Memorandum of Understanding

Memorandum of Understanding

From its inception the Robert L. Gaudino Memorial Fund (“Gaudino Fund”) has involved a collaboration among alumni/ae (particularly former students of Professor Gaudino), undergraduate students and faculty who have shared the common goal of preserving the Gaudino legacy of “uncomfortable learning” at the College.  Following Professor Gaudino’s death in 1974, an ad hoc group of students, alumni and faculty organized the initial fundraising campaign that generated some $50,000 in restricted donations to the College to endow the Gaudino Fund.  Subsequently, President John Chandler, in consultation with Dean of the College Dan O’Connor, appointed a committee of involved alumni (“Committee”) to work with College officials in the development of proposals to ensure the continuance of Professor Gaudino’s unique educational philosophy and pedagogical methodology in the intellectual life of the College.  In 1982, the Committee was given more formal recognition as a “Board of Trustees” (“Fund Trustees”),  although the change in title did not alter the fundamental purpose of the group.

The initial contributions to the Gaudino Fund provided the foundation for a permanent endowed fund that is a restricted component of the College’s overall endowment.   Over the past almost forty years the combined effects of ongoing development efforts by the Fund Trustees and the College Development Office and the investment performance of the College’s endowment have resulted in the Fund in 2013 having a principal value in excess of $1.8 million. Use of the Gaudino Fund’s monies is restricted to the purposes and subject to the procedures set forth in the Fund’s Mission Statement and By-Laws, which guide the activities of the Gaudino Scholar and Fund Trustees.

The annual Gaudino Fund budgetary process has been managed in the same fashion as all of the College’s endowed funds are administered, with the amount available for spending from the Fund determined both by the College Board of Trustees’ annual determination of the appropriate endowment spending rate and by the annual College budget process.   The Gaudino Fund may continue to be augmented with new contributions, as fundraising remains a continuing responsibility of the Fund Trustees acting in coordination with, and subject to the oversight of, the College Development Office.  As with all restricted contributions, the College through its Board of Trustees has the fiduciary responsibility to ensure that the funds are preserved and applied in a manner that is consistent with the terms on which the funds were solicited and received from donors.   The Gaudino Fund has been managed by the College and the Fund Trustees so as to preserve in perpetuity the principal value of the Fund.  To that end, annual expenditures are limited to the current income generated by the Gaudino Fund and any budgeted, but unexpended, income from prior years.

The Gaudino Fund has been used to support a variety of initiatives over the years.  One of the early proposals that came from the initial Committee of alumni and faculty was for the designation of a faculty member to serve as the Gaudino Scholar for a specified term of years, with responsibility for developing and implementing practices and programs designed to further the purposes of the Gaudino Fund.   The Gaudino Scholar is appointed by the President of the College to serve a two or three-year term, upon recommendation originally from the Committee and subsequently from the Fund Trustees.   In consultation with the Fund Trustees and guided by its Mission Statement as well as the College budget process, the Gaudino Scholar is responsible for the expenditure of the funds annually available for spending from the Gaudino Fund.   The College supports the efforts of the Gaudino Scholar by relieving the Scholar of one course of his/her teaching responsibilities each year and providing a cash stipend for administrative expenses.  The College recovers the cost of this support by annually assessing the Gaudino Fund an amount equal to the stipend and the imputed cost of the released teaching time. The parties hereto agree that the position of Gaudino Scholar now is part of the core restricted purpose of the Gaudino Fund endowment.

Any change in the arrangements outlined herein shall only be implemented upon mutual written consent of the College and the Fund Trustees.

Dated: July 22, 2013

Williams College

By:   /s/

William C. Dudley, Provost

 

Dated August 7, 2013

The Robert L. Gaudino Memorial Fund Board of Trustees

By:   /s/

Jeffrey Thaler, Chair