| Public Release Date: April 24, 1998 | No. 98-27 |
North Hennepin Community College was established in 1966. The college merged with other state universities, community colleges, and technical colleges on July 1, 1995, to form the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System (MnSCU). The MnSCU Board of Trustees appointed Ms. Ann Wynia as the president of the college effective December 1, 1997.
Our audit scope included a review of tuition and fees, payroll, administrative expenditures, bookstore activities, and institutional work study for the period July 1, 1995, through June 30, 1997. We also audited the administration of the federal student financial aid program for fiscal year 1998.
North Hennepin Community College operated its General Fund activity within available resources. However, the college did not properly monitor certain other financial operations. The college did not evaluate its financial responsibilities and ensure adequate staffing in the business office and in the payroll/personnel division. In addition, the college did not properly record its financial activities on the MnSCU and MAPS accounting systems. The college did not have appropriate controls over certain other financial management functions. The college did not report instances of fraud to the Office of the Legislative Auditor. We are referring one case to the Office of the Attorney General for resolution. In that case, financial aid staff and a student worker falsified a payroll timesheet, and the student was paid for time that was not worked. The college also made other questionable judgments when determining institutional work study eligibility.
The college properly designed controls over tuition and fees, payroll, federal student financial aid, and administrative expenditures. However, we made some recommendations for improvements in these areas. We found that the college allowed a faculty member's salary to exceed the maximum amount authorized by state law. In addition, we have concerns about the bookstore. The college did not accurately record the bookstore financial activities and did not have financial statements to monitor its financial activities. We make several recommendations for improved accountability over bookstore activities.
The college basically agrees with the findings and recommendations in this report. The college has initiated a corrective action plan to resolve the issues.
