I said I would post updated numbers for the Foundation when I had time. It’s now been two years since Doc Ramsey left U of L, and we have two years of operating numbers--FY2018 not officially on the books--and a one-year forecast for 2019 to tell us where we’re headed without him. As with most financials, the reporting process changes over time, so the numbers have to be adjusted in order to make a valid comparison.
Nowadays, U of L only posts the last two years of Foundation operating results on the interweb. (LINK) I had to make an open records request to go back for older records. You can read into that what you want and probably should.
Since Ramsey’s Departure
For FY 2017, the Foundation reported “contributions and allocations to U of L departments” in the amount of $52.2 million. (LINK) According to at least one news account a couple months ago, U of L said they would be reporting a comparable number of $54.2 million for 2018, and a budgeted number of $65.1 million for 2019. (LINK) Fiscal year results are normally reported by U of L’s outside accountants around the beginning of the fourth calendar quarter.
I consider three years of financial results a pretty good barometer of where someone is headed. It seems like just yesterday that Ramsey was in charge, but he left U of L in the summer of 2016. The clowns we have in charge have been fumbling around long enough to hold them accountable.
Ramsey’s Tenure
Of course, we hear what a debacle that time period was. But that’s mainly from our One Great Newspaper, State government, and the former regime haters. Unless you can get your hands on the financial reports, you may not have proof otherwise. Fortunately, those reports are still available, and I’ve reviewed the ones I have on file to cite comparable numbers. If anyone wants to see the actual reports, I’ll upload and link them for download.
Fiscal Years 2009-2014
During these reporting years, “total expenses” were itemized into the following major categories:
1. Contributions to various U of L departments
2. Payments on behalf of U of L (for specific sub-categories)
3. Interest expense
4. Residence hall operations, including depreciation
5. Real estate operations, including depreciation
6. G&A
For analytical purpose, I consider items 1, 2, and 4 to represent money flowing to or benefiting the University. The other three items are overhead and investment-related expenses. “Contributions and allocations to U of L” summarized in more recent years correspond to #1, 2, and 4 here.
Fiscal Year 2015
Changes to the reporting process commenced in FY2015. Item 1 morphed into “contributions to various U of L departments, ULREF and other.” ULREF is the U of L Real Estate Foundation. A single number was reported under this item. Items 2-6 continued to be reported separately.
Fiscal Year 2016
Item 1 changed again and is now separated into a university-specific item called “contributions and allocations to U of L departments” and a second item called “contributions to ULREF and related organizations.” I switched to start using the former item to quantify funds that flow to U of L for academic purposes. Also, items 4 and 5 under the prior reporting disappeared starting in 2016.
2015 numbers were restated for 2016 in conformance to these new expense categories. The data point below for 2015 was taken from the restated financials in the 2016 report.
Fiscal Year 2017
No changes from 2016.
Findings
Sorry for the complexity in all of that as I’m sure to be accused of fudging the numbers by clown show apologists. …Because yes, those guys aren’t going to approve of what the results show. The following column chart plots the respective values for “contributions and allocations to U of L departments” now reported by the Foundation and corresponding values for total expenses less overhead and investment expenses prior to 2015. The gray bars are during Ramsey’s tenure, and the red bars are since his exit.
I put a trendline through five of the six Ramsey data points, omitting the one that appears to be an outlier visually. Doc often talked about us being on various “trajectories,” and he certainly had the Foundation running on a positive one. The cumulative difference for the period 2017-2019 between actual/expected results and the trendline is a nice, round $150 million. And that comes pretty close to annualizing $50 million. So for the foreseeable future and until you start hearing about Neeli and Tyra amassing vast sums of new donor revenue--and not just a “new gift” every now and then--it’s safe to assume U of L is losing around $50 million a year in Foundation funding without Ramsey at the controls.
