The College of Agriculture announced plans in an open letter from the dean Monday that the college will review all 259 of its endowment accounts. The letter was issued after a small sample of the university’s 1,300-plus endowment accounts were reviewed by a committee.

After President Gregory Geoffroy received the committee’s report, which found that the handling of the accounts could be improved, he requested the deans of each college review each endowment account in their colleges and units, said Catherine Woteki, dean of the College of Agriculture.

“The conclusion of that report was that there was no misuse of funds, but some recommendations were made to institute better communication and training,” Woteki said. “It is my intention to be as open and transparent as can be to our faculty and alumni as the reviews are going forward, to tell them about the questions we find and the corrective action taken as a result.”

The review within the College of Agriculture consists of a questionnaire staff members will be asked to answer regarding each endowment account, Woteki said.

“It is a set of questions that seek to make sure the original documents have been reviewed,” Woteki said. “There are a number of questions on how the funds are handled and the agreements are fulfilled.”

Woteki said a college committee will then review the information before she reports to President Geoffroy in August.

Geoffroy was unavailable for comment. In a statement released by Geoffroy, he said the reviews were consistent with his goals regarding donor gifts.

“These reviews reflect my personal commitment to ensuring that Iowa State University faithfully adheres to donor intent in the acceptance of gifts and in the expenditure of gift funds and that the university conducts its business and financial affairs with the highest level of integrity,” Geoffroy said in the statement.

In her open letter, Woteki listed examples of actions already taken with regard to the handling of a few of the endowment accounts within the College of Agriculture.

She was quick to point out however, that she did not believe any uses of the funds in the past have been inappropriate uses.

One of the endowment accounts Woteki said she mentioned in her letter, was the farm gift from alumnae Jesse Coles.

Woteki said there were three specific criteria defining the use of the farm.

“The university was supposed to retain the farm until after the year 2000 as a memorial to Dr. Coles’ parents and allow the current tenants to continue to use the land,” Woteki said. The third stipulation was that all proceeds from the operation of the farm be used at the university’s discretion to aid research or scholarships in agriculture.

Woteki said the first two conditions had been met, but previous administrations had interpreted the third stipulation differently than she did.

“Under documentation from previous administrations the interpretation was shortened,” Woteki said. “Past administrations had interpreted it more broadly. I have chosen to use a much narrower interpretation.”

Woteki said 39 percent of the annual income over the last 10 years was spent on faculty, student and office support. An additional 15 percent was spent on travel to international meetings, 11 percent was spent on hosting distinguished visitors, 12 percent on fundraising and other social events, one percent on research, and the remaining 22 percent was spent on an undergraduate scholarship endowment.

Woteki described the previous uses as “very appropriate,” in spite of the fact the college will repay the endowment a total of $205,839 over the next three years that was spent on non-scholarship or non-research uses during the past decade.

“I’m not saying those uses were inappropriate, but I’ve seen the full intent and I want to use a more narrow interpretation,” Woteki said. “From now on, all income from the farm will be used to aid research or scholarships in agriculture.”

Funding from the farm was also used to pay for gas, maintenance and other ongoing expenses of a car purchased in 1995 for business use by the dean’s office, Woteki said.

“I have since ordered the car sold and my staff and I will use personal vehicles for work-related travel,” Woteki said. “In this case the issue is we’re facing a very stringent budget next year. Under those conditions I don’t think [use of the car] is appropriate.”

Former College of Agriculture Deans, Richard Ross (2000-2001), David Topel (1988-2000) and Lee Kolmer (1973-1987) issued a joint statement in which they stated their support for the actions of Woteki and addressed the use of funds from the gift received from Coles.

“Dean Woteki is fully committed to the highest level of accountability,” they said in their statement. “Part of the Dean’s review regards the matter of how farm income from the gift of Dr. Jesse Coles was spent. As administrators who made decisions regarding this gift from 1974 to 2000, we wish to state that we followed, to the best of our abilities, the guidelines on use of these funds.”

Woteki said she and President Geoffroy are committed to making sure the endowments in the College of Agriculture are fulfilled the way they were intended.

“President Geoffroy and I are being very careful to ensure the gifts are being given the care and attention they deserve,” Woteki said.

Another concern Woteki said came to her attention and was addressed, was a situation involving the Research and Demonstration Farms.

Woteki said over a period from 1995 to 1997, the Research and Demonstration Farms office received $7,400 in “preferred customer rebates” from companies supplying crop chemicals, seeds and other inputs to the farm. That money, she said, went into gift money accounts instead of accounts for the farm’s operating expenses. Woteki said the money has since been returned to the farm.

“For accounting purposes – given the nature of the funds – they should have been deposited in an account for the operations of the farm,” Woteki said.

Geoffroy said he supports the actions taken by Woteki.

“I strongly applaud Iowa State University agriculture Dean Catherine Woteki for her decision to have the College of Agriculture review all agreements associated with its research and demonstration farms and for taking swift, corrective actions based on the findings of that review,” Geoffroy said in his statement. “As President of Iowa State University, I have made it clear that earning and maintaining the trust of the donors and Iowa taxpayers is absolutely essential for our future success.”