Texas A&M Foundation

“Members, stockholders, or other persons who had power to elect or appoint: each year as one trustee term ends, a new trustee is selected by the association of former students, a separate organization that also supports texas a&m university.”

“Form 990 review process discussion of the form 990 was an agenda item at the february 2020 board of trustee meeting. The members of the board of trustees received a copy of the 990 prior to the meeting for their review. The vice president and chief financial officer presented the form 990 and answered all questions posed.”

“Conflict of interest policy monitoring and enforcement the officers, trustees, and key employees are provided a copy of the organization's conflict of interest policy and a disclosure form each year. The disclosure forms are returned and reviewed by the organization's in-house counsel and reported to the chairman of the audit committee. With a board of only seven trustees, it is not difficult to discern who among the members of the board, officers, and key employees may have a relationship, which requires disclosure. If review of the disclosure form does not reveal what is expected to be disclosed, the individual is contacted by an officer of the organization familiar with the reporting requirements to provide additional explanation and a revised disclosure form is returned. The form states that it is the responsibility of the officer, trustee, or key employee to update the disclosure if circumstances occur throughout the year which necessitate a change in the information supplied.”

“The compensation committee of the organization reviews and approves total compensation of all officers, the vice president of development support, the chief investment officer, and directors of investments. The officers included in this review are the president, senior vice president for development, vice president and chief financial officer, and vice president and general counsel. Comparability data for all positions under review is presented to the committee. The compensation committee is composed of three members of the board of trustees who are uncompensated volunteers. The president (chief executive) of the organization is present for a portion of the committee meeting to present the performance and accomplishments of the executive staff and investment team. None of the remaining officers, the vice president of development support, chief investments officer, nor directors of investments are present for any portion of this discussion. The president is excused from the meeting for the committee to discuss his performance and the decision regarding his salary. None of the officers, the vice president of development support, chief investments officer, nor directors of investments are voting members of the compensation committee or the board of trustees. The discussion, deliberation, and decision for all positions under review by the compensation committee is recorded in the minutes of the committee prepared by the president and signed by the chair of the committee for presentation and approval at the next meeting of the committee. The full board of trustees receives an oral report of the committee meeting from the committee chairman, generally within 24 hours of the compensation committee meeting. Every 4-5 years an outside independent consultant is hired to review compensation to ensure salaries are comparable to similar organizations and market conditions. Independent consultant, mercer, completed compensation study of chief investment officer, directors of investment and other segments of our organization with results presented in february, 2019. Independent consultant, pearl meyer, is reviewing compensation of executive officers with completion expected in mid 2020.”

“Documents made available to the public the articles of incorporation for the organization are available to the public on request from the office of the secretary of state and are frequently requested and supplied in the course of grant applications to private foundations and corporate foundations. The bylaws are available on request to the organization by members of the public. The conflict of interest policy is maintained within the organization's general policies and procedures and has not been presented to the public in any manner. However, if requested, the organization's conflict of interest policy would be made available to any member of the public requesting this information. The foundation produces an annual report which includes the statement of financial position and statement of activities and changes in net assets. This report is mailed to many donors. The complete audited financials are available upon request.”

“Changes in oversight process or selection process there have been no changes to the organization's audit committee's responsibilities.”