Key Conclusions:
The Office of the Chancellor and the individual colleges included in our scope generally safeguarded assets and correctly recorded financial activity for the selected financial areas we audited. With certain exceptions, the Office of the Chancellor and the individual colleges complied with significant MnSCU policies and management’s authorization for tested transactions. As highlighted in the next section, we identified several findings related to internal controls and compliance with financial legal provisions.
Key Findings and Recommendations:
- Although we noted some improvements, MnSCU needs to strengthen its efforts to ensure that access to its accounting applications is secure and adequately restricted to authorized personnel.
- Several colleges need to improve controls over purchasing and disbursement transactions and ensure compliance with certain legal provisions.
| The audit report contained 13 findings relating to internal control or legal compliance issues. Some findings were applicable to multiple campuses; other issues were directed toward only one entity. The report included four findings from our prior audit reports that were not fully implemented. In particular, Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College and Vermilion Community College need to resolve several prior audit findings. We did not report any written findings for Minnesota State College-Southeast Technical. |
|
| Audit Scope:
Entities Audited
The Office of the Chancellor, Anoka-Ramsey, Rainy River, and Vermilion Community Colleges, Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, Mesabi Range Community and Technical College, Minnesota West Community and Technical College, Minnesota State College-Southeast Technical
Audit Period:
Two or Three Fiscal Years Ended June 30, 2004
Selected Audit Areas:
- Security Over Access to Accounting Applications
- Tuition and Fees
- Employee Payroll
- Administrative Expenditures
- Office of the Chancellor Joint Powers Agreements
Agency Background:
MnSCU provides system-wide administrative management and develops oversight policy for 32 state universities and colleges. The MnSCU Board of Trustees appoints a president to oversee the activities at the individual colleges. The colleges finance their operations from three main sources: state appropriation allocations, tuition and fees, and federal grants. MnSCU had a total student full-year equivalent enrollment of about 136,000 for fiscal year 2004, an increase of 2.4 percent over fiscal year 2003.
|
