When David Alexander came to Idaho State University in 2006 to oversee the school’s transition to an enterprise resource planning system, one of the first things he did was create an evaluation committee composed of representatives from each of the university’s operational units. Campus representatives have since been involved in every phase of the project (dubbed TIGERi). From evaluation to training, implementation, and follow-up, end users have helped shape the transition.
University endowment managers learned plenty from the financial crisis, and there are now even more reasons to re-examine risk management practices thanks to new regulations designed to strengthen corporate governance around gifts and endowments and encourage prudent risk management standards. As of early 2011, 47 states have adopted the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act, a model act designed to modernize endowment spending in the 21st century. It replaces the 1972 Uniform Management of Institutional Funds Act (UMIFA), articulating seven factors boards must take into consideration when managing and spending donations.
