YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri |
February 22, 2001
Report No. 2001-11
Questionable practices
at Missouri Southern State College include awarding vendor contracts in
exchange for donations, and free international trips for employees� spouses.
Our
audit covered fiscal years 1998 and 1999 and noted 14 findings in areas such as
questionable contracting practices, concerns of nepotism, weak travel policies,
public funding of a private nonprofit organization, overpayments to �seminar coordinators, and unreasonable and
improper expenditures.� The following
highlight the audit�s conclusions:
Food vendor made donations
to the college to gain and keep contract.
College officials have not bid
the food service contract since 1994 and have not reviewed student surveys
evaluating the food quality.� In
addition, the food vendor has donated $325,000 to the college for capital
improvements and $15,000 to a private, nonprofit organization run by the
college president�s wife.� As a result
of a 1997 donation of $200,000 for a new cafeteria, the college extended the
vendor�s contract through June 2005.�
Because the contract has not been bid since 1994, college officials
cannot assure the campus has the most qualified vendor at the best cost.� (See Page 8)
Reviews of international
trips revealed weak travel policies.
Between
July 1, 1998 and March 31, 2000, the college spent approximately $655,000 on
international travel; however, the college has not established formal written
travel policies and procedures.� As a
result, we noted inaccurate reporting of trip expenditures, inconsistency in
the number of trip chaperones, and no bidding of travel agents.
In
addition, the spouses of the chorale director and a music professor went on
free trips to Austria with the student choir, a trip which the students raised
money to attend.� These complimentary
trips, totaling $3,246, materialized when the travel agent awarded one free
trip to the college for the large group attending, and the college�s International
Studies department allocated excess funding to the music professor.�
College officials, in response
to our audit, have agreed to repay the costs of the free trips and develop
travel policies and procedures.� (See
Page 10)
The college provided public
funds to a private piano competition.
The college pays the operating
expenses for the Missouri Southern International Piano Competition, a nonprofit
organization run by the college President�s wife.� In addition, the college�s contract with their
food vendor provides for donations to this organization.� Using public funds to pay expenses of a
private nonprofit organization violates the Missouri Constitution.� (See Page 17)
Criminal justice seminars
coordinators were overpaid.
A college vice president and a
criminal justice professor together received compensation of approximately
$87,500 in addition to their regular salaries for coordinating criminal justice
seminars. These individuals� inaccurate reports of the seminar resulted in
excess compensation of $1,522 each. In addition, the inadequate documentation
did not show the number of participants or the amount each participant paid,
which made it impossible to verify reported revenues.�
College officials responded
that they have revised their policy governing these seminars, and will request
reimbursement of the overpayments from the vice president and the criminal
justice professor. (See Page 20)
The college�s nepotism
policy has not been strictly followed.
A
college vice president/dean supervised his son, an assistant professor in his
father�s department.� College policy
does not allow this type of hiring unless without written approval from the
college president.� In addition, the
vice president/dean approved a $1,000 dean�s initiative grant for his son, and
$8,650 in additional compensation for hours he taught beyond his original
employment contract.
The college responded that the
president provided verbal approval for the son�s hiring, and that the father no
longer serves as the dean of his son�s department.� (See Page 21)
Some
expenditures appear unreasonable and improper.
The
college paid $30,317 for a $1.5 million life insurance policy for the College
President but is the beneficiary for only $500,000 of the policy.� In addition, the college paid $1,145 to send
the President to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota for his annual
physical examination.� (See Page 16)
The
theatre director used excess fees collected from continuing education students
to fund two $882 trips to New York City for two college secretaries.�
During fiscal years 1998 and
1999, the college spent more than $22,000 hosting a formal Christmas ball for
employees and the Board of Regents.� The
college responded that they believe this expenditure is a good investment in
people.� (See Page 25)
Our audit also reviewed the
college�s policies regarding the use of college-funded vehicles, cellular
phones, and credit cards.� The audit
also noted bonuses paid to college staff and loans to professors not being properly
monitored and collected.� (See Page 21)