State University of New York

Oversight of Campus-Related Foundations

The campuses of the State University of New York (SUNY) contract with campus-related, not-for-profit foundations to accomplish fundraising which supports the educational, research and public service missions of the campuses. There were 30 campuses with foundations at the time of our audit. SUNY System Administration oversees all SUNY operations, including the foundations. We examined this oversight and found that it needed to be improved to be sufficient to ensure that the foundations conducted their activities exclusively for the benefit of the campuses and in accordance with SUNY and campus policies.

For example, SUNY System Administration had conducted few audits of the foundations in recent years and did not always ensure that each campus had an active contract with its foundation. We identified nine foundations that had been operating without an active contract for periods ranging from eight months to five years. We also found that the investment and expenditure policies of several foundations did not fully comply with SUNY requirements. We recommended SUNY System Administration strengthen its oversight of the foundations.

For a complete copy of Report 2006-S-96 click here.
For a copy of the 90-day response click here.
For a copy of the associated follow-up report click here.