Worcester Polytechnic Institute

“The form 990 was prepared by tax advisors from a national accounting firm in conjunction with the organization's management. Management reviews the completed form 990 with the tax advisors. The form 990, with the exception of the name of one donor listed on schedule b that asked to remain anonymous, is reviewed by the audit committee of the board of trustees. After approval by the audit committee, management provides the form 990, with the exception of the name of one donor listed on schedule b that asked to remain anonymous, to all trustees for review prior to filing with the internal revenue service.”

“As part of the university's conflict of interest policy, all university trustees, officers, and key employees (as defined under irs rules) are required to submit annually a conflict of interest disclosure statement, in which they affirm that they: (a) have received a copy of the university conflict of interest policy; (b) have read and understood the policy; (c) agree to comply with the policy and; (d) understand that the university, as a tax-exempt organization, must restrict its activities primarily to those for which its tax-exempt status was granted. Additionally, as part of the annual disclosure statement process, trustees, officers and key employees of the university are asked to disclose any potential conflicts of interest and any significant financial interest with the university or any university-related entity. All annual disclosure statements are submitted to the office of the general counsel, which reviews them, consolidates the comments and reports the results to the audit committee. Upon receipt of the report, the audit committee reviews the findings and takes any necessary and appropriate action. The audit committee then reports to the board of trustees on the findings and any actions taken by the committee. Any trustee with a conflict of interest recuses himself or herself from any board or committee decisions related to that conflict.”

“The process for determining compensation for the university's president and other top management is modeled after the requirements in federal regulations 53.4958-6(a), rebuttable presumption that a transaction is not an excess benefit transaction, to establish the presumption of reasonable compensation. Compensation is reviewed and approved by the independent members of the compensation committee of the board of trustees. In reviewing compensation, the committee utilizes an independent compensation consultant, comparable market data from published surveys and federal form 990s of comparable organizations in evaluating the compensation for each individual. The committee conducts a review of this comparability data, sets compensation within a range of comparable organizations, and documents its deliberation and discussion in minutes that are retained with the other governance materials of the university. The most recent compensation study was conducted in 2019.”

“The university maintains copies of its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements on its website (www.wpi.edu). Form 990, part vii, section a philip clay and michelle jones-johnson were reported as key employees on the form 990 for tax year ended june 30, 2018. These individuals continue to be employees of wpi, however these positions no longer meet the key employee definition for tax year ended june 30, 2020. Therefore, they are reported as former key employees.”

“THE UNIVERSITY IS FILING FORM 990 BASED ON ITS CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENT NUMBERS. THE UNIVERSITY FEELS THIS IS MORE TRANSPARENT TO THE PUBLIC AND GIVES MORE ACCURATE INFORMATION ON ITS OPERATIONS AS OPPOSED TO CARVING OUT ITS SUBSIDIARIES LISTED BELOW. BOTH ORGANIZATIONS ALSO FILE FORM 990 SEPARATELY. FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2020, WASHBURN PARK INC HAD NET ASSETS OF $29,344,379; REVENUE OF $789,962; AND EXPENSES OF $2,378,306. Additionally, Assistments foundation had net assets of $669,196; revenue of $1,396,040; and expenses of $726,844.”

“This educational process is true to the founders' directive to create, to discover, and to convey knowledge at the frontiers of academic inquiry for the betterment of society. Knowledge is created and discovered in the scholarly activities of faculty and students ranging across educational methodology, professional practice, and basic research. Knowledge is conveyed through scholarly publication and instruction. (http://www.wpi.edu/about/mission.html) form 990, part v, line 1a: the 6,863 reported on this line includes the following: 1098-t's: 6,111 1099 misc: 747 1099-k's: 5”

“Net unrealized gain on beneficial interest in trusts -$1,852,698 change in value of split-interest agreements $142,421 net unrealized gain on swaps -$3,052,251 rounding -$178 _________________________________________________________________ total -$4,762,706”