2002 Minnesota Statutes

     137.022 Permanent university fund. 

    Subdivision 1.    Investment.  The investment management 
 of the permanent university fund shall be under the jurisdiction 
 of the board of regents of the University of Minnesota, subject 
 to any limitations imposed by the Constitution of the state of 
 Minnesota, article XI, section 9.  All securities and cash held 
 in the state treasury credited to the permanent university fund 
 that are unappropriated or unencumbered are transferred and 
 appropriated to the board of regents of the University of 
 Minnesota solely for the purpose of investment by them.  The 
 investments are restricted to those the state board of 
 investment may invest in under section 11A.24. 

    Subd. 2.    Income.  All income from the permanent 
 university fund is appropriated annually to the board of 
 regents.  Authority over this income is vested solely in the 
 board but must be used by the board directly to enhance the 
 mission of the university.  This appropriation of income must 
 not be used to reduce other appropriations made to the board of 
 regents.  The determination of this income shall be based on the 
 procedures detailed in section 11A.16, subdivision 5, or 11A.12, 
 subdivision 2. 

    Subd. 3.    Endowed chair account.  (a) For purposes of 
 this section, the permanent university fund has three accounts.  
 The sources of the money in the endowed mineral research and 
 scholarship accounts are set out in paragraph (b) and 
 subdivision 4.  All money in the fund that is not otherwise 
 allocated is in the endowed chair account.  The income from the 
 endowed chair account must be used, and capital gains allocated 
 to that account may be used, to provide endowment support for 
 professorial chairs in academic disciplines.  The endowment 
 support for the chairs from the income and the capital gains 
 must not total more than six percent per year of the 36-month 
 trailing average market value of the endowed chair account of 
 the fund, as computed quarterly or otherwise as directed by the 
 regents.  The endowment support from the income and the capital 
 gains must not provide more than half the sum of the endowment 
 support for all chairs endowed, with nonstate sources providing 
 the remainder.  The endowment support from the income and the 
 capital gains may provide more than half the endowment support 
 of an individual chair.  

    (b) If any portion of the annual appropriation of the 
 income is not used for the purposes specified in paragraph (a) 
 or subdivision 4, that portion lapses and must be added to the 
 principal of the three accounts of the permanent university fund 
 in proportion to the market value of each account.  

    Subd. 4.    Mineral research; scholarships.  (a) All 
 income credited after July 1, 1992, to the permanent university 
 fund from royalties for mining under state mineral leases from 
 and after July 1, 1991, must be allocated as provided in this 
 subdivision. 

    (b)(1) Fifty percent of the income, up to $25,000,000, must 
 be credited to the mineral research account of the fund to be 
 allocated for the Natural Resources Research Institute-Duluth 
 and Coleraine facilities, for mineral and mineral-related 
 research including mineral-related environmental research; and 

    (2) The remainder must be credited to the endowed 
 scholarship account of the fund for distribution annually for 
 scholastic achievement as provided by the board of regents to 
 undergraduates enrolled at the University of Minnesota who are 
 resident students as defined in section 136A.101, subdivision 8. 

    (c) The annual distribution from the endowed scholarship 
 account must be allocated to the various campuses of the 
 University of Minnesota in proportion to the number of 
 undergraduate resident students enrolled on each campus.  

    (d) The board of regents must report to the education 
 committees of the legislature biennially at the time of the 
 submission of its budget request on the disbursement of money 
 from the endowed scholarship account and to the environment and 
 natural resources committees on the use of the mineral research 
 account.  

    (e) Capital gains and losses and portfolio income of the 
 permanent university fund must be credited to its three accounts 
 in proportion to the market value of each account. 

    (f) The endowment support from the income and capital gains 
 of the endowed mineral research and endowed scholarship accounts 
 of the fund must not total more than six percent per year of the 
 36-month trailing average market value of the account from which 
 the support is derived.  

    HIST: 1963 c 567 s 2; 1965 c 41 s 1; 1971 c 197 s 3; 1976 c 2 
 s 172; 1980 c 516 s 2; 1980 c 607 art 14 s 45 subd 2; s 46; 1983 
 c 289 s 114 subd 1; 1984 c 655 art 1 s 92; 1985 c 248 s 70; 
 1Sp1985 c 11 s 65; 1990 c 591 art 6 s 8,9; 1Sp1993 c 2 art 4 s 
 1,2; 1997 c 183 art 3 s 26