GRAMBLING, La. (AP) - Grambling State University President Frank Pogue says the university has come a long way in restoring the integrity of its finance department, which is why he was surprised to hear the university was placed on warning by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
"I was a little perplexed, to say the least," Pogue said Thursday.
Grambling recently had its accreditation extended by SACS, but the regional accrediting agency placed the school on warning for six month. The regional accreditation agency determined that the institution had failed to demonstrate compliance with the control of its finances and the control of its physical resources, specifically movable property.
"I see these as administrative procedural issues. It's got nothing to do with our academic quality at all," Pogue said. "I do think within a short period of time, the warning will be taken off the table."
Pogue told The News-Star (http://tnsne.ws/LVoe6Y ) the appropriate measures to correct these issues have been in place for about two years and the university continues to work in that effort. The university has seen vast improvement with its movable property issue, which has been a recurring audit finding for the university, according to Leon Sanders, GSU's vice president for finance and administration.
What was reported in 2010 by legislative auditors as a loss of $1.6 million in movable property has now been lowered to below $700,000, Sanders said.
To help accomplish that, Sanders said the university hired a property control manager with more than 30 years of experience in the field, in addition to instituting a number of control features to make faculty accountable for property.
Other steps to ensure adequate control over the university's finances include the hiring of a director of financial aid in 2010 who has more than 16 years of experience, using a specialized computer system for tracking the last date of class attendance, hiring a controller and reorganizing the accounting department to improve efficiency, Pogue said.
Pogue said he plans to resubmit a report outlining the university's efforts in restoring its financial integrity to SACS for its consideration.
"We hope these issues raised will soon be behind us," he said. "I feel comfortable that what we have in place will be sufficient to explain what the university is doing and will continue to do."
Grambling State University is fully accredited by SACS, and 100 percent of the school's 50 academic programs that are eligible for accreditation by accrediting bodies are accredited.
↧
GSU president: says SACS warning surprises him
↧