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Tripathi announces he cant make UBF records public Some faculty senators baffled by presidents recent letter

By SARA DINATALE Managing Editor

Published: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 Updated: Wednesday, March 26, 2014 00:03

Chad Cooper, The Spectrum

President Satish Tripathi says he does not have the legal authority to make how the university spends its nearly $1 billion endowment and assets public or available for faculty scrutiny.

The money and resources are managed by the UB Foundation, a non-profit private institution that collects all funds donated to UB. In a letter received by faculty senators Monday, Tripathi said the Foundation is outside of [his] purview as University at Buffalo President. He went on to write, Neither I as President, nor the University at Buffalo as an institution, have the legal authority to make available any records held by the UB Foundation as a private corporation. The letter dated March 5 came in response to a motion passed by the Faculty Senate in December that asked Tripathi and the administration to make available the budget of UBF and its associated foundations as if it were subject to [the Freedom of Information Law]. The motion was passed by a 38 -17 vote. Faculty Senator Kenneth Dauber, an English professor who originated the motion, said h es baffled by Tripathis decision. After the motion was passed in December, Dauber told The Spectrum he knows of no laws that require UBF to keep its books closed. The funds held by UBF are funds of the University at Buffalo administered by UBF at the direction of the President of UB, Dauber said in an email Tuesday. I dont know what President Tripathi means when he says that UBF is outside of my purview as UB President. The issue is very simple. SUNY Buffalo is a public institution. It is an

academic institution. As both public and academic, its most basic value is transparency. The Faculty Senate asked the President to make transparent the financial operations of UBF. The President said no. I do not know why.

Several faculty senators say they are asking for transparency because they want to understand how the university spends its endowment and where exactly money donated to and raised by the university ends up.

Martha McCluskey, a law professor and faculty senator, said she, too, knows of no laws that would prevent the disclosure to the faculty and the public. UBF apparently delegates to UBs President almost all the important decisions about how to spend and raise UBF money, McCluskey said in an email. As a public official, President Tripathi has the legal authority (and presumably the legal duty) to open records of UBs crucial decisions about UBF money to the Faculty Senate and to the public.

In previous Senate meetings, some faculty members have voiced concerns about having a private organization handle money for a public university.

The policy is not unique to UB or to SUNY. Most public universities in the country have private foundations that manage donations.

But there is movement around the country encouraging public access to internal records. California, as of Jan. 1, 2012, has a Transparency Act that brings academic foundations under the states public record laws, which means all Californian foundations financial records are open to the public and faculty for scrutiny. This is the kind of transparency some UB faculty is calling for.

Not all faculty thinks Decembers resolution was necessary. In Decembers meeting, Robert Wetherhold, a senator and professor of mechanical engineering, said he was uncertain of what issue the resolution aimed to solve and suggested the volume of information being asked for may not be appropriate for the public. Other senators were concerned about donors privacy and were satisfied with the public -private relationship as it exists now.

Tripathis letter also notes UBF makes its audited financial statements available on its website and states that UB will be adding IRS 990 tax forms.

The tax forms are currently made public by IRS tax rules. UBFs most recent 990, from fiscal year 2012, shows it processed $4.7 million on student scholarships, $8.1 million on office expenses, $3.1 million for travel, $2.9 million for meetings and conferences and $51.8 million for other fees for services. The numbers appear in broad categories

and are not broken down into precise expenses, and no explanations are offered for what other fees might include or what precise office supplies were purchased. Its the exact expenses the faculty is asking to see .

UBF Director Ed Schneider, who responded to The Spectrums questions about UBF in February via an emailed document, said UBF does not decide where funds will be spent, but rather makes sure the guidelines are followed, like that schools abide by the wishes of donors on restricted funds. The spending decisions primarily [rest] with UB and the various schools and units, Schneider wrote. Tripathi is also on the UB Foundations board of trustees and compensation committee, but according to a statement from UB Spokesman John Della Contrada, this would not give him power to make the UBF financial documents public. However, individual members of boards or committees do not have the authority to act independently of the board, Della Contrada said.

