After a controversial decision and a heated open-records debate,

the ISU Foundation formed an eight-member task force to

determine whether the university’s fund-raising arm handles gifts

and donors’ wishes properly.

Monday’s announcement naming the co-chairs of the task force

was made a month after an ISU Foundation official said a task

force would be formed. In July, the Foundation released records

on the Marie Powers donation after widespread publicity

suggested the donation was handled improperly.

Two Foundation Governors, Peg Armstrong-Gustafson of Des

Moines and Labh Hira, interim dean of business, were chosen by

ISU Foundation Chairman Arend Sandbulte to be co-chairs of the

task force.

“They will report to the Board of Governors after they look at how

we process gifts,” Sandbulte said. “We will also look at whether

we’ve correctly done what the donors want.”

Armstrong-Gustafson is a member of the ISU Foundation

Investment Committee, which establishes donor policy guidelines.

Hira is a member of the Foundation’s finance committee.

Sandbulte also chose the other members of the task force, whose

names will not be made public. The task force members, a

combination of donors and university officials, are all members of

the ISU Foundation Board of Governors, he said.

In a statement released July 27, Sandbulte said the task force

would be made up of donors and university representatives.

Ben Allen, interim vice president for external affairs, has not yet

met with the task force.

“They have not contacted me,” Allen said. “I would be very willing to

give them information if they ask, but I’m not sure that they will.”

Armstrong-Gustafson and Hira met with Tom Mitchell, president of

the ISU Foundation, Monday morning to discuss what the task

force would do, Sandbulte said. The task force is expected to have

an interim report of its findings ready for the Sept. 28 meeting of

the ISU Foundation Board of Governors. Although this will not be a

final report, it is expected to give the Foundation a good look at the

administration and audit policies, Sandbulte said. The Board of

Governors meets twice a year, in September and in June.

Mitchell could not be reached for comment Monday.

In response to the Marie Powers estate controversy last spring, the

Foundation has studied the court documents, memos related to

the case and reports of expenditures. Sandbulte said he does not

expect to find mistakes with the policies, procedures and

administration processes, but said changes will be made as

needed.

Allen said the review will be “a learning experience.”

“The value is that it will identify problems that need to be taken

care of,” he said, “and it makes everyone much more aware of

policies and procedures.”

Neil Harl, distinguished professor of agricultural economics, is a

member of Friends of Iowa State University, the group formed to

encourage the ISU Foundation to open its expenditure records to

the public.

“We have been pushing for openness on the financial side of the

Foundation,” Harl said. “They opened the records about the Marie

Powers debate, and we’ve become very familiar with it, but we

want them to open the expenditure and financial information to the

public.”

Harl said he understands keeping donor information private, but

he said he has doubts about the effectiveness of the Foundation’s

task force.

“As for what the task force will do, we’ll wait and see,” he said.

“Our group believes that confidence needs to be restored in giving

to Iowa State, and the best way to do that is to be more open and

to halt the move to distance the Foundation from the university.”