Post by krazykev on Feb 6, 2007 7:06:19 GMT -5
By Lanita Withers
Staff Writer
GREENSBORO -- Poor internal controls and financial irregularities at N.C. A&T prompted interim Chancellor Lloyd V. Hackley to call on the UNC system's top brass to investigate, Hackley confirmed Monday.
"I was smelling some smoke and thought that with only one internal auditor, I needed to get some people in here to help look a lot more deeply and a lot more quickly at every aspect of the university," Hackley said.
"We told the guys when they came to leave no stone unturned and track everything wherever it leads, without regard for who might get touched."
Hackley contacted UNC system President Erskine Bowles in late December to relay problems on campus that occurred before his tenure and to ask for help. Bowles responded immediately by sending his chief financial officer, chief of staff, general counsel and members of the information technology and internal audit teams.
"Most of the problems at the campus center around lack of internal control, lack of proper systems, lack of IT functionality, financial irregularities and the lack of control at its foundation," Bowles told the UNC Board of Governors in January, according to minutes from the board's meeting.
In early January, the system sent another team of three former state auditors -- with more than 90 years combined experience -- to examine financial statements, use of funds and compliance issues at A&T.
The internal examination comes as a former A&T administrator faces charges of obtaining property by false pretense and embezzlement of state property.
Rodney Harrigan, the university's former vice chancellor for information technology and telecommunications, was charged Dec. 18.
Harrigan, who has said he is innocent, is no longer employed by the university.
Hackley said so far auditors haven't found similar allegations connected with other top administrators. However, he said, "We certainly will be looking hard to ensure anyone doing anything deliberately will be called into account for it."
The university's controls and systems haven't kept track with the school's growth, Hackley said. A university the size of A&T -- which has about 11,000 students and about 1,700 employees -- is a massive enterprise.
"When the institution was 5,000 students and master's programs, and not the third leading grant recipient in the university system, shorthand, hip-pocket, hand-to-hand conversations would suffice," he said.
"But, as this thing grew -- and it grew fast and complex at the same time -- we needed to implement the same kinds of controls that you would find at BB&T or Tyson Foods. ... That didn't occur."
No formal reports have been produced yet. Hackley directed auditors to take the time for a thorough investigation.
Velma Speight-Buford, chairwoman of A&T's board of trustees, said the goal was not just to identify problems, but to address them.
"There will be a plan for each one of the issues that we have," she said.
No one has accused former A&T Chancellor James Renick of misdeeds. However, Hackley and Speight-Buford alluded that the issues arose under his watch.
"Whoever is at the top, you can designate authority, but you can't designate responsibility. Whatever comes out, because it was under his watch, will be with him," Speight-Buford said. "At an institution, it's the chancellor who is held accountable."
Renick, who left A&T in May and works with the American Council on Education in Washington, could not be reached for comment Monday.
Hackley likened the chancellor to being the captain of a ship: "We raised the question about whose watch did it happen on. The captain could have been in his room eating dinner when the thing hit the iceberg. He can't say, 'Well, I wasn't up there.' It hit the iceberg on his watch. ...
"I don't know that there was any deliberate misfeasance or malfeasance," he said. "All I know is this institution is off the tracks, and we're going to put it back on. "
Contact Lanita Withers at 373-7071 or lwithers@news-record.com
Staff Writer
GREENSBORO -- Poor internal controls and financial irregularities at N.C. A&T prompted interim Chancellor Lloyd V. Hackley to call on the UNC system's top brass to investigate, Hackley confirmed Monday.
"I was smelling some smoke and thought that with only one internal auditor, I needed to get some people in here to help look a lot more deeply and a lot more quickly at every aspect of the university," Hackley said.
"We told the guys when they came to leave no stone unturned and track everything wherever it leads, without regard for who might get touched."
Hackley contacted UNC system President Erskine Bowles in late December to relay problems on campus that occurred before his tenure and to ask for help. Bowles responded immediately by sending his chief financial officer, chief of staff, general counsel and members of the information technology and internal audit teams.
"Most of the problems at the campus center around lack of internal control, lack of proper systems, lack of IT functionality, financial irregularities and the lack of control at its foundation," Bowles told the UNC Board of Governors in January, according to minutes from the board's meeting.
In early January, the system sent another team of three former state auditors -- with more than 90 years combined experience -- to examine financial statements, use of funds and compliance issues at A&T.
The internal examination comes as a former A&T administrator faces charges of obtaining property by false pretense and embezzlement of state property.
Rodney Harrigan, the university's former vice chancellor for information technology and telecommunications, was charged Dec. 18.
Harrigan, who has said he is innocent, is no longer employed by the university.
Hackley said so far auditors haven't found similar allegations connected with other top administrators. However, he said, "We certainly will be looking hard to ensure anyone doing anything deliberately will be called into account for it."
The university's controls and systems haven't kept track with the school's growth, Hackley said. A university the size of A&T -- which has about 11,000 students and about 1,700 employees -- is a massive enterprise.
"When the institution was 5,000 students and master's programs, and not the third leading grant recipient in the university system, shorthand, hip-pocket, hand-to-hand conversations would suffice," he said.
"But, as this thing grew -- and it grew fast and complex at the same time -- we needed to implement the same kinds of controls that you would find at BB&T or Tyson Foods. ... That didn't occur."
No formal reports have been produced yet. Hackley directed auditors to take the time for a thorough investigation.
Velma Speight-Buford, chairwoman of A&T's board of trustees, said the goal was not just to identify problems, but to address them.
"There will be a plan for each one of the issues that we have," she said.
No one has accused former A&T Chancellor James Renick of misdeeds. However, Hackley and Speight-Buford alluded that the issues arose under his watch.
"Whoever is at the top, you can designate authority, but you can't designate responsibility. Whatever comes out, because it was under his watch, will be with him," Speight-Buford said. "At an institution, it's the chancellor who is held accountable."
Renick, who left A&T in May and works with the American Council on Education in Washington, could not be reached for comment Monday.
Hackley likened the chancellor to being the captain of a ship: "We raised the question about whose watch did it happen on. The captain could have been in his room eating dinner when the thing hit the iceberg. He can't say, 'Well, I wasn't up there.' It hit the iceberg on his watch. ...
"I don't know that there was any deliberate misfeasance or malfeasance," he said. "All I know is this institution is off the tracks, and we're going to put it back on. "
Contact Lanita Withers at 373-7071 or lwithers@news-record.com