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Regents committee approves higher minimums for endowed chairs, professorships and adds deanship/directorship levels
Summary
The Governance and Policy Committee approved amendments raising minimum gift thresholds for endowed positions — chair minimum to $3,000,000, professorships to $2,000,000, fellowships retained at $500,000, and new minimums for deanships ($5,000,000) and directorships ($3,000,000) — and added a delegation to allow the president or delegate to set higher unit-level thresholds.
The Governance and Policy Committee of the University of Minnesota voted to approve proposed amendments to the Board of Regents policy on namings and renamings that raise minimum gift thresholds for endowed positions and add new minimums for deanships and directorships.
"We are proposing increasing the endowed chair minimum from $2,000,000 to $3,000,000, increasing the endowed professorships from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000, maintaining endowed faculty fellowships at $500,000 and then adding endowed deanship minimum at $5,000,000 and an endowed directorship minimum at $3,000,000," Patricia Porter, Executive Vice President for Development at the University of Minnesota Foundation, told the committee.
Porter said the increases reflect the Foundation's fundraising growth, inflation and benchmarking with Big Ten peers, and that units may set higher thresholds if they choose. Jason Langworthy, Associate Secretary, added a new delegation in the policy that authorizes the president or a delegate to approve higher unit-level minimums so deans and development officers can advertise those levels locally.
Regents asked whether the new minimums are intended to cover the full cost of a position; Porter said endowment payouts are typically flexible and may not cover all costs, noting funds can be used for salaries, graduate students, research support or other purposes depending on the holder's needs. Porter also explained that donor agreements include provisions allowing the University to repurpose an endowment if the original intent becomes impracticable.
Chair Verhalen moved to convert the item from "review" to "review and action" at the committee level, opened the motion for a vote, and the committee approved the proposed revisions by voice vote with no opposition recorded. The committee also approved a separate consent report that included related technical corrections and a cross-reference tying Foundation-raised funds to system strategic priorities and budgets.
The policy changes will be presented to the full Board as part of the Chair's report; staff said they had reviewed the new levels with the President and Provost prior to committee action.
