Richardson said state funding for the universities should go to student activities and learning, while foundation activities, like fund-raising, “should be paid for by the foundation and should not be paid for with the appropriated state dollars.”
Committee members asked the universities and foundation officials for more details on funds being used to supplement salaries for faculty and for details on expensive trips funded by foundations.
Among the trips, Trujillo pointed to an $11,283 trip to Dubai last year paid for by the University of Central Florida foundation that included a $6,701 first-class plane ticket.
While university officials said foundation funding, which is largely private, is used to send researchers and scholars on trips related to their fields of study, Trujillo said he wanted to see more justification for the expenditures.
“We don’t know if there was really a return on that investment,” he said. “I think that’s troubling.”
–END–
3/8/2017
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