Office of the Legislative Auditor - Financial Audit Division

The colleges included in our audit scope properly safeguarded assets and correctly recorded financial activity in the MnSCU business systems. Financial transactions complied with significant policies and management’s authorization. However, we identified a crosscutting computer system access finding and some isolated concerns related to internal controls at certain colleges.

Key Finding:

• Certain colleges need to ensure that access to MnSCU computerized business systems is secure and adequately restricted to authorized personnel.

We audited the following colleges: Central Lakes, Hibbing, Inver Hills, Itasca, Normandale, Riverland, and St. Cloud Technical College.

Audit Period:
Two or three fiscal years ended June 30, 2003, depending on when the last audit of the college was completed.

• Computer System Access
• Tuition and Fees
• Employee Payroll
• Administrative Expenditures

The MnSCU Board of Trustees establishes policies for the 32 state universities and colleges. The board appoints a president to oversee the activities at the individual colleges. The colleges finance their operations from three main sources: state appropriations, tuition and fees, and federal grants. In fiscal year 2003, the seven colleges included in our scope accounted for approximately $168 million in operating revenues and state appropriations, and $164 million in operating expenditures, or about 13 percent and 12 percent, respectively, of MnSCU’s total financial activity in those areas. In addition to our audit coverage, MnSCU contracts for annual audits of its consolidated financial statements and separate financial statement audits of several colleges and universities.