Photo: CFO Teresa HardeeWhen new FAMU President James Ammons arrived at FAMU from North Carolina Central University, no bank reconciliations had been done all year. The fiscal-affairs division, which was involved in 24 of the 35 operational-audit problems, had 36 vacancies. Basic accounting procedures simply were not being performed.
When Ammons took over he found that bank reconciliations weren't be done. They are now being done monthly.
Staffers with inadequate training were making entries in university's computerized financial-management system. Now: Training will be mandatory and tied to staffers performance appraisals; those without the skills won't have access to system.
The payroll process had nine steps, it now has four.
"I was very shocked," said new FAMU interim CFO Teresa Hardee, an accountant and former auditor, who used state audits as her road map. "The problem wasn't we didn't have money; people didn't know where it was."
Hardee and her team rebuilt the university's financial statements from scratch, matching numbers against bank statements, investment statements and state records.
"We couldn't move forward until we did that," said Donna Nichols, who was hired by FAMU to help out.
"We saw horrid bookkeeping but no sign of fraud. We know that every number we put in the balance sheet was fully documented and fully supported."
To get FAMU's balance sheet ready by the Sept. 19 deadline, Hardee said, the team did 365 days' worth of work in 60 days at a cost of less than $200,000. The accounting firm KPMG, hired by Castell Bryant to sort out the mess in 2005, worked for nearly two years and cost at least $4.7 million.
"It's sort of a miracle," Hardee said. "We've done more work in four weeks than was done in two years."
Hardee added: "I didn't hear one complaint."
This story was adapted from the following Tallahassee Democrat article.
Also see: Castell produces worst audit in FAMU history
Lawmakers warm problems must be fixed or else.
This sounds like a repeat of things heard before. I find it difficult for the numbers to be correct when one is still operating from an antiquated system. We'll see what the auditors have to say..hmmmm!
ReplyDeleteUniversities have been around centuries. Oxford, Harvard, and Yale all remained fiscally stable even when there was no PeopleSoft or MS Excel worksheets. It doesn't take a state-of-the-art system to add and subtract.
ReplyDeleteTeresa Hardee is correct to reconstruct the financial records through verifiable sources such as "bank statements, investment statements and state records."
As long as the financial statements are accurate, it doesn't matter if Hardee and her staff crunched the numbers with pocket calculators.
Thank God that Ammons and Hardee brought back the proven financial managers who Jim Corbin pressued Fred Gainous to fire back in 2003.
ReplyDeleteThe Florida auditor general clearly stated that the loss of institutional knowledge (e.g.: the ousters of controller's staff officials like V.K. Sharma and Marie Shetty) directly led to FAMU string of bad audits after 2002.
The following observation by the state auditors in 2004 said it all:
"The University reassigned and terminated employees that previously had prepared the financial statements for the University. No formal training of new and existing staff was performed to provide adequate training and experience in areas such as bank reconciliations and financial statements preparation."
SOURCE:
Report Number: 2004-175
Report Title: Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University - Financial Statements
Report Period: FYE 06/30/2003
Release Date: 04/02/2004
http://www.myflorida.com/audgen/pages/summaries/2004-175.htm
Thanks, V.K. and Marie, for coming back to help us clean up Corbin and Castell's mess.
Hadn't don't reconcilliations all year, are you kidding? Castell and team were incompetent sucks!
ReplyDelete$4.7M to KPMG for the worst set of financial books in the history of Florida's public university system?
ReplyDelete$4.3 to firms working without contracts?
Castell's tenure was nothing but a multi-million dollar free-for-all.
What did Rufus Little & Grace Ali do for all that money?
ReplyDeleteHardee's team reconstructed the books for less than $200,000? Unbelievable. CVB looted the FAMU coffers to the tune of 4.3 million $$ over a two-year period, and the job was a complete Muck-up when she left. I feel like to catching a plane to Dade County and whipping Castell's you-know-what! Hardee & Company: props to y'all (even if you all aren't finished; you've done a miraculous job in the short time you all have been at the helm). Castell outghts to be "shame of herslef," but of course, as mean and nasty as she was (and still is, of course), there's not a shameful bone in that ol' tired body of hers.
ReplyDeleteThe FDLE needs to investigate Castell and her cronies.
ReplyDeleteFunny how none of CVBs cronies are in here defending her actions. Probably don't want their email addresses traced.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone else remember that poster who went by the name godblesscastell?
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to him/her?
Well I'm not surprised at all. Clearly when institutional knowledge is restored and the right leadership in place, the ship starts to right itself.
ReplyDeleteI feel like to catching a plane to Dade County and whipping Castell's you-know-what!
ReplyDeleteAss?
I have some frequent flyer miles that I'm not using...
