Reports from Metropolitan State University's Deliberative Democracy Initiative 

• An Assessment of the Deliberative Polling Process, A Component of
  Metropolitan State University's Deliberative Democracy Initiative
  June 4, 2008 (download PDF)
• Executive Summary - Final Report on the Deliberative Democracy Initiative (download Word Document)
• Briefing Document - Transportation Investment Priorities and Funding Options in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area (download PDF)
• After the Bridge Collapsed . . . a citizens deliberation on transportation by John W. Milton (download Word Document)

How Will the Redesigned Form 990 Affect Your Organization?

The IRS has redesigned Form 990 [1]--a document that has not undergone major revisions since 1979. The proposed changes are intended to increase the transparency of tax-exempt organizations and present the IRS and stakeholders with a realistic picture of entities and their operations. The increased transparency and disclosures relate to items such as board governance, executive compensation, political activities, and foreign transactions. Here are two examples:

Executive compensation transparency

The redesigned form requires more extensive executive compensation reporting (Schedule J[2]). For instance, the form asks for disclosure of internal policy--such as whether payments are made for first-class travel and club dues. "Although exempt organizations have seen increased scrutiny in the area of executive compensation throughout the years, the redesigned Form 990 further increases the required reporting. The proposed form broadens executive compensation reporting to include the organizational practices followed when establishing compensation with officers, directors, trustees, and key employees," notes Karen A. Gries, a CPA and nonprofit tax manager with LarsonAllen.

New requirements for hospitals

The revisions may require some additional preparations to adjust to the new reporting requirements. For example, a new section for nonprofit hospitals (Section H[3]) will require quantification of community benefit, with a breakdown of activities and programs. "Although the IRS says this shouldn't increase the time it takes to prepare Form 990, most exempt entities, and in particular hospitals, will likely see a significant increase in the time it takes to complete the new form," notes Terry O'Reilly, health care tax principal with LarsonAllen.

Purpose of the changes

According to the IRS press release[4], the purpose of the new form is to: 

1. enhance transparency
2. promote compliance by accurately reflecting the organization's operations and use of assets
3. minimize the burden on filing organizations by asking questions in a manner that makes it relatively easy to fill out the form 

What do you think?

The IRS is accepting comments through September 14, 2007: Form990Revision@irs.gov. The revised form will be
implemented as early as 2008 for filings in 2009.

[1] http://ls.larsonallen.com/t/8226/37643/29/0/
[2] http://ls.larsonallen.com/t/8226/37643/30/0/
[3] http://ls.larsonallen.com/t/8226/37643/31/0/
[4] http://ls.larsonallen.com/t/8226/37643/32/0/

Program Growth

At a time when graduate programs like the MPNA, both locally and nationally, are struggling to maintain or expand their enrollment levels, our program continues its very strong growth of the past five years. In 2000, we had about 45 MPNA students at Metropolitan State. Today, we have more than 125 MPNA students. The word on the street is that this is the best value program available in Minnesota and now, through the MPNA Online, it is available to anyone in the Upper Midwest or, for that matter, anyone, anywhere who meets our admissions requirements. The secret to “best value” is; top notch faculty, the most varied course delivery options in the Upper Midwest, and an unwavering commitment to academic excellence AND practical preparation for successful public and nonprofit careers. Oh yes, of course, there is also the price. Total tuition for this program (based upon current rates) is just over $9,000 for classroom based students and just over $12,000 for fully online students. The tuition and fees for those who choose a mix of classroom and online courses will be between the above price range.  Those who have shopped around for high quality programs with excellent reputations appreciate just how affordable this masters program is by comparison.  And you know that a highly respected public university like Metropolitan State will not disappear as some private for-profit institutios do all too regularly.

We keep adding fully online and web-enhanced courses to our curriculum so our MPNA students have as many choices as possible, and can proceed at their own preferred pace toward degree completion. Web-enhanced courses meet in the classroom every other week and students participate in discussions and exercises online in the intervening weeks. This means half as many evenings driving to classes, an especially attractive option on chilly winter days and for students who live outside the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area but could drive here if classes meet every other week. It is also helpful to students who require child care, who have difficult shift work schedules to negotiate, who have chronic limiting health conditions or take care of someone else who does, or who must travel in their work.

Technology and Online Options

Metropolitan State University, after many options were explored for a new instructional management system (IMS) or “platform” to support online courses, began using a system known as Desire to Learn (D2L) last year. All faculty who teach online must complete an extensive “Teaching Online” course provided by our Center for Online Learning. Training and online tutorials for students in D2L are also readily available, and our students have had very few problems getting comfortable with this technology, even those with absolutely no previous online learning experience. Our faculty do not simply take their lecture notes and upload them to the web for online courses. They have to demonstrate that their syllabus, course assignments, exercises, exams, course content, online discussions and student evaluations are set up properly so that students get what they need in a timely way and can successfully participate in all dimensions of a course.