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FAMU Audit Finds Irregularities

By Marlon A. Walker

FAMU President Fred Gainous

An operational audit for Florida A&M University has found information that suggests inefficient activities in several departments.

Since the audit was completed last summer, officials insist they have started changes to alleviate the problems. A new administration under President Fred Gainous took office July 1.

The audit, performed by the Florida Auditor General's office, noted checks that had been issued but not cashed, checks that had been written but not dispersed, a failure to document faculty activity by such means as time sheets, and financial aid award records that did match what was actually paid.

Merlene Johnson, who has the title of �assistant audit services /investigations administration� in the FAMU inspector general�s office, said the school conducted its own assessment after audit�s release Aug. 27 by the auditor general's office. Johnson also said that the university is resolving the problems.

In their report, state auditors mentioned six transactions in which the payout in financial aid did not match records in the financial aid department.

O�Leary Sanders, inspector general for FAMU, said most of the problems in the state's audit stemmed from flaws in the current computer system. He said a lack of a history of transactions, especially those in the financial aid department, led to the discrepancies.

"The records don't show a history (of transactions)," Sanders said. "When the financial aid department makes a payment, the payment overrides previous disbursements" in the computer, and the previous transactions can no longer be viewed.

The audit also alleges that the university did not accurately track faculty labor, which includes use of time sheets. The auditors said the university uses two activity reports -- one from the Office for Academic Affairs to maintain an account for state funding and the other for the university�s Division of Sponsored Research that tracks the portion of the faculty salaries provided by contracts and grants.

Sanders said the university has combined the two reports to add clarity. "We consolidated the report to make it more consistent and accurate," he said.

The auditors also found errors in payments to the university's vendors. The report specifically mentioned one vendor invoice dated April 24, 2001, that wasn't paid until Oct. 4, 2001. FAMU received the goods on May 1.

Sanders said items that appeared to be late payments involved incomplete vendor invoices. FAMU makes payments only after receiving accurate statements from vendors.

"Vendors may send an invoice and they may send an incomplete invoice where it can't be solved until the vendor corrects the info," he said. "But the clock starts when you receive goods or services on the invoice."

Sanders said the audit came at a crucial time, giving more urgency to addressing problems with existing record-keeping systems.

"It raised the consciousness to a level of priority, because now they have to address it."

Marlon A. Walker is a senior at Florida A&M University majoring in newspaper journalism who writes for the Famuan.