Chairwoman Carolyn Roberts opened the meeting thanking the interim President Castell Bryant and board of trustees Chairwoman Challis Lowe for doing an outstanding job. She said “The matter is very serious and the recent audit was unacceptable; and, that is an understatement. I have great confidence in Chairwoman Lowe.”
Chairwoman Roberts charged the Task Force (TF) with restoring the financial and operational credibility of FAMU; correcting the 35 findings in the March ’07 report; and insuring all activities are in compliance and up to the highest standards. The meeting was then turned over to the TF chair, Lynn Pappas of
Chair Pappas said “FAMU’s board had been diligent in its efforts to find out where the problems are, however, the problems are too deep seated to fix and probably go back to the devolution of the Board of Regents (BOR) when institutions spun off from many of the financial services (offered by the BOR) and were left to recreate their own fiscal management processes and procedures. Everyone was in a learning state and FAMU did not suffer from these problems alone (other universities did, as well). They are probably suffering from having problems transitioning with the proper staff that did this under the BOR.” We also noted that the Auditor General (AG) in their findings and comments indicated the high turnover in personnel in this area.”
Also discussed were conflict of interests and perceptions. Pappas stressed everything this board does must be transparent; above board and that the public understands this is not a “witch hunt” or a TF to do a number on FAMU.
RN will report additional information on this meeting in upcoming days and as this process hopefully plays out before public eye.
So what happened to Lowe? Did they cut her from the squad?
ReplyDeletechallis lowe is a fish-eyed fool.
ReplyDeleteYeah, did she get the cut?
ReplyDeletehumphries is a fat liar!
ReplyDeleteAnd your daddy is an even fatter liar!
ReplyDeleteDr. Frederick S. Humphries is not to blame for FAMU's current financial problems.
ReplyDeleteHumphries left FAMU with:
-16 years of clean operational audit opinions from the State Auditor General's office;
-An Athletic Budget Surplus of $3M;
-An Operating Budget that was $3M cash positive;
-A Composite Cash Balance of $22M;
-A Foundation of more than $65M (after inheriting a foundation that had less than $6M);
-Nearly $90M in approved capital construction dollars;
-Over 12,000 students (after inheriting a student body that had less than 3,500).
Those are the facts. Dr. Humphries did not leave FAMU in a financial crisis.
FAMU's current financial issues go back to former board Chairman James Corbin. He pressured former President Fred Gainous to fire all the senior officers in the controller's office who had experience in preparing the financial statement and securing clean operational audit opinions.
Gainous and Castell Bryant gave big bucks to KPMG, which has turned out to be completely inept in managing the university's money.
Plus, Bryant cut the recruitment program: FAMU's largest revenue-generating unit.
It's time to stop blaming Humphries for problems he didn't create and start looking at the facts!
This whole dog and pony show would be funny if I did not KNOW that my alma mater is in SERIOUS, SERIOUS trouble.
ReplyDeleteFolks - does anyone remember this?
ReplyDeleteSt. Pete Times
Today, unbalanced books and halted paychecks have inspired lots of finger-pointing, but few answers.
By ANITA KUMAR
Fred Gainous/Challis Lowe
But last week angry trustees blamed him for not disclosing the severity of the problems and for failing to make solving them a priority. They said Gainous waited too late in the year to start on the financial statements and questioned why the school doesn't balance its books every month.
"At no time was this board made aware of the dire state of the financials," trustee Challis Lowe said. "I have a sense once again that we are brushing over things in a superficial way."
Gainous, who has had to answer to the state's chancellor and the Board of Governors, apologized to the trustees.
******************************
Remember this?
St. Pete Times
The most recent trouble began Sept. 30, when FAMU missed the deadline for key financial records that would account for more than $100-million of taxpayer money spent last year. Without them, Florida's bond and credit ratings were in jeopardy.
After several warnings, Gallagher suspended payments to companies doing business with FAMU on Oct. 31. A week later, he paid the vendors but halted paychecks totaling $54,506.52 to 19 administrators until the paperwork came in Nov. 18.
"It is extreme but appropriate," said Carolyn Roberts, chairman of the Board of Governors, who has been in contact with FAMU and state officials. "There are rules we go by."
***************************
And what about this?
Tom Gallagher, state financial chief, withheld paychecks to 19 top FAMU officials to force them to turn over financial statements.
"I'm disappointed," said Carolyn Roberts, chairwoman of the Board of Governors, which oversees all public universities in the state. "All universities have to be accountable when you are dealing with public money."
**************************
Fast forward to Castell Bryant
St Pete Times
TAMPA - The bleak financial picture at Florida A&M University has led to a proposal calling for legislative accountants to take over the school's finances, interim FAMU president Castell Bryant said Thursday.
She said she opposes the plan, which calls for accountants from the Legislature's joint auditing committee to manage finances of the historically black college.
"It has never been done to a state institution," said Bryant. She said she can fix the school's problems if given time.
She said she hopes to balance the school's budget by the end of the fiscal year on June 30.
Bryant came out of retirement in January to run the school after trustees fired president Fred Gainous for not moving fast enough to straighten out FAMU's finances.
Bryant soon hired the auditing firm KPMG to evaluate the school's financial condition. The firm's report showed FAMU did not balance its books and did not track how it spent money.
This fiscal year, auditors said the university spent at least $51.1-million more than was budgeted. It paid staff $19.5-million less in salaries than state records said it should. KPMG could not explain the discrepancy.
Last week, two of FAMU's top financial officers resigned. Bryant said Thursday she has no idea who will replace them.
Bryant said she has been meeting with KPMG auditors daily and soon will get monthly financial reports. She asked the firm to recommend an action plan, which she said she will implement.
She said accountants from the Legislature, if they take over, planned to just adopt that plan.
"Now that I have a plan, they want to do something," she said.
Underlying the tension over a takeover is race.
FAMU, a predominantly black university, has always been the smaller school in Tallahassee, where Florida State University has broad support in the Legislature.
In 1965, the state closed FAMU's law school and soon opened one at FSU. The decision created years of resentment among FAMU alumni, who saw it as theft by a white institution of a coveted graduate school.
Race came up Thursday after the meeting when Bryant was asked why she did not want the Legislature's accountants to take control.
She said the question made the reporter who asked it look bad.
"Would you ask the University of Florida that?" she said.
"Would you ask Bernie Machen that?" she said, referring to UF's president, who is white.
Members of the Board of Governors offered Bryant their support Thursday, saying she had taken the right steps so far.
"She is very bright, aggressive person," said Sheila McDevitt. "They ought to give her a shot."
Board members also said they understood legislators' worries.
"They have the right to be concerned, and we are concerned too," said board chairwoman Carolyn Roberts.
Humphries should be indicted.
ReplyDeleteThe problems started on Humphries watch.
ReplyDelete