Only hours after the Ohio University Board of Trustees had discussed the
institution’s fiscal cliff, presentations reassured the Audit Committee that OU is managing its financial assets well.
The committee met to discuss internal and external auditing processes Thursday in Walter Hall, in preparation for Friday’s general body meeting at 10 a.m. Plante Moran, the university’s external auditing company, gave a presentation on their audit of fiscal year 2012 financial statements.
The report received positive reviews from the trustees and OU President Roderick McDavis.
“Many universities would aspire to achieve and have this kind of financial report …this is tough to duplicate,” said national trustee J. Patrick Campbell, one of the board’s most recent appointees.
Robert Shenton, Keith Martinez and Danny Sklenicka represented Plante Moran during the presentation. After explaining the company’s role in the auditing process, they elaborated on two known misstatements in the university’s financial statements from fiscal year 2012.
Prior to Plante Moran’s presentation, Chief Audit Executive Jeff Davis updated the committee on internal auditing procedures.
Everything is going according to schedule, Davis said, but the department has decided not to audit Undergraduate Admissions.
“Having discussed with management about Undergraduate Admissions, the belief is it would be more effective to look at the eLearning program because it's a large and growing program — I believe it's the largest online learning program in the state,” he said.
In addition, Davis discussed the Ohio Ethics Hotline and said there has been a downward trend in reports submitted.
“We contract with a company called EthicsPoint located in Portland, Oregon,” he said. “They're kind of a leader in higher education in providing hotline services ... It does allow for anonymous reporting of concerns.”
Toward the end of the meeting, McDavis thanked the trustees for providing oversight and ensuring the university’s funds were well managed.
“You have constantly pointed us in the right direction,” he said. “And we've listened and we've tried to do the best we could.”
bv111010@ohiou.edu
