Monday, August 16, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section C · Page 21
KU reaps benefits of alumni land donations
By Phil Cauthon
Kansan Staff Writer
When planning the future of their estate, William and Phyllis Benefiel decided to will their 200 acres in Barber County to the University of Kansas. The land had been the family homestead and, more recently, the couple — both KU graduates in California — had rented the pasture and cron land.
Now the land -- appraised at $57,000 -- will help support the KU School of Medicine. After William Benefiel's death last month, the property was transferred to the KU Endowment Association, a non-profit organization that manages such gifts for the University.
"When you live out of state, it's hard to own land because of inheritance problems," Phyllis said. "Giving the land to KU just seemed like the right thing to do. Once you've been to school there, of course, that's where your loyalty lies."
The Benefiels' gift brings the Endowment Association's total Kansas landholdings to 43,498 acres. The land's agricultural income, combined with mineral income from land in six other states, raised $1.6 million in the 1998 fiscal year.
John Scarfe, the association's director of communications, said the association hired property managers to produce wheat, corn, minerals or whatever
the land was best suited for. The income from the land is then given to the University as specified by the donors.
Sometimes land gifts are sold, using the money to create a fellowship for scholarships or research. One such fellowship, created from 510 acres in Rice and McPherson counties, financed $1,000 Effie J. Jones scholarships for 14 students last year.
Dwayne Sackman, senior associate dean of the School of Medicine, said that KU needed such gifts to remain competitive with other schools.
"We are truly grateful for the generosity of the Benefiels." Sackman said. "The school looks forward to making the best possible use of their gift."
If land given to the University is in the Lawrence area, it may be used for educational purposes, like the Nelson environment holdings, near Baldwin. Scarfe said that, while such land does not yield income for the University, it might serve a donor's goal of preventing the land from being sold or developed.
Financial concerns may also motivate potential donors to give land to the University. Land that has appreciated in value is subject to a capital gains tax when it is sold. However, if it is given to the University, the land's fair market value can be deducted from the donor's estate.
Donating land also avoids burdening the deceased's family with estate taxes,
particularly when the land is not producing income.
The first land given to the University dates to 1891 when Charles Robinson, first governor of Kansas, donated part of the land on which Memorial Stadium now stands. That same year the Endowment Association was formed to facilitate further gifts, which now constitute 86 percent of KU campuses in Lawrence, Wichita and Kansas City.
Scarfie said that a listing of each specific property, its donor and what the income from the land is used for would be difficult to compile because the donations have been accumulating for more than a century.
Edited by Derek Prater
Regents give salary boost to Chancellor Hemenway
Also approve tuition hike, fall break beginning 2001
By Matthew Friedrichs Kansan editor
TOPEKA — The boss is getting a raise.
TOPEKA — The boss is getting a raise.
Members of the Kansas Board of Regents approved raises for Chancellor Robert Hemenway and the presidents of Kansas State, Pittsburgh State, Emporia State, Fort Hays State and Wichita state universities.
Hemenway's salary will increase to $202,428,a raise of $19,896 or almost 10 percent.
Raises for presidents of the other universities ranged from 9.9 percent to 15.9 percent, much higher than those for university faculty and staff.
The Kansas Legislature already has allocated funds for raises of 3.5 percent for faculty and staff. The legislature also has allocated funds to provide merit raises of as much as 4.9 percent for select university employees.
The discrepancy in raises was necessary to keep administrators in Kansas on pace with their peers, said to Bill Docking, chairman of the nine-member board.
"If we are to have top-flight institutions, it is essential that we close this gap." Docking said. "Our state and national economies currently are strong, and we must be competitive in the national market. The new salaries reflect an initial step in closing that gap."
In 1999, Hemenway's $182,532 salary placed him ahead of only Oregon's chancellor who makes $173,688. North Carolina pays its chancellor the most. $235,767.
The University's peer institutions as defined by the Board are the University of Colorado, the University of Iowa, the University of North Carolina, the University of Oklahoma and the University of Oregon.
Pat Miller, business manager for computing services, said a large raise was not unusual for the chancellor.
She said the difference between his raise and the raises for others at the University was an indication of differences in how the Legislature and the Board set salaries.
Chris Hepp, associate professor of music and dance, said the Regents decision had been easier to take because they had supported higher faculty salaries in proposals to the Legislature.
"This year, the spoils of war go to Chancellor Hemenway," Hepp said. "Next year, I hope they go to the faculty."
In other business, the Regents:
approved a fall break at the University beginning Fall 2001.
- approved tuition increases of 2.5 percent, a $1 per-credit-hour fee for libraries and a $1-per-credit-hour technology fee for KU students beginning in 2001.
- approved a request by Donald Hagen, executive vice chancellor of the University of Kansas Medical Center, to name a center that is scheduled to open next year the Theo and Alfred M. Landon Center for Aging.
— Edited by Kimberly Erb
Add-on takes shape
Construction continues on the Murphy Hall addition. This photo was taken from the south in late July. Photo by Lisa John/KANSAN
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