Fresno State Foundation failed to rotate board officers, enforce term limits, Bee review finds

Fresno State Foundation board officers are to serve one-year terms, which expire at the next succeeding annual election or when successors are elected, according to its bylaws.

That did happen, but in October 2025, three months into the fiscal year. And the board elections took place, coincidentally perhaps, at the first board meeting after university president Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval informed the foundation that the Cal State chancellor’s office was conducting a review of foundation structure and operations.

For the five years prior, there is no mention in board meeting minutes of the governance committee presenting a slate of officers for approval. There is no mention of the one-year term rule or of new candidates being put forward to replace the incumbent officers, or at least to vie for officer spots, according to the minutes.

Chair Vinci Ricchiuti, who was approved in June 2016, apparently was unopposed and unquestioned while the foundation, which manages more than $315 million in endowments and post-award grants for the university, developed serious issues with its governance and financial practices.

A 32-page report outlining findings from the CSU advisory review found 46 areas in need of remediation action, including governance and board operations, organizational structure, budget and financial practices, indirect cost recovery, and endowment management.

“Governance areas of concern included limited board leadership turnover, minimal university representation and outdated governing documents, all reducing transparency and resulting in misalignment with the university’s strategic priorities,” the report states.

The Fresno Bee reviewed 10 years of monthly board meeting minutes to get a picture of common operating practices and discern whether basic rules were being followed. In multiple instances, meeting minutes could not be found on the foundation website, prompting written public records requests for copies.

Since release of the CSU report in January, board members have consistently declined to talk to The Bee about the findings and foundation operations.

Ricchiuti could not be reached for comment last week for this story and declined comment last month after the first foundation board meeting of the year.

The annual approval of a slate of officers appeared fairly standard for the Fresno State Foundation prior to 2020, according to the Bee review of minutes. The governance committee would state it is recommending a slate of officers for the year, it would be seconded by a board member and then approved as proposed. It happened that way in 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015.

Unlike 2025, the officers were approved in June before the start of a new fiscal year.

The most critical risks identified by CSU Audit and Advisory Services were in banking practices and segregation of duties, where the same individual prepared and approved multi-million dollar wire transfers and large ACH payments, digital payments.

That, coupled with infrequent bank reconciliations, created significant opportunities for unauthorized or undetected activity in foundation accounts, the advisory review stated.

No malfeasance was found in the CSU review, which examined foundation operations over the 2023-24 fiscal year.

BoardSource, a nationally-recognized leader in the governance of nonprofits, recommends officer term limits and said they are usually limited, even when board member terms are not.

“Considerations for a second term should be tied to regular performance evaluation. Before a candidate can be re-elected, they must go through peer approval,” its website states. “Term limits also permit other board members to have a chance to exercise their leadership skills. It is easier to avoid stagnation, undue concentration of power and continuous inadequate leadership if the positions come with a set term.”

The Fresno State Foundation governance committee while not approving a slate of officers did approve new members to the board of governors and reappointed and bestowed emeritus status on others. In 2022, it eliminated term limits for its board of governors, a controversial move that ran contrary to other nonprofit auxiliary foundations within the California State University system and against best practices for nonprofit foundations, according to industry experts interviewed by The Bee.

The CSU reviewed bylaws of seven of its philanthropic foundation boards and found that all seven had explicitly stated term limits. Ricchiuti has served on the Fresno State Foundation board for 31 years and as chair for 10, and four others have served on the board for more than 20 years, with two of them serving for 29 years each.

Term limits are among the 46 areas the CSU highlighted that were in need of remediation action and that the Fresno State Foundation and university are addressing.

By the summer, the foundation has said it will have revised board composition to include appropriate faculty/staff and student representation; establish and enforce term limits for its board of governors; establish officer term limits and rotation; and document a policy for board chair and committee chair rotations that are in alignment requirements included in the governance committee charter.

This story was originally published April 19, 2026 at 10:05 AM.