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Public Institution Considers Becoming Private
With the tightening of state higher education budgets nationwide, many public institutions are looking for alternative ways to raise money. One Oregon college, having faced steadily declining state funding for over a decade, recently considered an extreme step. A local businessman, Dick Wendt, offered the Oregon Institute of Technology $75 million worth of stock in his company, Jeld-Wen, which manufactures doors, windows, and education technology products, on the condition that the small public college drop out of the Oregon university system and become a private institution. Officials at the college, with the permission of the state’s higher education board, said they would give the offer serious consideration. The deal stalled, however, when the benefactor declined to submit a written proposal spelling out the terms of his offer. Wendt currently serves on an advisory council to the institute’s president, and his plan reportedly included the stipulation that he would control a seat on the institute’s board of directors in exchange for the gift.
The president of the institute, which specializes in training students for careers in technology, health professions, and business, initially expressed enthusiasm for the plan, saying, "We owe it to the future of OIT to thoroughly investigate this generous offer." But many others at the college were more skeptical, questioning whether income from the stock donation would be adequate to replace the lost state funding, and what would happen should Jeld-Wen run into financial problems down the road. Some professors and students also criticized the lack of clarity in the conditions attached to the gift and asked why Wendt was unwilling to help the institution without requiring it to become private.
Although Wendt’s proposal is now off the table, the institute’s problems continue, says Elaine Deutschman, a mathematics professor and secretary-treasurer of the local AAUP chapter. "Another recent round of state budget cuts means programs are being reduced and eliminated," she says. "People on campus are very much aware that we desperately need money from some source."
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