Office of the Legislative Auditor - Financial Audit Division

Report Summary

Normandale Community College

July 1, 1999, through June 30, 2001

Normandale Community College's budgetary controls provided reasonable assurance that it operated within available resources. The college timely completed state treasury and bank account reconciliations to ensure that financial activities were accurately recorded in the accounting records. The college's internal controls provided reasonable assurance that financial activities complied with applicable legal provisions and management's authorization.

Key Findings and Recommendations

• The college did not always promptly deposit bookstore and tuition receipts during peak collection periods. We noted bookstore deposit delays ranging from three to four business days, and tuition deposit delays ranging from two to three business days. The college should deposit receipts totaling $250 or more on a daily basis.
• We noted a large number of college staff that could initiate registration cancellations, and there was no review of the extent to which registration cancellation transactions were backdated. These transactions are needed for dropped and cancelled courses, and they are backdated prior to the drop/add date to eliminate a student charge. To provide appropriate oversight, the business office should produce and review a periodic report quantifying the amount cancelled since these transactions reduce tuition revenue.
• The college did not reconcile the state's payroll system (SEMA4) transactions to the college's human resources and accounting system (SCUPPS), and it did not generate and review certain management control reports comparing the two systems.
• The college bookstore did not have a control to review or approve voided transactions. We suggested an independent employee be assigned responsibility for review and approval of these sensitive, high risk transactions.

Normandale Community College, established in 1968, is part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU). The college annually serves approximately 10,000 students, making it among the state's largest two-year colleges. Dr. Thomas Horak has served as the college president since 1991.

Normandale Community College is part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system. This audit report focused on financial management, tuition and fees, payroll, operating expenditures, and the bookstore for the period July 1, 1999, through June 30, 2001.