07/05/2022
๐๐๐-๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ก๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ
On April 28-29, 2022, the Alumni and Career Center (ACC) conducted a benchmarking activity at Silliman University (SU). Since Dr. Juvanni A. Caballero, Director for ACC, is also the Endowment Fund Manager of the Institute, the alumni team had a meeting with Prof Jane Annette L. Belarmino, Vice President for Development of SU.
Prof. Belarmino thoroughly shared how the Endowment Fund (EF) of their university is managed. She emphasized that the person in charge of generating funds for the EF should not be in charge of managing the fund itself in order to maintain a check-and-balance mechanism.
Endowment Funds, as discussed by Prof. Belarmino are restricted funds. It is a specific account for a particular purpose which should not be mingled with other accounts. The purpose is usually identified by the donor. These may include scholarships, board and lodging for students, stipend, salary of a faculty, support for a professorial chair, student aid, etc. As an example, Prof. Belarmino cited that if one wishes to set-up an Endowment Fund (with naming rights) for the purpose of supporting a scholarship, a memorandum of agreement (MOA) is signed between the donor and the university. The fund is then deposited and invested to allow the fund to grow. Only the interest of the fund is used for the purpose stipulated in the MOA so that the donated amount can exist in perpetuity. Recently SU utilizes 80% only of the interest for the intended programs while 20% is added to the principal amount to address inflation over the years.
In facilitating the scholarships, a scholarship committee is formed under SUโs Office of Student Affairs to choose the grantees of the scholarship. The names of the scholars are submitted to their Accounting Office. An account number is assigned per donor. These accounts are considered as subsidiary accounts of a general account dedicated for donations. For purposes of transparency, an annual report signed by the university head is regularly given to donors to give them an update of their accounts and the respective programs that they chose to support.
The Vice President attested that Sillimaniansโ great affinity towards their alma mater has no formula. However, the nurturing culture that they experienced during their student life is a significant variable in prompting the alumni to consider SU as their second home.
