Des Moines Register
09-25-07
Disclose details of deals
Officials at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University and the two schools’ alumni associations say they have done nothing wrong in forging exclusive revenue-sharing agreements to peddle credit cards to students, their parents and alumni.
If so, then why not fully disclose all details of the agreements? That way, people can judge for themselves whether the deals are legitimate.
The U of I and Iowa State have contracts to aggressively promote credit cards, on and off campus, using information gleaned from university records obtained from students, parents, alumni and even athletic-ticket buyers. Some of the money comes back to the universities in the form of rewards based on the amount of business generated.
Clearly, the universities and the alumni associations are closely entwined in a business deal that involves sharing of information and revenue. But because these deals pass through alumni associations that see themselves as private organizations, many details of these agreements are hidden from view of the public.
The Register’s Clark Kauffman was able to learn some details of these contracts by looking at separate agreements between the alumni groups and the universities, which are subject to Iowa’s open-records law. Also, ISU concluded that its agreement was a public record and made it available to the Register.
The alumni associations at all three of Iowa’s state universities contend they are private organizations and thus not subject to the state records law, which would make them disclose details of exclusive agreements with credit-card companies.
The Iowa State University Foundation used that tactic in arguing it did not have to abide by the open-records law. The Iowa Supreme Court, however, ruled that the foundation performed a “core function” of Iowa State by raising money for the university. It’s hard to see a meaningful distinction between the roles of the university foundations and alumni associations.
In any case, the universitie s’ alumni associations should disclose all details of the credit-card agreements. As extensions of public institutions, they should be totally forthcoming about business deals they believe are in the best interest of the university, students and alumni.