Benedictine University

“The jurica-suchy nature museum is a small, natural history museum with about 10,000 specimens ranging in size from a tiny gnat to a skeleton of a baleen whale. The collection represents both vertebrate and invertebrate animals and includes several rare specimens of extinct and endangered animals. There is also a large collection of fossils and rocks and minerals in the storage area that is in the process of being inventoried. Many local teachers bring their classes to the jurica-suchy nature museum to focus on particular themes to enhance their curriculum. The students take a brief tour; visit the learning circle under the whale to touch different specimens and then set off to work on an activity sheet selected by the teacher. Because the museum is an intimate space, filled with specimens, children are able to make observations, explore differences among the specimens, and think about them. The museum hosts many home school families and also is used by our benedictine students for class assignments in biology, art and education. There are over 5,000 visitors to the museum each year. In addition, the jurica-suchy nature museum offers a discovery box loan program of more than 40 boxes for teachers, home school families and other groups. The boxes contain museum specimens, background information, visual aids, curricular guides, and suggested classroom activities. This program reaches an additional 5,000 children each year. These programs are offered at no cost to our public as a means of furthering education in the natural sciences in our community. Benedictine university possesses an art collection numbering nearly 4,000 pieces and artifacts. The collection represents both fine and applied arts, and is quite diverse in its scope of subject and media; while the majority of the collection has a religious theme. The collection consists mainly of ceramics, drawings, paintings, original fine art prints, photography, textile, sculpture, mixed media, folk art and kitsch. The university's art collection is visible throughout the entire campus, and it's branch campus. In addition to the numerous area teachers, parents, special art interest groups and visitors that come to the university, and neighboring st. Procopius abbey, for the express purpose of a guided tour of the campus, virtually every campus visitor is able to see a part of the art collection. This must be noted as most college collections have a designated area for showing artwork or exhibitions, usually within a contained exhibition space. Benedictine university does have one designated enclosed set of display cases, in the lower area of krasa hall, for the purpose of showing smaller exhibitions, but the 2nd floor of kindlon hall, outside the library, has recently been opened up to show larger exhibitions. Classes on campus are encouraged to utilize the art collection to enhance their curriculum. The university is also host to various summer sports and music camps whereby an additional viewing audience from the community is able to see and appreciate the art collection. The enormity of the collection and being spread throughout the campus as it is, has transformed the campus into a gigantic art gallery, whereby art is appreciated by the masses and of aesthetic merit to all disciplines.”

“The university has a policy of appropriating for distribution each year a portion of its permanently restricted endowment funds fair value as of the last day of the year preceding the fiscal year in which the distribution is planned. Distributions from other endowments are made on the basis of prudent application of the funds in furtherance of the university's strategic plan in accordance with donor-imposed restrictions, when and if applicable, on the use of the funds. In establishing this policy, the university considered the long-term expected return on its investment assets, the nature and duration of the individual endowment funds, many of which must be maintained in perpetuity because of donor-imposed restrictions, and the possible effect of inflation. The university expects the current spending policy to allow its endowment funds to grow at a nominal average annual rate, that will provide a dependable and growing source of funding support and financial distributions for the university, while preserving the principal of the funds and protecting their value from the impact of inflation. Springfield college in illinois (sci), a related tax exempt organization, holds the endowment which is used to benefit benedictine university students.”

“The Organization is exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. However, income from certain activities not directly related to the Organization's tax-exempt purpose is subject to taxation as unrelated business income. The Organization recognizes the financial statement impact of a tax position when it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained upon examination. Management has determined there are no material uncertain positions that require recognition in the financial statements. There are no interest or penalties recognized in the statements of activities or statements of financial position. The Organization is no longer subject to federal and state income tax examinations by tax authorities for years before the tax year ended May 31, 2014.”