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"Some college administrators seem so distracted with fund raising, academic infighting, and community initiatives that they set up their emergency communications departments very poorly. Training is poor to nonexistent, secretaries are pressed into service with tremendous responsibilities for running 'notification systems' 24/7 and on weekends because no one else knows how to do it and the administration won’t pay for additional staff. Procedures are seat-of-the-pants and dependent on HIPPO (highest paid person’s opinion), except when something like Virginia Tech happens and there is some sort of scramble to do something different." --Donna
Most Colleges Avoid Risk Management, Report Says
Jill Biden Shines a Global Spotlight on American Community Colleges
Speaking at a Unesco conference in Paris, the vice president’s wife stressed the importance of two-year institutions to the nation’s educational goals.
Connecticut Public Colleges Lose 200 Professors to Early Retirement
Administrators are scrambling to plug holes in their course schedules for fall, with most expecting to do so by hiring more adjuncts or increasing class sizes.
U. of Georgia Paid 2 Fraternities $2.4-Million to Relocate, Contracts Show
The two were among five with houses on property where the university plans to build new academic facilities.
New Allegations in Admissions Controversy at U. of Illinois Suggest Ex-Provost Played a Role
Linda P.B. Katehi, the incoming chancellor of the University of California at Davis, has insisted she knew nothing of the admission of politically connected applicants at Illinois.
Sonoma State U. Foundation May Lose $350,000 on Loan to Former Board Member
The foundation will be forced to issue fewer scholarships in the 2010-11 academic year because of a diminished endowment, a university official said.
College Suspends Student for Working in Gay Pornography | 58
President Obama's Visit to Notre Dame Carries Barely a Hint of Controversy That Preceded It | 58
Drug Sting Nabs 21 Students at U. of Illinois | 57
Faculty Members and Union Protest Staff Layoffs at Temple U. as 'Cruel' | 57
North Dakota Board's Vote Puts 'Fighting Sioux' Mascot on Thinner Ice | 57
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October 1, 2008
U. of Washington Sues Bank After Losing $7.5-Million
The University of Washington has filed a lawsuit to terminate a contract with its bank after a lending agreement accumulated losses of at least $7.5-million for the university, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
The lawsuit, filed last week, asserts that Northern Trust, an investment-management service, violated the contract by refusing to act on the university’s attempts to withdraw money from a failing lending program.
According to the lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, Northern Trust lent $750-million of the university’s money under a securities lending agreement beginning in April. But after learning on September 17 of a $750,000 loss as a result of the lending, the university tried to terminate the agreement by both e-mail and fax. Northern Trust responded the next day, saying the university had lost $5.3-million. The figure would eventually grow to $7.5-million by September 23, but the bank said the money would not be returned.
“We gave instructions, and the instructions were not followed,” Norm Arkans, a university spokesman, told the Post-Intelligencer.
The university’s contract with Northern Trust, its bank for 20 years, stipulated that university officials could end the lending agreement “at any time by written notice.” The lawsuit alleges that despite the request to terminate the lending, university officials were told by the bank that it would continue to lend the university’s money and the funds would not be returned.
Northern Trust had acted as custodian for about $1.4-billion of the university’s money, nearly half of its estimated $3-billion endowment. The bank is required to respond to the lawsuit in writing within the next two months.
The bank said in a statement released today that its clients, including the university, had shared in a “steady stream of revenue” in the past, but that the investment pool had recently been under stress because of “unprecedented market conditions.” The bank also said that its efforts to “provide support” for its clients would cost it about $150-million.
The news came in the same week that nearly 1,000 colleges were unable to remove money from the Common Fund for Short Term Investing after Wachovia froze the fund’s accounts pending its purchase by Citigroup. —Reeves Wiedeman
Posted on Wednesday October 1, 2008 | Permalink |Comments
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Until I read this article, and followed up with some reading on FDIC, I had not understood that FDIC insurance only protects UW up to 100,000$. I can hardly believe it. Is this true?
— Henry Shenk Oct 2, 10:34 AM #
That’s true. And it doesn’t protect investments, only savings and checking accounts.
— George Oct 2, 10:40 AM #
Hmmm … I wonder how much of this was for sub-prime lending?
— CW Oct 2, 12:18 PM #