Dive Brief:
- The City University of New York hopes to enact stricter oversight over affiliated nonprofit foundations after inquiries by investigators, including a federal investigation into how the City College of New York handled federal research funds and personal expenses, according to the New York Times.
- The new rules would ensure the institution has more direct oversight over the foundations, including access to their financial records. CUNY would also be able to conduct audits of the foundation, mandate executives sign new memos of understanding, and track how donors’ funds are used.
- While CUNY has been lauded as a pipeline for upward mobility for low- and moderate-income students throughout the state, it has suffered spending cuts similar to many public colleges and universities, and the lowered funding has led to disrepair and overcrowded classes.
Dive Insight:
Lawmakers are in the midst of considering proposals by President Donald Trump to eliminate grant funding that would discontinue indirect-cost payments for colleges and universities’ research facilities, so it is incumbent upon administrators to conduct internal oversight that puts the university’s reputation beyond reproach. As higher ed institutions continue to debate funding necessities with legislators, corruption or incompetence could be the evidence austerity supporters need to decide to withhold funding.
Boards of Trustees are increasingly willing to remove support for presidents that they feel are unsatisfactory, and the financial pressure universities are under make it all the more likely that boards might put the responsibility on presidents when seeking reasons for a school’s financial hardships. In March, the Mississippi College Board voted to increase its financial oversight over the state’s public universities, including annual financial reviews. The move hobbled the autonomy of the school’s presidents. It will be all the more difficult for college presidents to enact changes if their decision-making authority is hobbled.