YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY Audit calls for expense procedure change

The university president requested the special audit.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown State University President David Sweet is no longer having his administrative assistant sign off on travel and job-related entertainment expenses.
The procedure, based on a practice in place before Sweet became YSU president, was one of the problems cited in a special audit that was released Tuesday by the university's internal audit firm, Packer Thomas of Youngstown.
The audit, which scrutinized YSU's practices regarding reimbursements for administrative travel and entertainment, was reviewed during Tuesday's meeting of the YSU trustees' audit subcommittee.
In a written statement, the subcommittee said it will give "immediate attention" to the Packer Thomas report.
Flaws detailed in the audit are likely to be addressed during trustee meetings set for September, trustees added.
Sweet asked for the special audit in April after The Jambar, a student-run newspaper, ran articles questioning his travel and entertainment expenses between September 2002 and this January.
Sweet has previously said that his spending conforms to YSU policy and that it was "well within the norms" for university presidents.
In June, Packer Thomas issued a preliminary report that said it had determined Sweet engaged in no misuse or illegal use of funds.
The final report released Tuesday did find fault, though, with the long-held practice in the president's office of having the president's administrative assistant sign off on the president's expense reports.
Packer Thomas recommended that the practice should cease.
The president's expenses should be reviewed by someone "who is in a position of authority to challenge the appropriateness of the related expenses," auditors concluded.
Who will do it
Sweet said that task is assigned to the budget planning and resource allocation director.
After the subcommittee meeting, Sweet said that pre-approval of his travel and entertainment expenses has been handled by the university's vice president for financial affairs.
Typically, an estimate of anticipated travel and entertainment expenses is pre-approved.
Once the expenses are actually made, a final report is submitted by the president. The final report is the one the administrative assistant has been signing off on, but no more.
Sweet said he agrees with removing his administrative assistant from the approval procedure.
"It strengthens the process," he said.
Other findings
Other conclusions and recommendations reached by Packer Thomas in its audit included:
UForms detailing the president's travel expenses weren't always properly signed, yet these expenses still were paid in about 20 instances. Packer Thomas recommended that only properly signed expense forms should be processed by the university's accounts payable department.
UYSU should update its travel and entertainment expense policies to eliminate conflicts in such areas as daily meal reimbursement and whether the university president can use a purchase card to buy meals and gas.
leigh@vindy.com