Excelsior University

“The Form 990 was prepared by the accounting services department at the College. The information within the return was obtained through input from several Officers of the College. Following internal preparation of the return, it was forwarded to the College's independent auditors to seek their input before forwarding to the Audit Committee of the Board of Trustees. The Audit Committee reviewed the final return in depth via teleconference with the Officers of the College and the accounting staff. Management at the College guided the Audit Committee through various schedules included in the filing noting the purpose of the schedule and identifying the origin and sources of the content contained within. All questions posed by the Committee were answered by the Management of the College as documented in the minutes to the meeting. The final return was made available for inspection and review to all Board Members before final filing with the IRS.”

“The College has maintained and periodically updated a conflicts of interest policy since 1998. The policy is annually distributed to all trustees, officers and key employees, along with a disclosure statement form on which such individuals are to specify actual and potential conflicts of interest. The Chair of the Audit Committee, in conjunction with the College's General Counsel, reviews and evaluates disclosure statements and takes appropriate action to ensure compliance with the policy.”

“Financial records are retained in accordance with the College's standard record retention policy. In addition, grant awards, certain mortgage and contractual arrangement require additional retention time frames. Other departments in the College such as the Registrar and Financial Aid offices retain student records as required under federal regulations and agencies guidelines.”

“Per the College bylaws, the Board is required to from time to time determine the compensation of the President, and approve the compensation of all other officers of the College, which should in all cases be reasonable and commensurate with the services performed by them. In 2010, a comprehensive independent study of the President's compensation was conducted by an external consultant, and was updated again in 2014, and again in 2019 in preparation for a new President search expected to be completed by mid-2020. This study, commissioned under the direction of the Board of Trustees, looked at comparative data from a competitive pool determined by the external consultant. This study, along with an updated review of College officer compensation, was used in writing the contract for the College's new President in late 2016, which was approved by the Board of Trustees. This contract was updated in the fall of 2018 and is subject to renewal, extension, or termination every three to five years depending on the contract terms by the Board of Trustees. Additionally, the compensation of the President is reviewed annually and any changes are approved by the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees. Each year the President and the Board agree to annual goals and the President provides monthly reports on the progress toward these goals. His achievements are the basis for an annual performance review conducted by the Executive Committee of the Board. All Board discussions are documented in the Board of Trustee meeting minutes. The President's compensation is, in part, derived from the terms of his contract. The 2019 Executive Compensation study completed by a consultant, discussed in detail below, looked at other college presidents in our list of 27 peer institutions as a comparison. The consultant used the College's most recent year IRS Form 990 and then 'aged' the amounts using industry accepted standards. Any increase of compensation for the President is reviewed by an independent consultant to ensure the resulting compensation is reasonable and compliant with Intermediate Sanctions guidelines according to Treasury Final Regulations Section 53.4958-1. The Office of Human Resources establishes compensation within various grade levels at the College based on several factors such as the current local job market and hiring rate in our area, the demographics of the region including the degree of difficulty and competition in acquiring the particular talent. In addition, a compensation study was performed in 2014 by an external consultant that compared duties, responsibilities, and compensation for all job titles of the college. The study gathered data at the national level as well as industry-specific data and job market information for our region of the country. Salaries within the organization were comparable against this data. In 2014, at the direction of the Board of Trustees, the Office of Human Resources completed an executive compensation survey through a consultant. The study assessed eleven positions and made comparisons to comparable staff positions at 22 similarly situated institutions. The study had two objectives: 1.Determine if current pay levels are commensurate with peer roles at peer institutions, and 2. Ensure that compensation is in line with Section 4958 of the Internal Revenue Code. The results of the survey suggested that the College is in line with respect to Section 4958 of the Internal Revenue Code. In addition to these compensation studies, the Office of Human Resources annually reviews salaries for all internal positions against market compensation data provided through an outside consultant.”

“Governing documents, the conflict of interest policy and the financial statements are available upon request in hard copy and electronic (.pdf) form.”