The Colorado State University Foundation board has been honored nationally for its leadership and investment innovations, and its quick, versatile response to help CSU weather financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and federal student loan cuts.

The CSU Foundation board is one of six recipients of the 2021 John W. Nason Award for Board Leadership from the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. Honorees were chosen from among more than 35 nominations from public and private institutions, statewide systems, and institutionally related foundations.

Other 2021 recipients include the board of trustees from American University of Beirut, the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University, and the University of Tennessee, as well as the Diné College Board of Regents and the University of Vermont Foundation Board of Directors.

Significant changes

The CSU Foundation board made three significant changes that led to the award.

• Diversifying the board. The board decided it needed to be more representative – in terms of personal and professional backgrounds – of the land-grant institution it serves. The board achieved more diversity not via slow-motion evolution that awaits attrition among existing board positions, but rather via a fast-track process that involved changing bylaws and adding new directors.
• Reshaping investment management to enhance returns and expand options. Although board and investment committee members had significant financial acumen, they knew it was time to make a change in order to provide the best stewardship, responsiveness and asset growth. The board moved to an outsourced chief investment officer model and fully revamped its investment strategy to maximize returns and associated risk.
• Innovative responses to fast-breaking needs. The COVID-19 pandemic and federal student-loan cuts and tested the CSU Foundation’s ability to respond quickly to some of the most pressing and rapidly evolving fiscal needs CSU has ever faced.
  • To help ease projected state budget cuts and reductions in student tuition and fee revenue, the CSU Foundation switched from its long-established year-by-year payout model to what’s called a three-year rolling average. This transformation, literally accomplished in a few weeks, cushioned the blow of COVID-related market losses, and delivered to CSU the second-largest payout in the CSU Foundation’s history.
  • When the federal Perkins Loan program was canceled, the CSU Foundation was able to help fill the gap by working with the university’s financial aid office to create the Ram Loan Program. This pool of CSU Foundation investment dollars loaned to and repaid by eligible students, helps meet the financial aid needs of some of the university’s most vulnerable students, while also meeting the Foundation’s return-on-investment criteria.

“Any one of these innovations, especially when achieved in such a tight time frame, would merit recognition from AGB,” said CSU President Joyce McConnell. “But our Board took on a whole new process and committed to rapid planning and implementation that immediately made a significant impact on the Foundation and its endowment. Even more importantly, their work has been felt positively by the university and our students, which makes our Foundation Board truly exceptional. We’re delighted that the Nason Award judges agreed.”

“The coronavirus is but one of many challenges that higher education is facing,” said Henry Stoever, AGB president and CEO. “We hope that recognizing boards that are strategic partners of their institutions will give others the courage to lead their institutions or foundations in a similar fashion,”

About the Nason award

The Nason award is named for higher education leader John W. Nason, who served as the chair of the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council and helped more than 4,000 interned students continue their college studies across the nation during World War II. Learn more about AGB’s Nason Award at AGB.org/Award.