Regents committee approves higher gift minimums for endowed chairs, professorships and new deanship/directorship tiers

The University of Minnesota Governance and Policy Committee voted to accept proposed amendments to the Board of Regents policy on namings and renamings, raising minimum gift thresholds for endowed positions and adding two new tiers for deanships and directorships.

Patty Porter, Executive Vice President for Development at the University of Minnesota Foundation, presented the changes and said the Foundation proposes raising the minimum for endowed chairs from $2,000,000 to $3,000,000 and the endowed professorship minimum from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 while maintaining endowed faculty fellowships at $500,000. Porter also proposed new minimum levels for endowed deanships at $5,000,000 and endowed directorships at $3,000,000.

"The need for this increase reflects two realities," Porter told the committee: growth in fundraising capacity and inflation reducing purchasing power. She said the Foundation benchmarked peer institutions and consulted with development officers and deans over the past year before bringing the changes forward for Board approval.

Jason Langworthy, Associate Secretary, noted the policy will also include a new delegation allowing the president or a delegate to authorize units to set higher internal minimums, and added new language that Eastcliff-associated namings—such as significant rooms or event grounds—will route to the Eastcliff Advisory Board after UMF vetting rather than remaining solely under the President's naming authority.

Committee members asked whether minimums would cover full costs and what happens if an endowed position becomes obsolete. Porter said endowment proceeds are flexible (staff salary, graduate support, research) and often do not cover the full cost; if a named purpose becomes infeasible the memorandum of agreement allows repurposing in consultation with the donor or, if the donor is not available, in the spirit of the original intent.

Chair Verhalen moved to accept the proposed revisions to the namings and renamings policy as presented; the committee adopted the motion by voice vote with no roll-call recorded. The chair said the conversion from "review" to "review and action" will be included in the committee report to the full Board.

The committee also approved the consent report, which included relatively minor technical changes and a cross-reference aligning foundation-raised funds with systemwide strategic priorities and budget processes.

Porter said the Foundation expects the higher minimums will at least maintain and likely increase fundraising for endowed positions, noting peer institutions now commonly endow deanships and that donor interest exists at the proposed levels. The committee did not change the proposed thresholds at the meeting and forwarded the action as part of the committee's report to the Board.