Memo from WKU President Thomas Meredith to all faculty and staff regarding internal audit report, new Board of Regents and improved communication

Meredith, Thomas

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Western Kentucky UniversityTopSCHOLAR®WKU Archives Records WKU Archives9-8-1992UA3/8 Memo: Audit ReportThomas MeredithWKU President's OfficeFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlsc_ua_recordsPart of the Higher Education Administration CommonsThis Other is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in WKU Archives Records by anauthorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact connie.foster@wku.edu.Recommended CitationMeredith, Thomas, "UA3/8 Memo: Audit Report" (1992). WKU Archives Records. Paper 3628.http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlsc_ua_records/3628MEMORANOUM TO: FROM: , WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY OFfiCE OF THE PRESIDENT September 8, 1992 All Facul t y and Staff iff 0 , / ~ "\ [ ?<- l dcZ'?--, Thomas Co MeredOth ~_-uY President For at least the last ten months, your attention and your intellectua l and emotional energies have been diverted because of events surrounding the former Board of Regents and the President. As you are aware, a much dis-cussed audit report was given to the previous Board of Regents on June 22. 1992. A new Board took office on July 1, 1992. The new members of the Board of Regents studied the audit report thoroughly. They rece ived the full in stitutional response around the fir st of August and gave it their focused attention prior to their meeting on August 20. As a result of their many questions and observations, a final edition of the institutional response was submitted for their consideration, complete with 19 recommendations for changes in the accounting and manage-ment practices at Western. The 19 recommendations addressed the procedural concerns mentioned in the Internal Auditor ' s report from the fall of 1991 dnd the audi t report submitted in June of 1992. The recommendations also addressed other i ssues with which this a~ninistrdtion has had some concern and on which thi s administration had already begun to work. The 19 recommendations were passed unanimou sl ~ by the Board of Regents. Some of those recorrmendations involved t e development of policies which will be presented to the full Board prior to its next meeting on Oc tober 29, 1992. The Board believes, as does this administration, that the procedural questions have been addressed. It is our common desire not to expend any more energy talking about the past but to inject our full effort into helping this institution reach its potential. It is important not to forget that the audit showed that all funds were accounted for and that there was no evidence of any intenti onal wron dOln y anyone a es ern . a lC1es at a een approve an were 1n prac lce fOr many years are being changed through the recommendations discussed above. Shoul d some t hings have been handled differently? In hindsight. the answer i s yes. Should I have been more inquisitive about past practices? 1 ca n easily see now that I should have been . Knowing what I know now, woul d I have done some things differently? Absolutely and withou t question. As 1 s tated at the fall f acul ty meeting, administration will run a much tighter ship. I can prom; se you that thi s We have been making numerous Page 2 September , 8 ,1992 accounting and management changes since the beginning of t hi s administra-tion. and that refinement will continue. During this administration, we have estab lished a much needed reserve and put this in stitution on a sound financial basis . We have reduced overspending of budget s on thi s campu s from three percent of the total budget to approximately one percent, and that one percent is generally explainable. We reinstituted the policy of re turning part of the overhead dollars to departments and colleges , which has helped s timulate an increase in the extramural funds rece ived on our campu s by 101 percent since the summer of 1988. Budget managers now have more control and responsibility for their budgets than at any time in the hi s tory of the in stitution . We have not do ne a very good job of corrmunicating to you the many posi-tive th ings that are happening to thi s institution financially. We will work hard to improve on that in the future wi th enhanced methods of communi-cation. As an example of positive results, our expenditures for development activities ( fund raising) have proven to be good investments . In the SUll1T1e r of 1988, before thi s administration began. the private dollars rai sed for development in FY 188 t otaled somewhat over $400.000. Additional dollars were rai sed in the Hill topper Athletic Foundation and t he College Heights Foundation. The amount raised by the end of June 30 , 1991 , had grown t o $1.1 million in development alone. The national expectation for dollars raised per dollars spent for universities is four to one. At Western, that rati o is approximately six to one . As in most other area s on our campu s, we get a great deal out of the little bit we spe nd . By the way , all dollars mentioned are actual dollars received and not pledged. I know these are diffi cult f inancial times. The largest budget cut in the institu ti on ls history has a tende ncy to dra in our energy and en thus i-asm . You have a right to be concerned. These are also diff i cul t emotional times as we now move to recover from the publ icity of the last t en mon ths. I believe it i s critical for us t o balance the l edge r by remembering and recounting the many reaso ns why we have chosen thi s great uni ver sity to pursue our careers. I am since re in wanting to do every thing possible t o hel p thi s in stitu-tion regain th e momentum that it displayed prior to the l ast t en mon ths . It i s critical to our f uture for the matter of the audit t o be resol ved in your minds so that we can put it to rest and get on with our bus iness . The Board bel i eves in this University and its future. Our Regents are ready to move forward and so am I. If tilere are que stions you mu st have answered about t his matter, I wan t to answer those questions. I would be pl eased to meet with you individuall y or in a small group to resolve your questions and concerns. It will be time well spent if we can bring this i ss ue to closure. Thank you fo r your good work at Western. TC I~: cel 

UA3/8 Memo: Audit Report

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UA3/8 Memo: Audit Report

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