Policy Statement

The University of Georgia Arboretum was established to provide biological and aesthetic collections of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants in designed settings for the enjoyment and education of students, faculty, staff and citizens of Georgia. Its mission includes mapping, labeling and otherwise promoting the extant and future plant collections. The arboretum is charged with maintaining and enhancing the plant diversity on campus through the Campus Arboretum Advisory Committee in concert with the Facilities Management Division Grounds department. The arboretum also has the responsibility of encouraging innovative projects that address teaching, research, public access, and related activities. This includes such activities and projects such as mapping, signage / labeling, development of brochures, new plantings, creative classroom/laboratory projects, and memorial trees.

To achieve these goals, the UGA Campus Arboretum Fund was established. Donations and contributions to the Fund are used to support activities that promote the development, use, and visibility of the arboretum such as development and maintenance of the arboretum tree walks. Donations are also used to sponsor innovative projects, examples of which are given above.

Contributions to support landscape plantings on campus either as an individual gift, anonymous gift, or memorial gift should be made payable to the UGA Foundation designated to the Campus Arboretum Fund. It is the policy of the Arboretum not to accept donations and contributions for a specific tree or planting, rather gifts are accepted for the general cultivation and enhancement of landscape plantings throughout campus. In recognition of donations (gifts of $1,000 or greater), donors and / or the individual’s name in which the gift is given will be recorded on the D.W. Brooks Mall Arboretum Memorial. This memorial is located in the green space between Dance Hall and the Ecology building. Donors will also be noted on the Arboretum web page’s (http://www.caes.uga.edu/departments/hort/Research/arboretum/index.htm) listing of donors and contributors. Contributors (gifts of less than $1,000) will be noted on the Arboretum web page’s listing of donors and contributors.

Reason for policy

The Campus Arboretum Advisory Committee cannot guarantee that a specifically donated plant will live nor can we assign replacement responsibility/liability on to the Grounds Department. Future University construction plans may also require the removal of a designated plant in a designated location. Both concerns were behind the rationale of the policy, intended to prevent the possibility of donors' disappointment and Facilities Management Division’s Grounds Department liability in the situation where a specific tree or plant dies or must be removed. Thus, the intent of the policy is to protect both donors and the University with a centralized monument that is in the best interest of the donors and the campus.

Form/Instructions

Request Form
http://www.caes.uga.edu/departments/hort/Research/arboretum/index.htm