College of DuPage – Discovery continues!

DuPage Co. (ECWd) –

As it relates to the College of DuPage Foundation;

“WHEREAS, the Foundation was established as a separate, not-for-profit corporate entity and exists for the principal purpose of advancing and furthering the aims and purposes of the College and is a private corporation organized and operated exclusively to receive, hold, invest, and administer property and to make  expenditures to or for the benefit of the College”

“The Foundation Board of Trustees is responsible for the performance and oversight of all aspects of its operations based on a comprehensive set of Bylaws that clearly address the Board’s fiduciary responsibilities, including expectations of all individual Board members to comply with ethical guidelines and policies.”

Most would agree that the above two paragraphs, which are from the COD and Foundation Memorandum of Understanding,  outline that the COD Foundation is in fact a separate, not-for-profit corporate entity and they are responsible for the performance and oversight of ALL aspects of its operations. 

The Chicago Tribune has laid out a pretty good case that the college has “used its foundation “as an artifice to circumvent” the law, and the foundation should have to comply with the (FOIA) requests because it is staffed and operated entirely by College of DuPage employees” ?  (Click here for Tribune article)

Not only is the Chicago Tribune spot on in their assertions in my opinion, another little fact may lay some foundation to provide even more support to their case.

COD and the Foundation have commingled their operation and the tax payer funds are being used on Foundation expenses.  That would be yet another misapplication of funds.

If the Foundation Board of Trustees is responsible for the performance and oversight of all aspects of its operations can anyone explain why the tax payers of the COD District are the ones paying for their IRS 990 Tax filings and other Foundation obligations?   (Click here for Invoice to COD for COD Foundation Tax obligation documents)

A review of the Memorandum of Understanding between COD and the Foundation makes things pretty clear.  The tax payers are not suppose to be the ones picking up the tab for the Foundation’s Federal and State document filing requirements.

Yet another example of lack of internal controls.  I wonder if the former COD Foundation Board member Ken Florey, who was also the college attorney, had anything to do with this failure to prevent commingling of tax payer funds with the Foundation?

More reviews may show far more similar Foundation expenditures placed on the backs of the tax payer.  We will share them as we come across them.

In the mean time, I suggest the Foundation start cutting a check with interest back to COD to reimburse the funds used to pay for their obligations.

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