Frequently Asked Questions

Please contact Tower Foundation:

Phone: (408-924-6517)
Email: Towerfoundation@sjsu.edu

Please complete an Account Authorization Form [fillable] [pdf] and email it and any questions you have to towerfoundation@sjsu.edu.

For most accounts, yes. Go to Human Resources > Request to Hire, Rehire, Change Employee Funding Account. Email Tower Human Resources at TowerHR@sjsu.edu for more information.

We no longer distribute monthly paper reports. Your department or college may run a report through the authorized user for your department or college. To learn who has access or to request access, please contact Thin Thandar Kyaw (408-924-6517).

Yes, please contact Thin Thandar Kyaw (408-924-6517).

Yes, you can pay this out of your discretionary account. Please complete a requisition form [pdf]. Check the "reclassifications" box and provide transfer information under "description" area. Fundraising events which are budgeted at over $5,000 of revenue must be approved in advance per CSU policy. Please contact with questions.

Please contact Sabrina Tanner (408-924-1191) to obtain a W-9 form [pdf].

Please contact Sherri Meyer @ sherri.meyer@sjsu.edu to request the check be voided and a replacement check issued.

In most cases it could take up to 14 days to be received.

You will need to provide an original invoice and/or original detailed receipt plus a credit card receipt, copy of a credit card statement, or cancelled check as proof of payment. For meal reimbursement, please also provide a list of attendees. We make exceptions to this rule if you have submitted your originals to the state and are requesting partial reimbursement from your Tower account. 

All scholarship and award payments must be verified with Admissions and Records (to ensure the student is carrying a full load in the current semester) and the student's tax status in the U.S. must be determined. Tower then issues a check to the Financial Aid and Scholarship office. Depending on the time of year and the number of requests, there may be a delay as Financial Aid considers the award in light of the student's total financial aid package.

Original receipts and invoices are proof of payment and prevents duplication of payment. In some cases, such as for airline tickets purchased online and for expenditures which are being partly covered by the state, Tower will accept duplicate receipts.

An honorarium is a payment or award to an individual in recognition of a special service or distinguished achievement for which custom or propriety payment precludes a standard business rate. Students cannot recieve an honorarium. Honorarium payments are minimal gratuities and are not compensation for services rendered. Honoraria might be a taxable income to the recipient and subject to IRS Form 1099-Misc. SJSU and Tower employees cannot receive honoraria through accounts payable. They must be paid through Tower payroll, and they will receive a W-2. Please contact Tower HR at TowerHR@sjsu.edu with questions.

An endowment is a gift to the University that is invested in perpetuity to provide sustained support for San José State University.  The donor specifies how the endowment earnings can be used.

The donor’s gift (also called the endowment corpus) is invested in the endowment investment portfolio. An annual distribution from the endowment provides spendable funds from investment earnings that may be spent to carry out the donor’s purpose. New gifts, long-term investment performance and a prudent spending policy influence the growth of endowments. The goal is to ensure that the endowed fund is nurtured to support the needs of future generations.

Endowments support initiatives that promote excellence at SJSU — scholarships, fellowships and unique learning experiences for our students, professorships for distinguished faculty, and research and program support. SJSU graduates are prized by Silicon Valley employers for their ability to contribute on their first day of employment. The hands on learning opportunities made possible by endowment donors contribute profoundly to SJSU alumni success.

The university’s minimum amount to establish an endowment is $50,000. Endowments can be established through outright or planned gifts (such as bequests).

The Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA), adopted in California in 2008, guides our endowments.

The Tower Foundation at San José State University holds the endowment. The Tower Foundation Board of Directors and its Finance and Investment Committee have the legal and fiduciary responsibility for endowment oversight. The Tower Foundation is an auxiliary of the California State University system.

The Tower Foundation has hired an external investment firm, Beacon Pointe Advisors, to provide investment advisory services. The endowment investment portfolio is invested according to the Investment Policy set by the Board of Directors. The investment portfolio is reviewed on a quarterly basis with the Finance and Investment Committee of the Board.

Permissible investments include value and growth equities, fixed income, private equity, real estate, and cash.

The spending policy is set by the Tower Board of Directors.  The yearly distribution is based on a trailing three-year average market value. The distribution typically ranges 3% to 4%. A distribution is typically made regardless of challenging short-term investment performance.

