Columbia International University

“The officers of the Board, the at-large members, and the President (ex-officio) shall constitute the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee of the Board shall act on behalf of the Board of Trustees between meetings. It shall have power to act in all matters delegated to it by the Board. Any action taken by the Committee, not previously delegated to it by the Board, either at a regularly scheduled meeting or at a called meeting, shall be reviewed at the next regular meeting of the Board and shall be subject to Board approval. The Committee shall take the initiative in the search for a President, and the discipline or removal of the President, should that become necessary. It shall assist the President in establishing standards of performance for each academic year, shall evaluate the President's performance by these standards, and shall report its findings at the fall meeting of the Board. The Committee Chair shall appoint the membership and Chairs of the other Board committees. The Committee shall work directly with the President in fulfilling its responsibilities.”

“The Form 990 is prepared by an independent CPA firm. The Form 990 is then reviewed in detail by top management. After the review is completed, the Form 990 is sent to the Board of Trustees before filing with the IRS.”

“Board of Trustees: Each member and officer of the Board of Trustees must annually read and sign the conflict of interest and related party transaction policy and disclosure form (Board Conflict Policy). The Board Conflict Policy gives examples of conflicts of interest. When a conflict exists, the Board Conflict Policy delineates a disclosure procedure that requires the Board member to report the conflict to the President who refers the information to the Nominating and Board Review Committee for investigation and for a recommendation to the full Board of Trustees. Employees: Our conflict of interest policy is stated in our employee handbook. All regular full-time and part-time employees (which includes the President and key employees) must read the employee handbook their first week on the job and annually thereafter, and they must sign a statement that they have read it and are in compliance with its policies, which includes the conflict of interest policy. The policy gives examples of conflicts of interest. When a conflict exists, the policy instructs employees to disclose the conflict to their supervisor. Supervisors are instructed in the supervisors' policy manual to confer with their supervisor and the Human Resources Director who together will determine if a conflicts exists, to what extent, and the appropriate course of action. If the problem cannot be resolved at that level, the matter will be presented to the President for determination.”

“Line 15a: The Board Finance Committee on behalf of the entire Board, follows the procedures referred to in the Treas. Reg 53.4958-6(a) to establish a "rebuttable presumption of reasonableness" with respect to the President's compensation. The committee annually reviews comparable compensation data from industry surveys (e.g., ABACC, ABHE, ATS, and CUPA) to evaluate the reasonabless of the compensation amount. The results of this entire process are recorded in the Board minutes. All adjustments to the President's compensation are approved by the Board. Line 15b: Other private religious institutions with similar size budgets and/or enrollment are reviewed when CFO and Senior VP compensation is considered. The President completes a Personnel Addition or Change (PAC) Form with the pay rate and the HR director authorizes it. The PAC Form documents the process and approval.”

“Form 990 is available at the www.ciu.edu and upon request. Columbia International University's governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements are available upon request.”

“Compensation reported in Part VII, column D and Schedule J, Part II, column B is the amount reported on the individual's W-2, box 1 or 5 (whichever amount is greater) per the IRS instructions. In the case of minister's compensation when box 5 of the W-2 is not applicable, box 1 compensation is used. Employee deferrals to qualified retirement plans are normally captured in box 5, not box 1 of Form W-2. For reporting purposes we have included the minister's retirement plan deferrals in Part VII, column F and Schedule J, Part II, column C.”

“Change in the value of trust assets/annuities 700,735.”