Board of Trustees Spring Meeting
News
Foundation Board of Trustees Meeting – May 2015
The Board of Trustees of the James Madison University Foundation met on May 15th, 2015. Prior to the meeting the Board was invited to participate in the Presidential Vision Tour – The Madison Plan as guests of Bruce & Lois Forbes at their home Villa Bella Cardarella.
The Trustees attended various committee meetings in the morning and the full board meeting in the afternoon of the 15th. Vice President and CFO Cheryl Lindsay gave a presentation on the differences in reporting between our financial statements and campaign reporting. Ms. Lindsay also reported on cash contributions for the first nine months of the fiscal year and reviewed the use of portfolio earnings for FY15. Ms. Lindsay reported that about 3,200 students benefitted from Foundation scholarship endowments this year.
The Madison Trust, which was launched in November, had 56 proposals submitted of which 12 were selected to make a live pitch to donors. All twelve proposals received full or partial funding. The Madison Trust is modeled after the Jefferson Trust where proposals are funded by an endowment.
The Board heard from the Madison Investment Fund, a student-lead investment management group for a portion of the Foundation’s investment portfolio. The objective of the Madison Investment Fund is to provide students with a forum to apply theories of portfolio management, gain real world experience in the logistical aspects of managing an investment fund and to outperform the S&P 500 stock index.
The Board re-elected current officers and trustees as well as electing new Trustees Dr. James L. Riley, Ms. Linda W. Cross and Mr. Jeffry E. Tickle to serve terms starting in fiscal year 2016.
The Board said good-bye to two Trustees who are retiring from the Board. Nancy Lantz, a staunch supporter of JMU academics and athletics, established an endowed athletic scholarship. Nancy also served as chair of the Strategic Planning Committee which challenged the Foundation by establishing a road map for the future. Phil Updike and his wife Tina, generous supporters of JMU, established an endowed professorship, the Paul E. and Lillieanna P. Beck Professorship in Art and Art History. Phil has left his mark on the Foundation committees on which he served and his expertise in real estate and business acumen have been beneficial to the Foundation. Both Nancy and Phil are JMU graduates who gave back to the institution that they love.