NOW IF YOU DON'T CHANGE YOUR FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, WE WILL BE IN THE SAME SITUATION NEXT YEAR.
ReplyDeleteNo, with the current financial team, FAMU will be back in the same place it was from 1978 to 2002, the years it received clean and unqualified financial statement audits every year.
ReplyDeleteIn 1995, the Florida Board of Regents gave FAMU's financial team (led by V.K. Sharma) special accolades for producing one of Florida's cleanest operational audits in during the 1993-1994 fiscal year.
One V.K. Sharma has more competence than Grace Ali, Rufus Little, and all Castell's other financial division hires combined.
Rufus and Junie Girl need to stay off this board. You too Man-up McBride.
ReplyDeleteTwo years and several million dollars later and this is all Castell's team left -- a mess.
Thanks Hardee, Sharma, Shetty and staff members for putting the time in and not profiling, pontificating and leaking news to the SPTimes, TDO, etc.
Anonymous said, "Rufus and Junie Girl need to stay off this board. You too Man-up McBride".
ReplyDeleteAs a faculty member, it's interesting how folks on the blog are still concerned about the past administration. I'm sure those mentioned above have shift gears and making waves in their new careers. Lets support Dr. Ammons and forget about the past. Everyone that was apart of Castell's administration were not all incompetent. Give credit, were credit is due!
I agree! You can't tamper with one's credibility when it speaks for itself. I'm sure the past administration isn't losing any sleep. FAMU has had problems for years and the 2 years that she was there didn't bring in the clouds...lets face it!
ReplyDeleteNews Flash anonymous @ 10/02/2007 5:42 PM!
ReplyDeleteCastell and crew are still in play. If you don't believe me, then call Rosenberg and ask why he is still snooping around and calling certain folks @ FAMU on Castell's behalf.
BTW, no one said that all employed during Castell (DC) were incompetent, just those she hired, promoted and those retained from Freddie G's administration.
The faculty and students were/are still great!
If Dr. Ammons wants to keep his financial straight, He better put Sharma and Marie back in his controller office. That's where all his problem started. in lookin back to 2004. as I remember paychecks were held because the financial statement was not done on time. What make you think it's going to get any better, when you have the same management operating his controller Office,
ReplyDeleteFAMU has had problems for years and the 2 years that she was there didn't bring in the clouds...lets face it
ReplyDeleteThe Florida auditor general's reports don't support your claims. FAMU's financial statement audits were clean from 1978 to 2002. FAMU did not receive a qualified audit until Castell arrived.
Castell in the only president in the history of Florida's public university system to receive a qualified audit or probation from SACS. By any objective measure, she her performance as a university financial manager was the worst EVER.
Everyone that was apart of Castell's administration were not all incompetent. Give credit, were credit is due!
ReplyDeleteNot everyone in Castell's administration was in competent -- but MOST of her senior administrators were.
Debra Austin, Liz McBride, Grace Ali, Rufus Little, Vincent June, and Vivian Hobbs are all examples of her poor hires.
my bad! 2003 fianancial statement. And would about the audit finding, same management.
ReplyDeleteThe 2003 financial statement audit was not done under the capable financial management that produced 25 years of clean statements.
ReplyDeleteIn 2003, newly hired president Fred Gainous (under pressure from then-chairman Jim Corbin), dismissed V.K. Sharma, Marie Shetty, and Robert O'Kelly from the FAMU controller's office.
The state auditors listed the terminations of those capable staffers as the reason for FAMU's bad financial statement audit that year. It was was the first financial statement audit to have any findings since 1978.
This is what the Florida auditor general said:
"The University reassigned and terminated employees that previously had prepared the financial statements for the University. No formal training of new and existing staff was performed to provide adequate training and experience in areas such as bank reconciliations and financial statements preparation."
SOURCE:
Report Number: 2004-175
Report Title: Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University - Financial Statements
Report Period: FYE 06/30/2003
Release Date: 04/02/2004
http://www.myflorida.com/audgen/pages/summaries/2004-175.htm
More spin, it is all Castell's fault that devil.
ReplyDeleteWhen is FAMU going to accept quality over quantity?
FAMU is a quality institution. That's why it's been recognized as a Carnegie Doctoral Research University and #2 in scientific research publishing growth in America.
ReplyDeleteThe state auditor general's reports are not spin. They represent the hard truth that is supporting by verifiable facts, instead of false perceptions.
ReplyDeleteUntil Ms. Hardee gets some good leadership in her Controller Office her financial team is just spinning their wheels.
ReplyDeleteCFO Hardee has scored a coup in getting V.K. Sharma and Marie Shetty to return. She's in the process of filling the vacant positions with good people.
ReplyDelete