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September 13, 2002

Senate told foundation will be more open

by Linda Charles
The Iowa State University Foundation is taking steps to make more information public, Phyllis Lepke told the Faculty Senate Sept. 10.

"We listened, we heard and we recognized we needed to change," said Lepke, vice president for communication with the foundation.

Lepke presented a policy under consideration by the foundation's board of directors. She said the proposed policy calls for nearly all information to be made public. The exceptions would be information a "reasonable person" would agree should remain private (such as donors' net worth, stock holdings and estate planning) and strategic and competitive information (such as prospective donor lists or details of how a fund-raising campaign would be conducted).

"We realize we need to do a better job of being accountable to our constituents," Lepke said.

Following Lepke's presentation, the senate defeated a motion (tabled last spring) that called for the foundation to follow the spirit of the state open records law and recommended audits of the foundation records.

Senators indicated they felt the foundation was in the process of meeting the motion's intent already.

The next senate meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15, in the North Prairie Room at the Gateway Center. President Gregory Geoffroy is scheduled to address the senate.





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