Washburn University-FY07 Public Budget Comments- July 28, 2006
By: Mary Lou Herring
Mismanagement of Funds
Mismanagement of Washburn University funds is hidden by the insufficient accountability of this administration to those that provide the funds, the taxpayers & students. Perhaps this Board is satisfied with the financial information presented to you by these administrators, but there are some in this community that remain gravely concerned about the lack of an internal audit function that is accountable directly to the members of this Board.
Lack of Budget Accountability
An incredible amount of effort is given to a budget process that is in fact merely a formality. From the top down, reasonable adherence to the budgets approved by this Board are not a priority with this administration.
n FY05, transfers were made by the administration that exceeded the amount provided for in the public budget.
Even the VP of Finance admitted in a sworn statement that individual line items in the budget do not require any special attention.
The evidence of the mismanagement of these operating funds is in your annual Financial Reports where nearly 50 departments over expended their budgets in FY05.
Careless Use of Resources
The careless use of the resources available to this administration is evident in the following areas:
There has been an astronomical growth in the operating budget for Information Systems. The budget has tripled since the consolidation of academic and administrative computing in 2000. Most of the new resources have been allocated to administrative computing, with academic computing barely recognizable.
University reserves are used with reckless abandon to replace failed fundraising efforts, such as the Art Building. Advanced reserves for special projects, such as Carole Chapel, are not repaid in a timely fashion.
Some expenditures are budgeted in a misleading fashion, such as the $18,000 remodel of a bathroom at the President’s residence that was budgeted as an ADA accessibility project.
Transformational Experience
The recent addition of Transformational Experience to the budget provides further evidence of this administration’s fast talk with the facts and lack of real accountability for the dollars.
Although the Board approved only $850,000, the FY06 budget detail included $960,000 for this program. The board was told in the agenda item that only $600,000 had been set aside in the budget. This program should be watched carefully. In the FY07 budget only $822,000 can be clearly identified, leaving $138,000 unaccounted for. In today’s agenda, more money may be allocated from these program funds “as appropriate.” What does that mean?
Capital v. Operating
This administration has been very resourceful in finding funds for capital projects, through skyrocketing debt and spending down university reserves.
Once again, in FY07 salary increases favored administrative areas over academic areas, with professors pay increases remaining markedly lower than other categories. Adequate funds still haven’t been provided to address faculty development, benefits and staffing issues.
Over $2.0 million in reserves were found to relocate WEA, rather than addressing the financial needs highlighted in the annual program reviews. Recently English, biology, and mathematics requested additional support for under-prepared students and asked for resources to address their remedial demands. I would urge each member of this board to thoroughly read the self-studies for the 17 areas that were part of this year’s program review. These self-studies typically include frank discussion of their lack of resources even as the administration has held operating budgets stagnant for six consecutive years.
Be careful that the core of this institution is not rotting away while you continue to build your buildings, water features, and other superficial trappings.