1. Quasi-endowments (also known as Funds Functioning as Endowments)
1.1 University System authority:
1.1.1 The Board of Trustees policy (BOT IV.G.3.2.1) delegates to its Financial Affairs Committee responsibility and authority for final approval of all interfund transfers, including transfers of current, loan and plant funds to establish or add to quasi-endowment funds.
1.1.2 The Financial Affairs Committee delegates to the Chancellor responsibility and authority for approval of transfers to quasi-endowments in amounts of $100,000 or less. It is the intent of this policy to aggregate like transactions when determining the applicable approval procedure.
1.2 Procedure to Establish or add to Quasi-endowment Funds
1.2.1 The President of the institution will request in writing from the Chancellor approval to establish or add to a quasi-endowment. The request should include the original source of funds, any externally imposed restrictions, the amount, and a brief description of the reason for the request.
1.2.2 If the amount if over $100,000, the Chancellor may consider the request for inclusion on the next agenda of the Financial Affairs Committee. If the request is $100,000 or less, the Chancellor may authorize the transfer of funds immediately. The USNH Controller's Office is responsible for properly recording the transfer in the official books and records of USNH. The USNH Treasurer's Office is responsible for moving the investments to the CIP.
1.2.3 Ordinarily the Chancellor will not authorize the establishment of a quasi-endowment of less than $25,000 unless there is a plan to build the fund to at least $25,000 through future transfers or a commitment to reinvest the annual earnings in the fund until it reaches a $25,000 balance. The Chancellor may also establish a quasi-endowment for amounts less than $25,000 if there is a significant institutional purpose; for example, to honor a recently deceased faculty or staff member.
1.2.4 The Chancellor may approve the reinvestment of quasi-endowment earnings even if the balance in the fund exceeds $25,000 and delegates the authority for this decision to the USNH Treasurer.
1.3 Revocation of Quasi-endowment Funds
1.3.1 Because a quasi-endowment results from an internal designation as opposed to a legally binding external requirement, a quasi-endowment may be revoked in the future. A
revocation of a quasi-endowment of any amount requires the vote of the Financial Affairs Committee.
2. Acquisition, Management and Sale of Equity in Start-up Companies
2.1 The Board of Trustees has authorized USNH and the component institutions to acquire equity in start-up companies in exchange for the transfer of technology and other intellectual property (BOT IV.G.2.1). At the same time, the board directed the Chancellor to establish such System-wide policies as may be necessary to ensure the prudent exercise of such authority (BOT IV.G.2.2). The Board also directed the Presidents to establish such institutional policies as may be necessary to ensure the prudent exercise of such authority (BOT IV.G.2.3).
2.2 This policy establishes the conditions, under which a USNH institution is authorized to acquire, manage and sell such equity interests.
2.3 Before acquiring an equity interest under the circumstances stated above, the institution shall have adopted an institutional level policy which, at a minimum, addresses the following issues:
2.4 In addition, the institutions shall observe the following limitations:
2.5 The USNH Treasurer hereby delegates to the institutional officer designated in institutional policy the authority to sign all documents related to the acquisition, management, and sale of equity acquired under this policy, with the exception of those documents requiring the signature of the holder of the equity (which shall be the USNH Treasurer).
2.6 On or before September 1 of each year, the President of any institution holding an equity interest in a start-up company at any time during the previous fiscal year shall report those holdings to the USNH Treasurer, including, at a minimum, the date acquired, number of shares, book value, and name of the company.
2.7 On or before November 1 of each year, the USNH Treasurer shall report to the Finance committee on Investments the information collected pursuant to the previous section.