Three-year averaging helps smooth investment highs and lows and provide a steady, reliable stream of support to the donor’s designated purpose.

Due to the impact of the trailing three-year average, donors may elect to delay a distribution from their endowment in order preserve its value. In the first year an endowment is funded, the distributions will be about 1/3 of the full amount, in the second year 2/3, and 36 months after the endowment is funded, the full distribution will be available for the donor’s program of choice. The amount remaining which is not paid out in the distribution will remain in the endowment to further its growth.

Investment earnings in excess of the amount distributed remain in the endowment investment fund to contribute to growth and protect against the impact of future market fluctuations.

In years where investment returns are negative, accumulated prior year gains are used to provide a distribution.

An endowment whose market value is less than the corpus (total gifts to the endowment). By law, the principal of an endowment can’t be spent without donor permission.

Fee Schedule for Current Use (non-endowment) Funds:

All current use funds are subject to an administrative fee. The current administrative fee is 5% per transaction.  Tower does not charge administrative fees on scholarship accounts. The administrative fee helps support costs related to the operational costs of the Tower Foundation and its oversight of San José State‘s philanthropic resources.   

Fee Schedule for Endowments:

All endowments are subject to a management fee. The current management fee is annualized at 2%. The fee is assessed monthly based on the current market value of the endowment. The management fee helps offset costs related to the charges incurred as a result of the investments within the endowment pool and supports the administrative, financial, and operational costs of the Tower Foundation and its oversight of San José State‘s endowment.

Why charge fees?

The Tower Foundation of San José State is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) auxiliary organization responsible for the investment, administration, and banking of all philanthropic donations. The Tower Foundation is entirely self-supporting and receives no funding from San José State University. The California State University (CSU) system and University policy require that the Tower Foundation pay for its account management and business operations expenses. Additional expenses include annual external audits and tax preparation as required by the CSU and state and federal laws. The Tower Foundation pays salaries and benefits for staff performing this work and also pays overhead to San José State for shared services. Finally, in accordance with prudent business practices, the Tower Foundation is required to build and maintain a small reserve of funds that can be drawn on for these operational expenses, if necessary. 

The Tower Foundation is authorized by the California Attorney General to hold charitable raffles. Please refer to our procedures [pdf] for charitable raffles for the information we'll need from you and the answers to many common questions. If you have questions, please contact Tower Foundation at Towerfoundation@sjsu.edu.

For the hiring process please go to Human Resources > Request to Hire, Rehire, Change Employee Funding Account. 

For SJSU/CSU personnel complete the Tower Foundation's University Appointment Form [pdf]. Once submitted to Tower HR, faculty appointments will be reviewed and sent to Faculty Affairs for review and approval; non-faculty appointments will be reviewed and sent to SJSU UP. University employees may not work more than a 25% overload from all auxiliary sources. 

For all other "new hires," complete Tower Foundation's Employee Appointment Form [pdf].

All employees must complete the Form I-9 [pdf] and other employment documents. Email Tower Human Resources at TowerHR@sjsu.edu for more information.

It is the policy of the Tower Foundation to recruit for all vacant and new positions unless the position is to be filled for less than four months. In some cases, recruitment may be waived under business necessity circumstances. Student assistants may be hired without recruitment, please consult Tower Human Resources before discussing the hourly rate. Contact Tower HR at TowerHR-group@sjsu.edu for recruitment and advertisement.

Tower Foundation and Research Foundation are separate legal entities and as such, employees of one foundation who transfer to a job at the other foundation must complete that foundation's new hire paperwork. Any service-connected benefits earned cannot be moved to the Tower Foundation.

The endowment is invested in diversified mutual funds, commingled funds, ETFs, and alternative investment vehicles managed by professional firms. The endowment does not directly hold individual stocks. Because we invest through diversified pooled funds, limited indirect exposure to a particular company may occur, but any such exposure is typically de minimis or nominal and not a targeted holding. 
More information on the Foundation’s endowment investment policies, guidelines, and objectives is available in the Endowment Investment Policy Statement [pdf].

Yes. Donors who wish to emphasize ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) considerations more explicitly may request information about ESG-oriented investment options within the Foundation’s investment structure.

The Foundation works with investment managers who integrate ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) considerations into their investment processes, in a manner consistent with fiduciary responsibilities and long-term performance goals, as specified in the Endowment Investment Policy Statement.