If all goes according to plans, FAMU should have a clean audit soon. Members of the FAMU BOT learned this morning that the University received a draft copy of the audit late last week and has 30 days to respond. The latest audit which covers the 2006-2007 fiscal year turned up six audit findings, the pervious financial audit turned up 13 findings. University officials have already prepared draft responses to the findings and are confident that they will get a clean audit.
Prior to the new administration taking over, FAMU's books had not be reconciled all year. In commending FAMU's new management team, Trustee Karl White, noted that it is almost impossible to reconcile books if you had not done the all year and nearly impossible to do if you weren't the person responsible.
Good news!
ReplyDeleteIt's on now, RATTLERS!!!
ReplyDeleteI've heard all of this before. Sounds like an old movie!
ReplyDeleteI think the correct term is "unqualified" audit. The state auditors can finally vouch for the accuracy of FAMU's financial books.
ReplyDeleteThere are still 6 findings. However, that does represent a more than 50% improvement over last year.
This is clear, verifiable proof that FAMU is on the way back to getting the same clean financial statement audits it got for 24 years up to 2002.
Now, SACS has solid evidence that FAMU is back on firm financial ground.
Yeah- Castell & Co.'s GONE WITH THE WIND!
ReplyDelete3:19 PM STOP THE HATE.
ReplyDeleteBELIEVE
Disent is not hate...Lets not become the misguided republican party of GWB and Karl Rove....the fact is we have heard this before and in the Dixiecrat it said that there were seven findings....so we dont know what is really going on...because we know the dixiecrat is packed with lies.....
ReplyDeleteWe still have the Feds investigating. I do not think SACs is too happy about that.
ReplyDelete12/03/2007 7:31 PM
ReplyDeleteThere's the anti-FAMU spammer again. He's here trying to tear down any positive news about the university.
SACS is interested in the process and is glad that Dr. Ammons took the necessary steps to ensure the University's integrity on this issue. If we know that the Dixiecrat is a "spin machine" then let us not use them as a valid source of credible information. That being said, let's continue to support 100% our university as our new administration cleans up the mess that was made on SOMEONE ELSE'S watch. This is not going to be a cakewalk, but it will be worth the journey. Just think, all of the stuff we have survived! We are an amazing university!
ReplyDelete"Looks like" or "has"? Big difference.
ReplyDeleteAmmons, with the firing of Coach Carter, and the resignation of Townsend, has just about swept out all of Castell's old dirt.
ReplyDeleteWhy you hatin' Coach Carter? What if I called President Ammons dirt?
ReplyDeleteThis board is full of two way street hate!
You are joking, right? You can't be as sophomoric as you sound. Carter, for all intents and purposes, is a moot point. If you have that kind of affinity toward Carter, when he finds a resting place, please take your pillow and blanket and join him! Forward motion people... Let's keep it moving and ignore these kinds of statements.
ReplyDelete^^^^Ditto!
ReplyDeleteBack to the matter at hand. This is Castell's audit. Ammons didn't come until the end of the fiscal year. Let's wait to see for ourselves that this is a clean audit or is it more hype. I'm leary Ammons wasn't at FAMU during this time.
ReplyDeleteThis is true, however, it is Ammon's responsibility to address it still for the FUTURE of the university. Spin on this would not help CVB anyway. Fact is, it did not move in a positive direction UNTIL Ammons got involved.
ReplyDeletePlease remember that Castell resigned in May before the Grace Ali submitted the interim administration's final financial statement audit on June 30, 2007.
ReplyDeleteAs usual, Castell's financial numbers were jumbled and state auditors contacted FAMU with additional questions and requests for information.
Ammons' work to balance the accounts that Castell/Ali left unreconciled and reconstruct FAMU's financial books helped the university fulfill the information requests from the state auditors.
i'll be glad when they settle up with Xerox---I have to take all my copying down to Kinkos. Xerox won't come fix our machine because they are owed $$.
ReplyDeleteAuditors flag 21 problems at UF
ReplyDeleteA school spokesman says the state agency found fewer problems than in most recent years.
