A reader emailed us with a question about how the University of Hawaii Foundation is funded:

I was recently reading the University of Hawaii Foundation Annual Report. a line in there states that the University of Hawaii pays the University of Hawaii Foundation $3,000,000 a year for marketing services. So is it true that our tax dollars go to UH then UH gives it to UHF so that UHF can give it back to UH?

And Civil Beat got you an explanation, in the form of a direct response from UH:

No, it is not tax payer dollars. The University of Hawaii has the authority to and does indeed provide up to $3 million annually to the UH Foundation from University of Hawaii tuition and fees special funds to support private fundraising and alumni relations services. The $3 million helps pay development and alumni staff salaries, in essence providing infrastructure to the foundation to conduct its mission.

This is a strong partnership that works for both entities and follows national standard practices for public universities. In the last FY alone, $9M was paid out to students in scholarships and financial aid and $46.7 was raised for the university, nearly 16 times the university’s investment of $3 million.

 For more information:  www.uhfoundation.org/annualreport

We followed up with a question about how UH is able to distinguish between money from tuition and fees funds, and money from the general fund allocations. A spokeswoman for UH replied, while trying to avoid too much “Accounting 101” detail:

The University of Hawaii follows generally accepted governmental accounting principles. UH is audited annually by an independent CPA firm which, among other things, verifies that general funds and tuition and fees are appropriately accounted for.