UW-Green Bay creates own Foundation
On April 19, the Chancellor’s Council of Trustees at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, made up of nearly two dozen business and civic leaders, voted approval of bylaws to endorse creation of an independent University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Foundation, Inc. The creation of the Foundation gives the University greater flexibility in managing gifts and assets.
With formal adoption of by-laws and articles of incorporation, UW-Green Bay ceases to be the only UW System institution without its own foundation. The move also opens a new chapter in a 44-year relationship with the huge ($2.5 billion in assets) and highly respected University of Wisconsin Foundation in Madison.
“We have been very well served by our relationship with the UW Foundation, and it’s our intention to continue to contract with them for the immediate future, for investment of our endowment funds,” says UW-Green Bay Chancellor Thomas Harden. At present, UW-Green Bay has about $26 million in endowment holdings.
“Where we’ll see the benefit of our own Foundation is that we’ll have more direct control not only of gifts and investments but also real estate, research and service grants,” says Harden. “We’ll have more flexibility and responsiveness with the private dollars we raise.”
Private donations have been a major part of UW-Green Bay’s success since its inception in the 1960s. Formerly, those gifts were processed by the UW Foundation. Now, such funds can be accepted and put to use on things such as academics, new buildings, student scholarships and the fine arts without first having to go through Madison.
For most donors, any change would be subtle. Those using credit cards or writing checks, for example, will no longer address payments to the Green Bay Fund c/o the UW Foundation, but directly to the UW-Green Bay Foundation. The new entity will also have greater latitude in accepting real estate and other non-cash gifts.
The newly formed 501(c)3 organization is led by a 21-person board of directors headed by prominent paper industry executive Lou LeCalsey. Business and civic leaders, long-time University supporters and UW-Green Bay alumni are represented on the board.
“I see the formation of our own Foundation a practical reality of evolving to being more self-supporting,” LeCalsey said. “This is a proactive move for our University. Historically the UW System had low tuition for in-state students pursuing undergraduate degrees. Twenty years ago, the University received roughly 50 percent of its funding from state support and the rest was from tuition and private sources. Now it’s virtually the mirror opposite. The pendulum is clearly swinging quickly — and permanently — in the opposite direction. The next academic year, state support to UW-Green Bay will only be about 20 percent of its total budget. We need to be more accountable for our University’s economic health with the decline in state funding. That means we will have to become more involved with raising private support. And we will need increased flexibility to optimize utilization of the funds we raise, so we can maximize our effectiveness with both public and private sources of funding.
“We are at a crossroads. In order for this region to remain strong, students must have an opportunity to be college-educated. We have to do our part to keep tuition affordable for first-generation families.”
The Council of Trustees will serve in a parallel capacity as the Foundation’s board of directors while continuing in their advisory role as Council members.
The members of the Council of Trustees/board of directors of the UW-Green Bay Foundation, Inc. are:
• Chair, Louis (Lou) LeCalsey, President and CEO, Tufco Technologies, Green Bay
• Vice Chair, Virginia (Ginny) Riopelle, UW-Green Bay class of ’70, civic leader, Green Bay
• Secretary, Robert Bush, Chair Emeritus, Schreiber Foods, Green Bay
• Treasurer, Diane Ford, ’75, Vice President and Controller, Integrys Energy Group, Green Bay
• Paul Anderson, ’82, President, M2 Logistics, Inc., Green Bay
• Dean Basten, ’89, Secretary/Treasurer, Miron Construction, Neenah
• Richard (Rick) Beverstein, Vice President, AON Risk Services, Green Bay
• Robert (Bob) DeVos, ’73, Senior Vice President-Business Development, GENCO Inc., Green Bay
• Larry Ferguson, President and CEO, Schreiber Foods, Green Bay
• Susan Finco, President, Leonard & Finco Public Relations, Green Bay
• William Gollnick, ’81, Chief of Staff, Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, Oneida
• Donald Harden, Retired President, Bellin Foundation, Green Bay
• Donsia Strong Hill, Attorney, Green Bay
• Michael Jackson, ’76, Retired President and COO, SuperValu Stores, Inc., Eden Prairie, Minn.
• Carl Kuehne, CEO, American Foods Group, Green Bay
• Kate Meeuwsen, ’76, Civic Leader, New Franken
• Mark Murphy, President and CEO, Green Bay Packers, Green Bay
• Thomas Olson, Retired President, Sonoco-U.S. Paper Mills Inc., Green Bay
• David Pamperin, ’74, President and CEO, Greater Green Bay Community Foundation, Green Bay
• Kramer Rock, President, Temployment, Inc., Green Bay
• Robert Rupp, Jr., ’78, President and CEO, Whitefield Industrial Coatings, Green Bay
For more information regarding the UW-Green Bay Foundation, contact Assistant Chancellor for University Advancement, Bev Carmichael, 920-465-5025.
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