By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER, Times Staff Writer
Published December 5, 2007
State auditors found a number of financial flaws and questionable practices at Florida's flagship public university during the 2006-07 budget year, according to a new operational report.
The auditor general found 21 areas where the University of Florida overspent, didn't follow state procedures and failed to properly document payroll, contracts and other matters.
UF spokesman Steve Orlando said university officials have responded to auditors' concerns and are taking measures to correct the problems.
He pointed out that this most recent audit had fewer findings than previous years' audits. The operational audit for 2004, for example, found 25 problems.
"When you consider the size of the place and the number of people employed here, this is really middle of the pack," Orlando said.
One of the auditors' biggest concerns was millions in long-running budget deficits in UF's largest college, liberal arts and sciences, which spent $4.7-million more than budgeted in 2005-06 and nearly $3-million more than was budgeted for the following year.
The liberal arts college's woes were first reported in 2006, and UF has since reorganized the college and made budget cuts. This year, trustees also adopted new budget guidelines and staff training requirements to prevent future overspending.
Auditors also questioned the legality and expenditure of certain UF fees, including those charged to students who study abroad and to students enrolled in master's business programs.
Business fees for "materials and supplies" and other expenses generated more than $8-million for the '06-07 budget year, yet UF did not provide documentation to satisfy auditors that the revenue was properly spent or necessary.
UF's response maintains it has the right to charge those fees, based on UF policy, state law and Board of Governors regulations.
Auditors concluded the Institute of Food and Agricultural Science also needs to do a better job of collecting the money it is owed for contracts and grants.
Records show the institute last year was owed more than $16-million dating to before 2003. Orlando said that reflects contract and grant payments that various state agencies have yet to pay.
UF officials told auditors that they are developing policies to tighten up the collections process and that they have reduced the amount owed to the institute by $10-million.
Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler can be reached at svansickler@sptimes.com or 813 226-3403.
FAST FACTS
On the Web
The audit can be found at: www.myflorida.com/audgen/pages/summaries/2008-045.htm.
Chronicle of Higher Education
ReplyDeleteDecember 5, 2007
State Audit Finds Range of Managerial Problems at U. of Florida
State auditors in Florida have found 21 problem areas at the state’s flagship institution, the University of Florida, according to the St. Petersburg Times. In those areas, the auditors found that the university overspent, failed to follow state procedures, or did not properly document payroll, contracts, or other items.
Steve Orlando, a spokesman for the university, told the newspaper that the institution’s officials had responded to the auditors’ concerns and were working to fix the problems.
He also pointed out a bright side, of sorts: The university doesn’t have as many problems this year as it has had in the past, he said. In 2004, for example, state auditors found 25 problems, according to the article.
News of the critical audit followed a year in which operational problems at another institution in the state, Florida A&M University, have drawn attention.
Earlier this year, some state legislators called for a criminal investigation of the state’s only historically black public university after a preliminary report by the Florida auditor general found $39-million in undocumented expenditures. —Sara Hebel
I guess this didn't get publicized because their water is wetter than ours. Geesh!
ReplyDeleteIf you think that's bad then take a look a information below. It proves that the real financial problems aren't at FAMU. They're at UF.
ReplyDeleteUF received $580,426,350 in federal money in 2005.
http://www.fedspending.org/faads/faads.php?recip_id=901167&sortby=u&detail=-1&datype=T&reptype=r&database=faads&fiscal_year=2005&submit=GO
On UF's 2005 operational audit, the state auditors said UF "had not developed and tested a methodology to extract data from the myUFL systems required to produce a schedule of expenditures of Federal awards."
The audit also said: "The University did not timely establish written procedures or processes for reconciling its main operating bank accounts, and as of April 30, 2005, reconciliations of such accounts were not current."
http://www.myflorida.com/audgen/pages/summaries/2006-040.htm
The questions are: Why can't myUFL produce a proper report on how UF spends $580,426,350? Why aren't the banking reconciliations being done?