Staff Q and A: Meet Director of Annual Giving and Stewardship Eric Weis

Weis discusses impact of giving at CSUB, Raising for `Runners Giving Day in April

By California State University, Bakersfield

March 19^th, 2025

Tell us about your role on campus and what that entails.

I serve as the director of annual giving and stewardship at CSUB. In my role, I am responsible for overseeing our President’s Associates, Raising for `Runners Giving Day, Faculty and Staff Initiative, the CSUB Fund and endowment and stewardship reports. I have the honor of being a connector for students, faculty, staff, alumni and community supporters. It is also an honor to fundraise for my alma mater.

How long have you been at CSUB?

May 31 will mark three years of being employed by CSUB.

What is your department’s overall vision and mission?

Our mission is to connect the university with the community through communications, events, programs and philanthropic opportunities. Together, we advance the resources available to the university and strengthen higher education in our region.

What makes you passionate about your role and raising money for our `Runners and the university?

I remember arriving at CSUB as a transfer student in the summer of 2009. This university has gone above and beyond my expectations as far as the education I have received and the professional opportunities it has provided me. I feel indebted to CSUB for making a remarkable impact on my life. Each day that I come to work, I am reminded of the importance of the work that we do in providing resources for our students and programs. Over 60% of our students are first-generation graduates. I love hearing stories from our past, current and future Roadrunners on what led them to CSUB. To see students pursue their education here and then apply their knowledge and work ethic in their field of work upon graduating is something that continues to motivate me. Our students are resilient, and I admire that.

What is it you love most about the CSUB community?

What I love about our CSUB community is that students are provided the opportunity to build lifelong relationships with their professors. I still stay in touch with many of my professors dating back to 2009. I don’t think most alumni across other universities have that same privilege of building these bonds. We have a terrific student-to-faculty ratio at CSUB and I believe that plays a big role in developing these meaningful relationships.

This is your third Giving Day campaign. What is the mission or idea behind it for those who are new or might not have participated in the past?

This is personally my third Giving Day campaign at CSUB, but our fifth Giving Day overall. We view Giving Day as an opportunity for the community to celebrate CSUB and invest in students or programs in a way that resonates with them. We have over 67,000 alumni spanning over 55 years. I personally believe that the sky's the limit for our potential as Kern County’s University.

Tell us more about the challenges that CSUB and the greater Kern community can get help with.

The great thing about our Raising for `Runners Giving Day is anyone can give to any cause that they are passionate about. This can include supporting any of our academic colleges, Athletics, or vital programs that support our students. I encourage our community to check out our challenges page to see how they can get involved!

What are you most excited about for this year’s campaign?

We are coming up on the conclusion of our first-ever comprehensive fundraising campaign that is set to conclude on June 30. I view this fundraising marathon as a unique opportunity to help us get closer to meeting our overall goal of raising $50 million for the campaign. More than anything, I always look forward to meeting people who care about CSUB and want to make a difference.

What is the main takeaway you hope people will have?

I hope that our donors who support CSUB on Giving Day understand that they are truly making an investment that will significantly help our region in the long term. By supporting CSUB, donors are creating opportunities for our students to become educators, nurses, social workers, engineers, historians, artists, entrepreneurs, accountants and more. CSUB exists to serve the needs of our communities.

Is there anything else you’d like to share, or anything we haven’t covered yet?

Let’s Rowdy up and make history on our upcoming Giving Day! The generosity of our supporters means the world to us. Let us build something incredible together. Thank you!