We Weren’t Hiding Anything, Says UVa’s COO

Posted on July 21, 2016 by | 4 Comments
What would T.J. say?

What would T.J. say?

by James A. Bacon

University of Virginia officials vigorously dispute allegations by members of the General Assembly that the university was less than transparent with its $2.3 billion Strategic Investment Fund, a pot of gold that critics have characterized as a slush fund. Patrick D. Hogan, chief operating officer of the university, supplied records yesterday from a Board of Visitors subcommittee meeting showing that members had discussed using investment earnings to invest in projects approved as part of the long-term plan in 2014.

Said Hogan: “We have absolutely nothing to hide.”

Reports the Daily Progress:

The investment fund originated with more than $1 billion in investment returns that had accumulated between 2009 and 2014. Officials had talked about using this money to pay for some of the projects outlined in UVa’s strategic plan, passed in 2013. The Cornerstone Plan, as it’s called, lays out a broad series of goals, including improvements to UVa’s technological infrastructure and a wave of faculty hires.

The plan — initially priced at $564 million over five years — was not completely funded when it was passed, and there was concern that costs could be passed on in the form of tuition. The idea was to take some of the investment returns that had accumulated over the years and use them to pay for these improvements.

The investment returns were combined with other reserves to create the fund, which could pay out up to $100 million annually, Hogan said.

“We recognized then that the Cornerstone Plan needed long-term support,” he said.

Hogan said the creation of a permanent fund will allow UVa to improve the student experience without passing the cost on to students. This fund will pay for the improvement projects UVa hopes to undertake — hiring new faculty and providing them with research startup money, for example — without straining operating funds.

Bacon’s bottom line: Changes to the fund apparently followed normal bureaucratic procedure, moving quietly through a Board of Trustees subcommittee before surfacing before the full board. I’m prepared to believe that UVa administrators thought they were being transparent. But there was a breakdown somewhere if some board members were caught by surprise and it’s taken this long for UVa to explain in a way that people can understand how the fund came to be. What Hogan did not address in the Daily Progress article was why the board felt compelled to discuss the issue in closed session. Such an action does prompt people to wonder, “What were they hiding?”

At the end of the day, the controversy is over how to use an investment windfall amounting to $100 million a year — whether to invest in initiatives to make UVa a more prestigious institution or to lower costs for Virginia students. Clearly, the administration and a majority of the board favor advancing the university’s institutional interests over its historic mission of providing an affordable, quality education for all Virginians. All the rest is window dressing.

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