Proposed reorganization chart includes some, but not all, current positions

Positions within the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Foundation may change with the proposed advancement reorganization, and not all employees will be able to apply for similar positions under the reorganization chart.
“The fact that Foundation had taken on a number of employees at the request of the university 10 years ago was not a sustainable model,” University of Wisconsin-Platteville Chancellor Dennis J. Shields said. “It could not cover the expenses of those kinds of operations at a university like Platteville.”
All employees funded by the UW-Platteville Foundation still employed on July 1 will have ongoing positions for the 2015-2016 fiscal year within the new structure, and nobody will be forced out of work, Shields said.
“This is not the responsibility of employees, so they shouldn’t be disadvantaged by it,” Shields said.
Shields said not all employees will remain in their current capacities, however.
Kim Govier will not remain in her position as Division Coordinator for University Advancement; she has been a Foundation employee for the last 14 1/2 years.
“My current role is being divided into several different positions,” Govier said. “I am keeping all my options open at this point.”
Director of Advancement Holly Clendenen is considering all of her options as well.
“My current title as Director of Advancement is not on the proposed reorganization chart, but there is a position that will have many of the duties of my current title,” Clendenen said. “The Senior Directortor [of Development and Alumni] in the proposed reorganizational chart will have many of the duties of my current position, as I understand it.”
“We ought to do a national search [for the Senior Director of Development and Alumni position]”, Shields said
Shields said other searches probably will not be conducted nationally unless required by university guidelines. Decisions will have to be made to make the most efficient use of vacancies, possibly combining some positions.
“[Reducing Foundation payroll] has not been the focus as of yet,” Shields said. “We need to figure out what is the optimum structure.”
The structure will change as the External Relations function “matures,” Shields stated in an April 22 memo to advancement personnel. Two new areas that will be addressed in the proposed structure are described on the proposed flow chart as Government Relations and Corporate Relations. Those areas will report to the Vice Chancellor for External Relations. Rose Smyrski has been appointed to the position on an interim basis.
The proposed structure was developed in conjunction with Huron Consulting Group. The group talked with Shields, the Advancement staff and looked at other models within the UW System, including UW-Madison, coming up with three versions of the proposed structure.

Gifts to Foundation are subjects of annual fees

Fees are deducted from gifts to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Foundation to cover overhead, but fees are not taken from all gifts.
The Foundation takes a 25 percent gift fee on annual gifts donated through the phonathon, Linden Leadership Annual Giving Program and mailings, according to a Sept. 9, 2014, memo from Dennis Cooley, former Assistant Chancellor for University Advancement and Executive Director of the UW-Platteville Foundation.
“The annual giving fee is only on gifts that come in from annual giving, which is primarily our phonathon,” Director of Advancement Holly Clendenen said. “The rest of our gifts are not subject to the annual giving fee.”
Most funds, approximately 95 percent of donations to Foundation, are restricted in their use, meaning that the donor directs them to be used for a specific purpose, Clendenen said.
“We don’t take it [the 25 percent fee] on all gifts, and it does not apply to pass-through funds,” Division Coordinator for University Advancement Kim Govier said.
Pass-through funds include monies applied directly to a student’s tuition account for scholarships awarded by the Foundation from donors who include in their donation criteria that the entire sum must be awarded in full, or “pass-through” without having any fees taken from the amount.
The memo states the only other fee taken by Foundation is a 2 percent management fee from endowments, most of which are scholarships, Govier said, with the fee generating approximately $350,000 per year for Foundation.
“If it [Foundation] brought in $1.5 million, fees brought in for annual gifts and fees would be around $140,000,” Govier said.
If Foundation took 25 percent on all annual gifts, that would be around $375,000 in fees, Govier said.