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(06/08/06 12:07am)
A $6.8 million gift from The Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer will go towards breast cancer research in IU's Cancer Center, loacated in Indianapolis, officials said in an announcement Monday.\nStephen Williams, IU Cancer Center director, said the latest gift is the continuation of a strong, long-term relationship between IU and the organizations. \n"Vera Bradley is a wonderful Indiana company with strong Indiana roots," he said. "They want to see Indiana institutions and Indiana breast cancer patients do well." \nThe Foundation has been committed to supporting breast cancer research and representives said they hope the contribution will allow IU to continue making progress toward cracking the cancer code. \n"We feel like we are absolute partners in IU's quest for a cure," said Catherine Hill, development director of the Foundation. "We don't think of ourselves as a funding constituent, we think of ourselves as a true partner to make sure IU is the one to break the code."\nThe University is aiming toward becoming "an international-class life sciences research community," IU President Adam Herbert said in his State of the University speech last fall. \nAt the same time, he announced a goal for IU's already renowned Cancer Center to become one of the top five in the \nnation. \nWilliams added that because modern scientific research is so costly, this would be impossible without philanthropic contributions. \nThe gifts from Vera Bradley will assist in further development of the center's infrastructure, faculty recruitment and pilot projects. \n"The funds have given us the ability to continue our groundbreaking research, which provides patients with better treatment outcomes than ever," Williams said in a statement. \nThe gift was announced Monday after the close of the Vera Bradley Classic, a women's golf and tennis tournament held in Fort Wayne where the company is \nheadquartered. \nVera Bradley designs and creates quilted cotton handbags, luggage and accessories. The Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer was founded by the company in 1998 to support breast cancer research, programs and services. \nThe Foundation is supported by sales of special Vera Bradley Designs collections, according to a press release.\nThe endowment is the third in a series of major gifts from the Foundation to the IU Cancer Center. A gift of $1.2 million in 2001 endowed the Vera Bradley Chair of Oncology, a position currently occupied by Dr. Linda Malkas. \nThe second major gift, a $2 million donation in 2005, created the Vera Bradley Breast Cancer Research Endowment.
(06/05/06 3:06am)
The implementation of the PeopleSoft student information software system at the start of the 2004-2005 academic year resulted in the distribution of approximately $274,000 in excess financial aid, according to an audit report. \nAn internal financial aid program written by the University and run on the PeopleSoft system did not recognize situations in which the awarded aid should have been reduced, IU Director of Media Relations Larry MacIntyre said in an e-mail. \nThe excess awards resulted from students receiving too much in federal student loans. IU returned the excess money although students did not have to repay the University. \nThe noncompliance with federal regulations was found during an annual audit, said Paul Joyce, deputy state examiner for the Indiana State Board of Accounts. \nA national financial aid consultant, Nancy Sinsabaugh, was hired in the summer and fall of 2005 to advise the University about its financial aid structure. She recommended the University hire a university financial aid director and improve its business processes, according to IU officials. \nThe University created a new position when it hired a director of financial aid earlier this year. The position existed in the past but was eliminated when the previous director retired more than 10 years ago and was not replaced. \nThe University plans to resolve the noncompliance issues by following the "corrective action plan" it developed. This plan includes repaying excess aid awards to the government and closing gaps in internal procedures.
(06/01/06 2:50am)
IU will contribute $900,000 to compensate for an unexpected change in a financial aid grant from the State Student Assistance Commission of Indiana, said Larry MacIntyre, director of media relations for IU. \nOn March 31, SSACI stated the maximum grant for a student would be $6,756. Last week, however, SSACI announced the maximum grant had been reduced to $5,692. The change was made after the majority of freshmen applicants had made their college decision, MacIntyre said. \nA total of 1,137 incoming freshmen were offered financial aid packages in March. Of those students, 400 were offered the expected maximum SSACI grant of $6,756 but the commission will now offer them more than $1000 less than that amount. MacIntyre added that financial aid offers were made based on the initial numbers provided by SSACI. \nIU sends financial aid packages to incoming freshmen in March to allow time for the students to make their college choice. Many schools require students to make their decision by the May 1 deadline. \nMacIntyre said IU wants to ensure families who were promised money that they will receive aid. He added that the University wants to live up to its commitment. \n"President Herbert is very concerned that some of these families might think we are trying to pull a switch," MacIntyre said. "President Herbert has directed that we find some other way to cover the difference, in the form of some kind of one-time grant." \nThis one-time grant could total $900,000 and will force IU to make cuts elsewhere. The University could not possibly compensate for a similar situation every year, MacIntyre said. \nThe initial grant was an estimate, said Dennis Obergfell, SSACI's deputy director. Changes to federal regulations and state budgets resulted in a cap that is lower than the initial estimate. \nBecause reasons for the grant cap change were not made clear, IU plans to ask the Indiana legislature that the system be changed to ensure that reliable information is available when financial aid packages are offered. \nAlthough the cap was changed, it still represents a 10 percent increase since last year. \n"Indiana is still one of the top states in terms of offering aid," Obergfell said. "We didn't want to make the awards really high and then not be able to sustain them." \nThe IU Office of Admissions offers information about financial aid on its Web site, www.indiana.edu/~iuadmit/freshmen/cf_types.shtml, including lists of IU scholarships and aid programs for Indiana residents and federal funding programs.