Big Ten Academic Alliance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
463254996
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Champaign, IL, USA
Phone
2173005383
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Reported finances

Revenue
$15,262,685
Expenses
$15,243,379
Assets
$11,171,294
Liabilities
$3,869,769

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANDREW GUZMAN (SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS)
  • CHRISTOPHER LONG (PROVOST AND SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JENNIFER KING RICE (SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT)
  • KARLA ZADNIK - THRU 125 (INTERIM EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT)
  • KEITH MARSHALL (PRESIDENT)
  • KEVIN KREGEL (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND PROVOST)

Highest reported compensation

  • ANDREW GUZMAN (SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS): $1,283,972 total reported compensation
  • KATHLEEN HAGERTY (BOARD VICE CHAIR): $1,121,525 total reported compensation
  • LAURIE MCCAULEY (PROVOST AND EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT): $896,189 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Big ten academic alliance is a consortium of 18 top-tier research universities, including members of the big ten conference, who collaborate to advance their academic missions, generate unique opportunities for students and faculty, and serve the common good by sharing expertise, leveraging campus resources, and creative innovative programming.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 95% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.3%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 91.4%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.1%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.73; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.35; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.9%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.3% of revenue deployed · 91.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $13.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.3M · 26 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $274K reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 18 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 19 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.