The institution exercises appropriate control over all its
financial resources.
x Compliance o Non-Compliance o Partial
Compliance
UL Lafayette’s administration adheres to the standards promulgated
by the Government Accounting Standards Board and the generally accepted
accounting principles and standards of the American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants.
Responsibility
for formulating and administering policies and procedures that ensure
appropriate levels of control over the University’s financial resources is
assigned to the Vice President for Administration and Finance. Mr.
Jerry Luke LeBlanc
became Interim Vice President for Business and Finance at the University on
July 1, 2008 and became Vice President for Administration and Finance effective
May 2009. He was formerly Commissioner of Administration for the State of
Louisiana. Prior to his appointment as Louisiana Commissioner of Administration
in 2004, Mr. LeBlanc was State Representative for District 45 of the Louisiana
House of Representatives. He also served as Chairman of the House
Appropriations Committee and the House/Senate Joint Legislative Budget
Committee. Jerry Luke LeBlanc and Associates, Real Estate Appraisers and
Consultants, where Mr. LeBlanc practiced for over 25 years as a state certified
commercial appraiser and real estate broker, was formed in 1979. Mr. LeBlanc holds
a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.
Financial
oversight is also provided by the Office of Internal Audit, reporting directly
to the University President and UL System BOS. Excerpts from the Internal Audit
Charter, which discuss the Director of Internal Audit’s responsibilities and
functions are detailed in the UL System’s Policy
and Procedures Memorandum FB-IV.(1-a). These reporting relationships ensure independence, broad
coverage, and adequate consideration of audit findings and recommendations.
To ensure that qualified professionals staff the departments
responsible for monitoring, tracking, and safeguarding the financial resources
of UL Lafayette, Human Resources uses a pre-employment process that verifies
that staff have the skills, training, and education necessary to perform their
jobs. As part of this process, Human Resources personnel compare resumes and
transcripts with written job descriptions and verify that all critical
financial personnel have the required credentials to perform their duties. In
addition, background
checks of all University
personnel are conducted prior to hiring.
The departments in
the Division of Administration and Finance have duties and responsibilities that are segregated to establish
proper oversight for financial transactions. They provide the appropriate level
of control and ensure compliance with external and internal policies and
procedures, such as cash handling
policies and purchasing
policies and other bid guidelines. The University’s ERP system (Banner) enables the
University to utilize electronic approvals based on organization hierarchy for
requisition and purchase orders. Starting in FY2019-2020, the University is
using Chrome River to electronically account for La Carte (State expense)
credit card purchases, including travel. This system replaces a manual credit
card log process and travel pre-approval. After
review and approval by the appropriate budgetary units, all financial
transactions are reviewed, approved, and recorded by these departments, as applicable.
The Banner system provides budgetary units with online access to their financial account data, including budget variance
reports. These reports are reviewed by the administrators of the applicable
budgetary units. Financial reports showing the financial performance of the
whole institution are also provided to senior management. The reports are used
to assess the financial performance of the institution and to make financial
decisions.
S&P Global Ratings stated
in their bond rating review of UL Lafayette that the outlook on all ratings is
stable. (For detailed discussion see Standard 13.1.) This independent
assessment by a third party provides additional evidence that the University is
exercising appropriate control over its financial resources.
The Internal Auditor reports directly to the President and is
responsible for performing internal audits and risk assessments on departments and programs. An annual audit
plan is established each year, and audits are conducted throughout the year.
All Internal audit reports are provided to the Legislative Auditors and the UL
System. UL Lafayette manages risk as it relates to financial resources through
internal controls and segregation of duties. The Internal Auditor reviews audit
findings reported by other universities within the UL System in order to gauge
whether such risk areas should be included in the annual audit plan, in an
effort to minimize risk.
Additional control over UL Lafayette’s financial resources lies
with the Louisiana Legislative Auditor, one of the largest public accounting
practices in the State of Louisiana, serving as the watchdog of public spending
and overseeing more than 3,500 audits of state and local governments and their
related quasi-public enterprises. The staff conducts annual independent
financial and performance audits, identifying critical issues to protect public
resources and tighten control systems.
Each year, the auditors conduct a financial and compliance audit
and an audit of federal award programs. Should there be any reportable
findings, they are included in the management letter along with the University’s
response. As the University is part of the UL System, a management letter is
issued instead of a full audit report. The University information is
consolidated with other system institutions of the UL System, and the audit
report is issued in the name of the System. The financial information at the
System level, along with all reportable findings, is included in the Single
Audit for the State of Louisiana. Table 13.4 – 1 lists audit reports for the
last five fiscal years.
Table 13.4 — 1: Audit Reports FY2013-2018
|
Year |
Management
Letter |
UL
System Audit Report |
State
of Louisiana Audit |
|
FY2017-2018 |
|||
|
FY2016-2017 |
|||
|
FY2015-2016 |
|||
|
FY2014-2015 |
|||
|
FY2013-2014 |
UL Lafayette strives to have no audit findings included in the
management letters issued by the Legislative Auditors. If audit findings are
detected, management takes the appropriate corrective actions to ensure that there
are no repeat findings in subsequent years.
The Office of the Louisiana Legislative Auditor
performs an annual audit of federal financial aid programs at UL Lafayette each
fiscal year. Upon completion of the audit, the Louisiana Legislative
Auditor provides a compliance report on requirements applicable to each major
program and internal control over compliance in accordance with Title 2 U.S.
Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform
Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for
Federal Awards (or, Uniform Guidance).
No “material weaknesses” were identified in the most recent
FY2017-2018 management letter. There were no findings in FY2017-2018 regarding
financial aid.
Departments of Administration
and Finance