Except for a few slobbering over a headline about “new gifts” to U of L, none of this is a big surprise. In fact, this was arguably part of the plan. Ramsey and Jurich were amassing and controlling way too much money to satisfy people down the road. If you’re happy with current results, you’re just playing into their hands. Until you hold the new people to the same standards you held the old ones, you’re settling for what the clowns and their sponsors want you to be. That ain’t me nor will it ever be…
Nowadays, U of L only posts the last two years of Foundation operating results on the interweb. (LINK) I had to make an open records request to go back for older records. You can read into that what you want and probably should.
Since Ramsey’s Departure
For FY 2017, the Foundation reported “contributions and allocations to U of L departments” in the amount of $52.2 million. (LINK) According to at least one news account a couple months ago, U of L said they would be reporting a comparable number of $54.2 million for 2018, and a budgeted number of $65.1 million for 2019. (LINK) Fiscal year results are normally reported by U of L’s outside accountants around the beginning of the fourth calendar quarter.
I consider three years of financial results a pretty good barometer of where someone is headed. It seems like just yesterday that Ramsey was in charge, but he left U of L in the summer of 2016. The clowns we have in charge have been fumbling around long enough to hold them accountable.
Ramsey’s Tenure
Of course, we hear what a debacle that time period was. But that’s mainly from our One Great Newspaper, State government, and the former regime haters. Unless you can get your hands on the financial reports, you may not have proof otherwise. Fortunately, those reports are still available, and I’ve reviewed the ones I have on file to cite comparable numbers. If anyone wants to see the actual reports, I’ll upload and link them for download.
Fiscal Years 2009-2014
During these reporting years, “total expenses” were itemized into the following major categories:
1. Contributions to various U of L departments
2. Payments on behalf of U of L (for specific sub-categories)
3. Interest expense
4. Residence hall operations, including depreciation
5. Real estate operations, including depreciation
6. G&A
For analytical purpose, I consider items 1, 2, and 4 to represent money flowing to or benefiting the University. The other three items are overhead and investment-related expenses. “Contributions and allocations to U of L” summarized in more recent years correspond to #1, 2, and 4 here.
Fiscal Year 2015
Changes to the reporting process commenced in FY2015. Item 1 morphed into “contributions to various U of L departments, ULREF and other.” ULREF is the U of L Real Estate Foundation. A single number was reported under this item. Items 2-6 continued to be reported separately.
Fiscal Year 2016
Item 1 changed again and is now separated into a university-specific item called “contributions and allocations to U of L departments” and a second item called “contributions to ULREF and related organizations.” I switched to start using the former item to quantify funds that flow to U of L for academic purposes. Also, items 4 and 5 under the prior reporting disappeared starting in 2016.
2015 numbers were restated for 2016 in conformance to these new expense categories. The data point below for 2015 was taken from the restated financials in the 2016 report.
Fiscal Year 2017
No changes from 2016.
Findings
Sorry for the complexity in all of that as I’m sure to be accused of fudging the numbers by clown show apologists. …Because yes, those guys aren’t going to approve of what the results show. The following column chart plots the respective values for “contributions and allocations to U of L departments” now reported by the Foundation and corresponding values for total expenses less overhead and investment expenses prior to 2015. The gray bars are during Ramsey’s tenure, and the red bars are since his exit.
I put a trendline through five of the six Ramsey data points, omitting the one that appears to be an outlier visually. Doc often talked about us being on various “trajectories,” and he certainly had the Foundation running on a positive one. The cumulative difference for the period 2017-2019 between actual/expected results and the trendline is a nice, round $150 million. And that comes pretty close to annualizing $50 million. So for the foreseeable future and until you start hearing about Neeli and Tyra amassing vast sums of new donor revenue--and not just a “new gift” every now and then--it’s safe to assume U of L is losing around $50 million a year in Foundation funding without Ramsey at the controls.
Except for a few slobbering over a headline about “new gifts” to U of L, none of this is a big surprise. In fact, this was arguably part of the plan. Ramsey and Jurich were amassing and controlling way too much money to satisfy people down the road. If you’re happy with current results, you’re just playing into their hands. Until you hold the new people to the same standards you held the old ones, you’re settling for what the clowns and their sponsors want you to be. That ain’t me nor will it ever be…
