An audit of Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) covering fiscal years 2021 and 2022 found just under $25,000 in purchasing card (P-Card) transactions that failed to follow required policies, including purchases that were not delivered to an address on the school’s campus and transactions that appeared split to avoid a $2,500 limit on single purchases.
The audit reviewed $77,342 in P-Card transactions, covering 15 users over the course of five months. State auditors found nine P-Card transactions totaling $2,1777 that did not have documentation supporting the purchases, as well as three purchases totaling $1,321 that were made by someone other than the cardholder.
Auditors also found 34 P-Card transactions totaling $14,451 where CSCU did not provide authorization forms approving the use of P-Cards by three departments and organizations. CSCU disputed wrongdoing in this finding, stating that authorization forms “are not part of the P-Card policy, but an internal control within Residence Life and Student Life.”
But, according to auditors, the “university’s P-Card Authorization Form explicitly states that the form will be completed when a user is seeking permission to use the P-Card to purchase goods and/or services listed on the form.”
“Since the completed form documents authorization to use the P-Card, the absence of such form would indicate a weakness in the university’s internal controls over the use of P-Cards.” auditors concluded.
Additionally, auditors found ten purchases made by three cardholders totaling $2,965 where purchases were not delivered to the university’s campus. CSCU officials said the issue is a result of COVID-19 era policies that saw work shift to remote, resulting in packages sometimes being shipped to residences. The school said it would amend the P-Card guidelines on home deliveries to reflect the change in working conditions.
Lastly, auditors found four orders totaling $3,792 that were paid in a single day to a single vendor that appeared to “have been split to circumvent the $2,500 single purchase dollar limit.”
A prior audit of SCUS’s P-Card use found similar issues.
“In review, Southern’s P-Card program processes over 20,000 P-Card transactions annually. Many of these transactions are made procedurally correct. Audits are completed on P-Cards, and violations are noted on the P-Card holders audit sheet.” SCSU said in response to the findings.
The audit also found other areas where SCSU was not following either its own policies or statutory requirements.
Auditors found multiple instances where SCSU did not follow the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) Procurement Manual, which requires universities to obtain multiple quotes or compare quotes prior to making purchases and requires competitive bids for purchases over $50,000.
SCSU failed to provide documentation supporting the selection of a vendor for a $19,680 expenditure and did not go through a competitive bidding process for a $93,925 purchase for services for its commencement ceremony. Additionally, auditors found personnel did not approve a $104,217 purchase prior to it being made.
Auditors also found SCSU did not immediately follow policies requiring it to inventory and uniquely tag $474,794 worth of equipment purchases in 2021 and 2022, and failed to promptly sever former employees’ access to an automated information system used to maintain accounting and academic records. The seven terminated employees were able to access the system for between 11 and 165 days after they left SCSU’s employment.
In addition, SCSU failed to follow a requirement in a facilities usage agreement template provided by the attorney general’s office that requires a 25 percent deposit when someone signs an agreement. Auditors reviewed six agreements that were in place during fiscal years 2021 and 2022, totaling $108,395, and found none had required a deposit. They also found final payments made under four of the agreements were received between six and 30 days late.
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