国外专业论文(全英文)-WSU-revises-plans-for-group.doc

WSU revises plans for group; New nonprofit organization would manageHannelore Sudermann Staff writer In a special telephone meeting Monday morning, Washington State University regents heard about a revised version of a new private nonprofit organization to manage real estate assets.Initially called the WSU Real Estate Foundation, the new 501(C3) nonprofit organization designed to hold and manage gifts of property to WSU was approved unanimously by the regents in January.But news of the WSU Real Estate Foundation alarmed a few of the schools regents and donors who heard about it for the first time when it was reported in The Spokesman-Review in February, school officials said.Currently, the WSU Foundation, also a 501(C3) organization, handles nearly all gifts to the university, including cash, stocks, bonds and real estate.Under the new plan, a separate foundation under separate leadership and managed out of WSUs Office of Business Affairs could handle real estate gifts, said WSU President V. Lane Rawlins.While the WSU Foundation usually liquidates donated property, the new organizations primary purpose is to manage property that WSU doesnt just want to sell, Rawlins said in the video conference call from Seattle.To avoid confusion, we ought not to call this a foundation, he said.The purpose of the WSU Foundation is fund raising and using the money to benefit the university, said Rawlins. In contrast, the new real estate arm is not for fund raising, he said. It could be used instead for managing, buying and selling assets on behalf of the university.Because of the concerns raised this past winter, Rawlins delayed formally starting the organization for several months. I asked that it be held until we answered a few questions, he said.Since January, Rawlins and several WSU regents have met with WSU Foundation trustees to clarify plans and allay fears that the new organization might affect the foundations fund-raising work.The new entitys intent is not to compete with the foundation, said Chris Marr, a regent from Spokane who was at a WSU Foundation trustees meeting last week. He said concerns about the issues were aired before the entity was formed.Among the changes in the original WSU Real Estate Foundation proposal is a requirement that at least one WSU regent and one trustee from the WSU Foundations Board of Governors sit on the five- member board of the new organization.To show everybody there is an overlap with the foundation, said Greg Royer, WSUs vice president of business affairs. The initial three-member board included two former regents and Royer.Under the old plan, board members could select their successors. Under the revised version, board members are to be appointed by the university president.While bylaws, articles of incorporation and a formal agreement between WSU and the new real estate organization exist, they still are in draft form and not available for public review, said an employee in Royers office.No assets are slated for the new real estate organization now. But donors could direct gifts of property there for the university to use. And the WSU Foundation would work with the new entity to transfer new gifts.This is for things we want to keep for a significant amount of time, said Royer. He gave the example of a farmer donating land that the university could use for research. The new organization would make it easier for the university to manage and use the land for, say, a decade before selling it, he said.The plan for the new organization goes next to the Washington state attorney general before it can be submitted to the Internal Revenue Service to obtain 501(C3) nonprofit status.Copyright c 2004 The Spokesman-ReviewProvided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.