The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.2000, Qupperneq 18

Vol. 55 #4
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
316
• capital funds in the amount of $500,000 to provide appropriate space for the Icelandic
Collection in the Library and for furnishings and equipment; and
• endowment in the amount of $500,000 to provide additional annual funds for acquisitions and
other support of the Collection.
Neil Bardal then approached a second Dr. Thorlakson, this time Dr. Ken, to chair a new cam-
paign, which became known as the "Valuing Icelandic Presence ("VIP") Campaign," to raise these
funds. He accepted the challenge; a new Campaign Cabinet comprising members from both the
Icelandic community and the University was created; and work began.
It was recognized that the above sums would provide a strong base for all sorts of additional
activities; for example, for scholarly and cultural exchanges, promotion of the Icelandic language
through non-credit programming, and Internet initiatives to bring information and courses to a very
wide audience indeed. All of these, of course, would have their own costs, but the base provided by
the initial goal of the VIP Millennium Campaign would be necessary first to allow these expansions
to take place as additional funds for them were raised.
The proceeds of the campaign form a separate trust fund account at the University of Manitoba
called the "VIP Fund." Disbursements from this Fund are the responsibility of a nine person Fund
Committee comprising, from the community: the Consul General or Consul in Manitoba, the chair
of the Fund campaign, the President of the Icelandic National League, and President of the
Canada/Iceland Foundation Inc., and from the University: the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, the
Director of Libraries, the Head of the Department of Icelandic and the Section Head of the
Collection. Provision has also been made for "designates." Its non-voting chair, appointed by the
President of the University, is currently the present author.
Disbursements by the Fund Committee are guided by sections 13 and 14 of the Terms of
Reference of the VIP Fund which currently read:
”13. The Committee shall be guided by the principles and priorities set forth in the "Proposal
for an Agreement" attached hereto as Schedule "B" and for the further guidance of the Committee,
the following are the purposes for which the Fund is created and established:
(a) firstly:
(i) to provide for payment or augmentation of other sources of the salaries of academ-
ic appointments in the Department. As a first priority in the use of Disbursable Income and
capital (as limited by paragraph 14) from the Fund, the Committee shall provide funds to
support the second position in the Department that are required in addition to funding pro-
vided therefore by the Multiculturalism Fund and the Icelandic Language and Literature
Fund.
(ii) to provide for the design and construction of enhanced housing for the Collection
in the Elizabeth Dafoe Library at the University;
(iii) to provide for additions to the Collection consistent with the collections develop-
ment policies of the Libraries and not otherwise provided by the University and by the
Icelandic government and publishers; and
(b) secondly:
(iv) to provide for the support of the Department by payment for support staff and
office supplies, furniture and equipment to be utilized by the Department as necessary and
not otherwise provided by the University;
(v) to provide for conferences, seminars, symposia and for the accommodation there-
fore and participants therein and such other related or appropriate general expenditures as
may be authorized in a Decision;
(vi) to provide for such other needs and activities of the Department and the Collection
as may be identified and approved from time to time by the Committee in a Decision; and
(vii) once the capital of the Fund reaches or exceeds $1,150,000, exclusive of the
expenditures mentioned in paragraphs 13 (a) (ii), the Disbursable income for each year
earned by the said $1,150,000 shall be distributed in the ratio of the endowment goals set