New Organization Will Help Donors Transform Higher Education Through Effective Philanthropy

FOR 10:00 AM RELEASE

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2007

CONTACT: JENNIFER BERKOWITZ (828) 687-2633

New Organization Will Help Donors

Transform Higher Education

Through Effective Philanthropy

WASHINGTON , Sept. 18, 2007 The debate over higher education reform gained a powerful new voice today: a nonprofit organization representing the interests of donors.

Officials of the new Indianapolis-based Center for Excellence in Higher Education (CEHE) pointed out that U.S. colleges and universities received more than $28 billion in gifts last year. CEHE Executive Director Frederic J. Fransen, Ph.D. said: It's time for the donor community to demand excellence, accountability and results.

Fransen said the cost of higher education more than $300 billion last year, with costs continuing to increase far more rapidly than the general inflation rate means Americans can no longer afford the luxury of giving money blindly to colleges and universities in the hopes that they'll use it wisely and productively. The system has been eroding; there have been too many broken promises; a college education no longer means what it's supposed to mean. The donor community's long-standing hands-off attitude has encouraged this decline. We do not tolerate this in business and we shouldn't tolerate it in higher education.

PROMOTING EXCELLENCE, THROUGH PHILANTHROPY

Fransen, a former foundation official, said the new organization was established by a group of philanthropists who have donated millions of dollars to U.S. colleges and universities and are concerned about higher education's decline. Our purpose is to educate the public about the state of higher education and help donors promote excellence through their philanthropy.

Though America's top colleges and universities are among the best in the world, he said, many of America's nearly 2,500 four-year colleges and universities are mired in mediocrity. The source of this problem is not money. Annual expenditures on U.S. higher education exceed $300 billion, some 10 percent of which comes from alumni and other donors. The question many donors are asking is: Are we getting our money's worth?

From our perspective the answer is no.' Through effective philanthropy, due diligence, proper governance, and management accountability, however, America's colleges and universities can be transformed into high-performing institutions that prepare today's students to be tomorrow's leaders. That is CEHE's mission. That is how we want our success to be judged.

IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM

Fransen said higher education's problems go far beyond the obvious, such as high school graduates who are ill prepared for rigorous college work, the trivialization and politicization of courses and curricula, the skyrocketing costs, and the fact that many schools seem to emphasize athletics more than academics.

These, he said, are merely symptoms of deeper problems involving management and accountability ranging from the role of faculty in setting policy to the failure of trustees to provide proper oversight. Compounding these problems is the fact that many college administrators are more responsible for revenue and physical plant than productivity and results. This needs to change, he said.

Fransen said, In an increasingly competitive world, the costs to our country are too great not to involve the entire range of stakeholders in defining what constitutes a meaningful college education and the standards for graduation.

The Center for Excellence in Higher Education is convinced, he said, that any serious effort to transform higher education must come from the outside. It won't happen from within. Those who support higher education with their voluntary contributions are uniquely qualified to bring about these needed changes.

USING POWER OF THE PURSE TO PROMOTE CHANGE

CEHE will help donors promote change by focusing on the following:

Accountability : CEHE believes college and university administrators should be given significantly more management responsibility and flexibility. They should receive full credit for the successes of their institutions and take responsibility and be held accountable for their failings. If they are little more than titled fundraisers and property managers, as is regrettably the case at many schools, higher education will continue its damaging decline.

Governance : CEHE believes college and university trustees have a moral and fiduciary responsibility to properly govern the institutions they serve. The common belief among many trustees that the institution they serve is infallible has had a profound and negative impact on higher education quality.

Effective Giving : Americans donate billions of dollars every year to U.S. colleges and universities, often with no particular purpose in mind other than to give, or to see one's name on a building, Fransen said. As an antidote to such blind and often mindless giving, CEHE will help serious donors and prospective donors structure gifts to achieve specific goals and obtain the best possible outcomes for their higher education investments.

Oversight : Effective giving is only part of the process, CEHE believes. As an extension of the organization's other donor-related activities, CEHE also will help donors monitor the use of their gifts and evaluate the results achieved.

Fransen said, College and university trustees and administrators have a responsibility to see that the institutions they oversee focus on their mission: education; use available resources wisely and efficiently in pursuit of that mission; challenge faculty and students to aim high; and assure alumni, parents, students, and donors that the granting of a degree means the recipient has accomplished something significant and is ready to contribute to society in a learned and meaningful way.

The problems in higher education will not be solved by tinkering at the edges. Excellence is not a buzzword it is the key to America's future.

Donors and philanthropists who really care about higher education have an opportunity and an obligation to use the power of the purse to bring about needed change. We urge them to do so and are willing and able to help every step of the way.

* * * *

Note to Editors: The Center for Excellence in Higher Education is a public nonprofit educational charity incorporated under section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. For more information, please visit CEHE's web site: www.cehe.org.