Treasurer
Jeffrey Bethke was appointed treasurer in August 2009, after serving as interim treasurer since March 2008. He is responsible for coordinating DePaul’s relationships with external financial organizations while overseeing cash and investment management, debt issuance and compliance and asset-liability management. He also oversees real estate acquisitions, dispositions and retail leasing.
Since he was named associate treasurer in September 2007, Bethke has led several major projects: a commercial real estate deal that paves the way for a significant addition to a downtown academic building; a key role in assisting the 403(b) Investment and Plan Administrative Committee in the comprehensive evaluation of the university’s defined contribution retirement plan; an initiative to secure independent financing for a major renovation of a Loop property; and a $50 million tax-exempt fixed-rate bond issue.
He joined DePaul in 2002 as director of procurement. During the next three years he reduced costs and improved supplier service levels in many arenas. Most significantly, he worked with Information Services to implement an electronic procurement system, redesigned procurement card banking relationships, and secured more than $500,000 in supplier sponsorship and support of university athletics, theater and other programs.
From 2005 to 2006, Bethke served as the owners’ representative and board secretary of the Educational Advancement Fund (EAF), a not-for-profit corporation formed by DePaul, Columbia College and Roosevelt University to develop and supervise operations of University Center, a jointly owned 18-story, 1700-bed student housing facility in downtown Chicago. He oversaw the center’s $19 million operating budget and directed the refinancing of two tax-exempt bonds totaling $163 million and producing more than $10 million in interest savings.
Bethke also served as the sole DePaul representative to the EAF Operating Committee after he was named associate vice president for Budget in 2006. In this role, Bethke supervised the university’s budgeting process which, in coordination with the Strategic Resource Allocation Committee, produced a budget of $438 million for fiscal year 2008. He also served as chief of staff to the executive vice president for Operations, responsible for the financial oversight of the institutional salary planning process, supervising the university’s institutional compliance program, and developing quantitative and qualitative analyses to support executive and board-level decision-making.
Prior to joining DePaul, Bethke was a principal of Jelsen Corporation, a Chicago consulting firm providing strategic planning and operations consulting to public firms and not-for-profit institutions nationwide. He also served as director of acquisitions for the Chicago Public Library and in several financial and corporate managerial roles for Borders Group, Inc. including direct supervision of over $500 million in annual consumer product purchases.
Bethke holds bachelor’s degrees in English and History from the University of Missouri at Kansas City and an MBA in finance and strategic management from the University of Chicago.