In 2011, the New York State Supreme Court ruled UBF was not a public entity. Buffalo newsweekly Artvoice argued UBF should be subject to the Freedom of Information Law because it is part of a public university, but lost the case.

Schneider, who has worked for the Foundation for 37 years, said UBF does what it can to be transparent and, in the February email, emphasized that UBF is more transparent than is required by New York State or federal law. For instance, he writes, UBF has been fully transparent with its audited annual financial reports and tax returns, both of which are publicly available. As well, UBFs business practices are consisten t with best practices among campusrelated foundations nationwide. The conversation is not over and Tripathis letter suggested opportunities for the Sena te to have discussions with Laura Hubbard, vice president for finance and administration. Dauber said the budget committee of the Faculty Senate, which McCluskey is also on, will meet soon to discuss the issue.

email: news@ubspectrum.com

Transparency and cooperation outside presidents purview


President Tripathi refuses to pursue greater UB Foundation budget clarity
Published: Thursday, March 27, 2014

With a proverbial shrug of the shoulders and turn of the cheek, UB President Satish Tripathi has casually committed to maintaining UB Foundations lack of transparency.

Tripathi has denied a December call from the UB Faculty Senate to make public the budget of the UB Foundation (UBF), the private organization that controls nearly $1 billion of UB assets and endowment funds. As reported in The Spectrum Wednesday, Tripathi released a dismissively short, vague letter responding simply that calling for UBFs budget to be public was outside of [his] purview. Never mind that Tripathi sits on the UBFs board of trustees and compensation committee. The Faculty Senates letter requesting greater transparency in how UBF funds are distributed is certainly merited. In a surprising moment of collective action for a group that rarely has enough members present to take votes on resolutions, the Senates call for greater transparency surrounding the endowment follows a growing trend, as evidenced by a similar legislative move in California requiring university foundations to publicize records. Tripathis letter states much of UBFs financial information is already available. He fails to mention much of the most pertinent information is hidden behind vacuous labels, like the nearly $52 million for other fees and services.

Because UBF is a private institution, it is not subject to Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests. Tripathi responded in the letter to the request from the Senate to release the UBF budget as if it were subject to FOIL by stating that was beyond his legal authority. Naturally, this claim raised a question. With his position in the university and on the board of UBF, doesnt Tripathi have the clout to, if not unilaterally enact, at least encourage the budget release by working with faculty and the foundations board?

This question was, in fact, asked of the president in a Faculty Senate executive session Wednesday. Tripathi responded, in a word, no. What is most disconcerting is that this universitys president would refuse to cooperate with the Senate, which represents collective faculty concerns, to address such a pressing issue transparency for such a significant portion of the universitys endowment. What is most ironic is that in December, the administration in response to the Senates original motion stated, [UB] values transparency and understands the importance of being transparent.

Apparently, working with faculty to meet this end requires too much commitment to uphold these values. The use of the UBFs nearly $1 billion of funds is of significant importance to students and faculty at this university. The money is used for everything from student scholarships to pay top-offs for faculty. The distribution of this endowment directly affects those who study, teach and work at and for this public institution.

An indifferent response to legitimate faculty concerns regarding a necessary and laudable cause exemplifies both weak leadership and carelessness that is reprehensible at such a high level of office. The university, its faculty and students deserve more than a cold, calloused reply delivered in a typically bureaucratic tone, dated one month after receipt of the Senates initial letter. Tripathi insists UBF is outside of his purview.

Publicizing the budget is within the purview of the UBF board of trustees. Encouraging budgetary transparency, and expressing faculty concerns about it, is within the purview of the Faculty Senate. Cooperating with the faculty at the university he leads and working with the UBF board of trustees on which he sits is within the purview of President Tripathi. Beyond that, its within his responsibility as president of this university.

email: editorial@ubspectrum.com

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