The California State Auditor examines the accounts of state
agencies including UC. Chapter 8 of its
latest report focuses on an unnamed administrator who came from CSU and
apparently misspent travel funds there to the tune of over $150,000 before arriving at UC. When this problem at CSU became known, UC tightened
up the oversight of the administrator’s UC travel. Nevertheless, the auditor found a few
thousand dollars in improperly charged UC travel expenses.
From Chapter 8:
…In October 2012 the
university reported that it intends to seek reimbursement from the official for
the wasteful expenses identified in this report. In addition, the university stated
that it has reviewed the official’s most recent expenses for fiscal year
2011–12 and that it would seek reimbursement from the official for any
additional improper expenses it finds. Further,
the university stated that the official is leaving university employment at the
end of 2012. In responding to the
four policy‑related recommendations, the
university stated that it is prepared to explore ways to strengthen its expense
policies and procedures. Consequently, the university stated that it has
assigned an individual to work with the systemwide campus controllers to
analyze the recommendations and determine the feasibility of adopting the
recommendations into applicable university policy.
I had the impression
– back in the day when I headed on ORU – that university accounting procedures
were designed to prevent you from stealing less than $50. Great efforts were spent on trivia. Big problems went undetected unless a scandal
came to light. The auditor’s report
reminds me of that impression. UC has a
$22 billion budget. An entire chapter of
this report goes into the travel problems of one official – albeit one who had
probably set a record of travel overcharges at his prior employer (CSU). [The hiring process by which UC acquired the unnamed official is not discussed.] As we have noted in earlier posts, the
University has a huge capital budget which proceeds with only nominal oversight
by the Regents. Even a champion at travel expense padding would have a hard
time running up bills that could compare with potential capital expense
missteps.
You can read the report at the link below. Scroll to chapter 8 for the UC segment.
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