowment fund that is only 20 years old. This money was used for the Sedra Design Centre and the WEEF Student Machine Shop, where no other forms of funding were available.
WEEF offers funding and expects nothing back in return.
When it comes to sponsors for student teams, this is rare. WEEF enables positive student learning experiences both inside and perhaps more importantly, outside the classroom.
Quick stats:
- WEEF currently allocates ~$160 000 per term in funding (for student teams, department requests, lab upgrades, machine shop etc.)
- WEEF's principal amount is over 21 million
- MIT's principal amount is now 17.4 billion
WEEF is for students by students.
By donating to WEEF, you are contributing to UWaterloo Engineering's reputation (our student teams really help make us recognized internationally as one of the top engineering schools in North America). But WEEF's money isn't only for student teams, 60-80 percent of funding each term goes to projects proposed by departments to improve student learning.
Your WEEF Donation is TAX DEDUCTIBLE.
Your donation receipt is available on Quest. You end up paying less tax and in the process you help yourself, UWaterloo and all the engineers around you - seems like a sweet deal.