Members of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council are working to open to the public the records of state-university foundations, including the ISU Foundation.

Bill Kunerth, professor emeritus of journalism and mass communication, said the Freedom of Information Council, a group of broadcast and print journalists, unanimously passed a motion Sept. 30 to recommend a bill which would open the records of the nonprofit foundations established by the state universities. The only exception to the mandate would be the names of donors who wish to remain anonymous.

“There has just been a general feeling among many people that the income and the expenditures of these foundations should be public record,” Kunerth said. “This is because of the amount of money that they are responsible for collecting and distributing without being publicly accountable.”

Kunerth said the movement to open these records began several years ago when Sue Lerdal, analyst for the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, wrote a report expressing concern about how few individuals in the foundations were responsible for distributing the organization’s money, currently estimated at $1.5 billion or more.

“This is a serious concern,” Kunerth said. “These public servants who have access to these accounts should be held accountable.”

Phyllis Lepke, senior vice president for the ISU Foundation, said the Foundation only recently received a copy of the resolution and has not had an opportunity to review it. She said the ISU Foundation receives some state money for employees’ salaries and maintaining alumni records for the university.

“The act of making financial gifts is a personal act which involves donors making decisions about their own financial affairs,” Lepke said. “Most persons would feel that their financial affairs are private information.”

Warren Madden, vice president for Business and Finance, said the ISU Foundation is not subject to the open-records law because it is a separate, nonprofit corporation. Many nonprofit foundations, such as the United Way, collect money from donors and keep the information private.

Madden said most of the Foundation’s records already are available to the public, and the major information not given out concerns donors who want it to remain confidential.

“Almost all the expenditures made through the university are available,” he said, adding that money for scholarships, capital-building projects, some donor names and the annual financial report all are open to the public.

While Kunerth said he is aware of these records, he added that these are only gross amounts and not individual expenditures.

“I’m just saying that not being able to track individual expenditures would allow for improper expenditures,” he said. “It’s not just improper expenditures – it’s questionable expenditures.”

Kunerth said accountants would not be satisfied with looking at gross expenditures to determine the effectiveness and accuracy of an accounting system.

“They need to be apprised of individual transactions, and the public should also be apprised of individual transactions,” Kunerth said.

Carl Mize, associate professor of forestry, also attended the Freedom of Information Council meeting.

“Since Iowa State is a public institution, one would think the Foundation would have to be a public institution,” he said.

Making the ISU Foundation accountable to the public would help the university, Mize said.

“If the books are open, then there would be more pressure to do things that are good for the university,” he said.

Kunerth said the recommendation by the Freedom of Information Council will be followed through by the Iowa Newspaper Association, and Bill Monroe, executive director of the council, had said his group probably would encourage passage of the legislation.

“These foundations are technically private corporations, but there’s absolutely no doubt that they’re set up to benefit state agencies,” he said. “I think it’s perfectly reasonable to expect these [foundations] to open up and be accountable for how they spend their money.”