TLE initiative will continue after Buechner’s reign

BOULDER – The president’s resignation at any other company might call into question the initiatives that the executive put in place, but officials at the University of Colorado say that the Total Learning Environment campaign will continue — even without CU President John Buechner.

“Campaigns essentially have a life of their own,´ said CU spokesman Bob Nero. “The fund-raising campaign will continue until the $630 million goal is reached.”

The Total Learning Environment (TLE) is a fund-raising campaign to bring in millions of dollars by 2000 for the public university. The university only receives 17 percent of its funding from the state, which means donations from the private sector — whether individuals or corporations — are critical, Buechner has said. Buechner launched the campaign in 1996.

Regent Jim Martin re-emphasized the critical need of donations in November to business leaders at Boulder Tomorrow. The university enrolled a record number of students this year, and “it takes buildings in order to accommodate them,” he told the audience.

University officials add that the university isn’t the only one that gains from contributions. Donors who set up charitable remainder trusts can as well. Donations are transferred to the University of Colorado Foundation, an independent organization funded by the university. Those assets, such as real estate or securities, are usually sold or invested with the proceeds paying income to the donor or the donor’s beneficiaries for a specified term of years. The advantages – officials say – can be higher income, lower income taxes, a possibility of lower estate taxes and no capital gains tax.

Buechner announced his resignation in October after questions arose about a consultant, Fran Raudenbush, who was paid an estimated $141,000 per year through the CU Foundation. Local media had been asking to see Raudenbush’s contract but were told they couldn’t because Raudenbush was hired by a private organization. Although such foundations are mandated to disclose the earnings of highly paid consultants, the CU Foundation had not.

Buechner said the questions about Raudenbush had nothing to do with his resignation and that he was stepping down because he’d lost full support from the CU Board of Regents. The university is searching for Buechner’s successor; Buechner will remain the university’s president until June 1, 2000, the end of the university’s fiscal year.

And that makes the search for the new CU president even more important, especially because of planned cuts to the budget for higher education, Martin said.

Betsey Jay, spokeswoman for the CU Foundation, agreed.

“The university will hopefully put someone in place that carries on the momentum,” she said. “The president has kept us on a steady track, and we need to stay on.”

TLE contributions fund several building projects, additional graduate student fellowships and endowed faculty chairs, which Jay said will help the university attract students and professors from across the nation.

This year the university received $56 million, a record level of contributions, and donations to the university have increased 64 percent from fiscal year 1997-1998 to 1998-1999, according to university publications.

“I think we’re likely to see things continue to prosper,” Jay said. “We’ve not seen a dip (in contributions). It’s only been a short time – it was barely a month ago (since Buechner) resigned, so it’s not likely we would see something that quickly.”

Locally Bill Reynolds, owner of the Boulder-based W.W. Reynolds Co., a real estate developer, donated $1 million toward the CU-Boulder College of Business and Administration’s Real Estate Center. Reynolds, his wife Jane, father Vergyl, and sons John and Forrest all earned degrees from CU-Boulder.

Robert and Beverly Deming of Allenspark, Colo., also pledged to donate to the College of Business and Administration for the Center for Entrepreneurship, now called the Robert H. and Beverly A. Center for Entrepreneurship. Robert Deming is a CU alum, former professor and founder of Toastmaster Inc., which manufacturers home appliances.

Their donation, $3 million, was the largest the college had received.

“This gift to the university gives both Bev and me the great satisfaction of giving back,” he said.

Other donations have been committed to the CU law school from Marvin and Judi Wolf of Denver. U S West, StorageTek and Hewlett-Packard also have committed equipment or funds to the university for the Discovery Learning Center, a 45,000-square-foot building, expected to open in mid 2001, for the CU-Boulder School of Engineering and Applied Science.

So far, of the total goal to raise $630 million, $232 million has been raised, according to Jay.

Few have qualms about the university turning to the private sector for additional funds, said CU-Boulder student leader Dan Pabon.

“He’s bringing money into the university,” Pabon said of Buechner’s campaign. “I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I think it does become bad if we have large corporations come in and start giving lots and lots of dollars and have a say in the curriculum or a say in how things are taught. That’s when I see it becoming a problem.”

Pabon adds, however, that the TLE is an abstract idea, which, as a result, leads to misunderstandings. “You can fit almost anything into the actual TLE design,” he said. “We’re not exactly sure where the funds are going.”

Despite the controversy leading up to Buechner’s resignation, however, Jay is sure the university will continue to reap the rewards of Buechner’s initiative. “The university is way more than one person,” she said, repeating Buechner in his resignation letter, also a phrase gleaned from a speech by former CU President George Norlin years ago.

“The university will go on,” Jay continued “because its mission is so endearing and because it is made of so many people and energy that many of the things he got going are going to continue.”

Staff Writer Jeanie Straub also contributed to this report.