American Council on Education

“The council shall have four classes of voting members (national association members, institutional members, organizational members, and affiliate members. Institutional members consist of colleges and universities, legally authorized to grant degrees, accredited by an agency recognized by the council for higher education accreditation or by an agency recognized by the department of education, upon recommendation of that agency by the president and approval by the membership committee, and meet the provisions of below, as approved by the board of directors. Each institutional member shall be entitled to one delegate and, through that delegate, may cast one vote at council meetings. Organization members include: 1. Nonprofit organizations primarily concerned with higher education and whose membership is restricted by local, state, or regional boundaries or other considerations as approved by the board of directors. 2. Nonprofit organizations principally engaged in elementary or secondary education and which are local, state, regional, or national in scope, as approved by the board of directors. Each organization member shall be entitled to one delegate and, through that delegate, may cast one vote at council meetings. Affiliate members consist of those colleges, universities, and other postsecondary institutions that offer degrees, are candidates for accreditation by an agency recognized by the council for higher education accreditation or by an agency recognized by the department of education, upon recommendation of that agency by the president and approval by the membership committee, and meet the provisions in section 6, below, as approved by the board of directors. Each affiliate member shall be entitled to one delegate and, through that delegate, may cast one vote at council meetings. Associates of ace shall be nonvoting subscribers of ace and consist of individuals, organizations, and other groups concerned with higher education that do not fall within the membership definitions of sections 1 through 4, but are included in the following categories: branch or regional subscribers, such as campuses that are not separately accredited, but under the auspices of a member-eligible institution or system. International subscribers, such as higher education associations or institutions outside the united states and its territories that are recognized by the appropriate authority in the country. Corporate subscribers, such as organizations, corporations, and other groups in business and industry that are concerned with higher education. Foundation subscribers, such as foundations concerned with higher education. Individual subscribers, such as individuals concerned with higher education. Voting membership for national association members, institutional members, organization members or affiliate members is limited to institutions that are entitled to exemption under the federal income tax statutes, as either public instrumentalities or institutions organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes, that are exempt under section 115(a) or section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code of 1954 (or the corresponding provisions of any future united states internal revenue law), and are not private foundations by reason of sections 509(a)(1) or (2) of the internal revenue code of 1954 (or the corresponding provisions of any future united states internal revenue law), and to those degree-granting, for-profit institutions that are accredited by agencies recognized by the council for higher education accreditation or by an agency recognized by the department of education, upon recommendation of that agency by the president and approval by the membership committee.”

“The board of directors is elected by the membership of the organization.”

“The members of ace pursuant to article x of the ace constitution retain the right to amend the constitution by a 2/3 vote of the members.”

“A draft version of irs forms 990 and 990-t are initially circulated among ace's entire board prior to the meeting of the board of directors. The purpose of making the forms available to the entire board membership is to solicit questions and/or suggestions for improvements to the draft. Ace's chief financial officer (cfo) compiles all comments received from the board and resolves those matters prior to the board meeting. Ace's audit committee of the board of directors is charged with compliance oversight, including the accurate and timely filing of forms 990 and 990-t. The audit committee also periodically receives updates concerning changes to the forms promulgated by the irs.”

“All responses to conflict of interest ouestionnaires are received by general counsel. Any questions are addressed and resolved, any outside business relationships with businesses doing business with the organization are disclosed to the audit committee of the board of directors. In the event any conflict is identified, the audit committee may appoint a disinterested person or committee to investigate alternatives to the transaction. Any individual with a conflict of interest may not participate in the governing body's deliberations and decisions in the transaction.”

“The compensation committee of the organization obtains comparability data to support salary adjustments for the president of the organization. When determining the compensation of the president, the organization relies upon comparability data, utilizes independent persons and maintains the appropriate records to substantiate the decision making process. The same process is utilized for other officers and key employees of the organization. The most resent year the process took place is 2016.”

“These documents are made available to the public to the extent the financial statements are included in the annual report on the publically available ace website. Governing documents and the conflict of interest policy are provided to the public upon request.”

“Postretirement change other than net periodic benefit cost -962,375. Partnership passthrough income -2,872. Recovered grants -362,118.”