UCF inappropriately transferred nearly $100 million in state money, purposely and improperly transferring operating funds to construction projects, including three at its new downtown Orlando campus, according to an investigative report authorized by the state’s Board of Governors, which oversees state universities.
The report revealed that $61 million in operating funds were used to help fund 11 construction projects, including three new buildings on its new downtown campus. This is on top of the roughly $38 million in proper funds UCF spent to construct the Trevor Colbourn Hall on their campus which triggered the investigation and the resignation of the schools’ president and several high-ranking school officials.
Many of the former UCF administrators, including two former presidents, have refused to cooperate with the investigation. BOG members discussed the possibility of issuing subpoenas to force the former employees to participate.
“It’s just extraordinary to me the depth of the deception and the fact that people were able to get away with it for so long,” said board member Sydney Kitson. “UCF is a great university, but the people who run that university have lost the trust of this board.”