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Task Force Says FAMU Got Message, Raised Standards

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By ADAM EMERSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 26, 2008

A state task force that spent the past year reviewing Florida A&M University's troubled financial management announced Wednesday that the school has addressed most of the group's concerns.

FAMU "satisfactorily addressed" 92 percent of the administrative findings the task force identified. The university also has plans to address the rest of the findings, task force members concluded.

"FAMU has laid the foundation to restore financial operational integrity and public trust," said Lynn Pappas, chairwoman of the task force and a member of the state university system's Board of Governors.

"From this point forward," she said, "the issue for the FAMU board of trustees is to ensure that FAMU institutionalizes these important measures, which are critical to the university's long-term success."

The task force's announcement comes as the university's accrediting body prepares to rule on whether it will lift the probationary status it bestowed on FAMU a year ago.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools last year found that the university failed to comply with 10 standards SACS considers paramount for financial and academic integrity. These include problems with financial stability, its audits and oversight of financial statements, its control of research money and its responsibilities for managing financial aid.

SACS should make its decision this week. The timing of the task force's announcement was coincidental, said Bill Edmonds, spokesman for the Board of Governors.

The task force, whose members come from law, finance and higher education, began monitoring the school after a state audit uncovered problems in FAMU's finances and management, which have been documented in audits for years.

Among the task force's recommendations:

•That FAMU's board of trustees receives quarterly reports on the university's progress on issues it still must address.

•That trustees require formal audits of university systems and the accounting for contracts and grants.

•That the Board of Governors develops procedures to monitor the audit plans and reports of the 11 public universities in Florida.

The task force finished its work on time and under budget. The $250,000 of unused money appropriated to the group for its work will be returned to the state.

Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at (813) 259-8285 or aemerson@tampatrib.com.

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