PERALTA COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT
AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING
MINUTES
Date:
Location:
Start time:
End time:
March 15, 2007
Chancellor’s Conference Room, District Office
4:05 p.m.
5:55 p.m.
PRESENT:
Bill Withrow, Chair
Abel Guillén, Trustee
Cy Gulassa, Trustee
Gail Waiters, Inspector General
Tom Smith, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration
Elihu Harris, Chancellor
ABSENT:
William Riley, Trustee
GUESTS:
Margaret Haig, Vice Chancellor for Educational Services
AGENDA:
1. Review and approve the agenda.
2. Review and approve the minutes of the February 22, 2007 meeting
(postponed until March 22, 2007 meeting)
3. Report by the Inspector General.
4. Discussion with respect to the review by the IG of the International
Education Department.
5. Discussion and recommended actions in conjunction with the review of the
Administrative Center Renovations.
6. Discussion and recommended actions with respect to Health, Safety and
Security issues throughout the Peralta Colleges and the Fast Track Policies
that need to be put into place.
7. Discussion and recommended actions that could/should be put into effect to
control assets of the Peralta Colleges that historically have been expensed
upon receipt.
8. Discussion and recommended actions to facilitate a coordinated
collaboration of the goals, strategies and actions of the Inspector General
and the Risk Manager/General Counsel.
9. Discussion and recommended actions deemed appropriate for the Inspector
General to establish an audit routine relative to the Accreditation Process.
10. Discussion and recommended actions to be taken with respect to periodic
audit of the purchasing role from the stand-point of quality control and
communications.
Chair Withrow opened the meeting at 4:05 p.m. with review of agenda. Approval of February
22, 2007 minutes will be postponed until the March 22, 2007 meeting.
Today’s meeting will focus on the Inspector General’s report. Ms. Waiters requested comments
on the latest quarterly report from fall 2006. No comments.
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International Education Department
Ms. Waiters addressed her email regarding concerns about exactly what would be discussed in
regards to International Education. She will provide a status but the investigation is taking
longer than she thought due to additional pieces on information.
She is currently conducting a random sampling of student files, taking a look at records
management to ensure that the criteria being used for international student’ s files is
consistent; last week she was reviewing different reports attempting to correlate the data. She
received a report for spring 2007 where 76 international students are carrying less than 12
units. International students are required to carry, at a minimum, 12 units. She has also
found underpayment of student tuitions and the numbers are large.
VC Smith indicated that the amount is disturbing; it is over $300K. Ms. Waiters stated that
she had not completely verified yet, but 84% of students have not paid their full fees.
VC Smith said that most international students pay cash for first semester; then they register
for their second semester on web, but don’t pay until third. Admissions and Records, in
conjunction with Finance, sends out three letters per year to students, then to state, then to
COTOPS program (program to garnish, e.g., lottery winnings) state retains 25% as fee to
pursue. The District has been discussing internally about bringing in a collection agency that
specializes in community colleges, they may collect more than state. There is some reluctance
because A/R does not want to call students.
Ms. Waiters review not personnel but lack of control. VC Smith mentioned that enrollment fees
not large part of District’s budget. Ms. Waiters is looking at the top 40 schools with
international students to do some benchmarks; most of these schools are in California.
Trustee Guillen wanted to know if the Inspector General was getting the information she
needed to get the job done. Ms. Waiters replied that there is some resistance, even though the
Board passed a resolution for her access, it is not widely known. She indicated that overall
access is fine; there are some who are afraid.
Administrative Center Renovations
Ms. Waiters prepared a preliminary report for Trustee Withrow. She wants to be able to take
one name out of the memo. At Facilities Committee, one trustee asked for information on some
numbers. Chair Withrow went on to say that the concern of the trustee is that the Board
approved $500K but $1.5M was spent. Chair Withrow indicated that it was actually the
opposite and their needs to be structure in how these requests are done. Ms. Waiters will
reword the opening statement and copy the Board.
Health, Safety and Security Issues throughout the Peralta Colleges
Ms. Waiter’s first concern is the keys to facilities. Someone in general services indicated that
that everyone has a key and people don’t turn them in when they leave. Chair Withrow would
like to see on the facilities plan is a move towards a keyless entry to record who comes in and
out. VC Smith is not aware of any college that keyless entry. Chair Withrow went on to say
that we built Berkeley City College and we still have keys for entry. This issue will be brought
up at facilities meeting. Ms. Waiters said that a few things have been missing, but we aren’t
sure because we have no records. Her concern is that contractors (non-employees) have
access. Chair Withrow sees this as a major issue to be resolved.
There was also discussion about the blue telephones. These phones are located on three of the
campuses (Berkeley does not have) and the Peralta police services say that many of the phones
are not working. These phones are slated to be upgraded. In a presentation to the Board, Vice
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Chancellor for General Services, Sadiq Ikharo, said they were working. There seems to be a
discrepancy in whether they are or not. Peralta police can identify your location by the phone
being used.
The final thing that falls into this category is the concern that Peralta is still using student’s
SSN as their identification. VC Smith says this will change in November. There is currently no
interim solution as Legacy needs SSN; PeopleSoft will issue a student number.
Chair Withrow brought up the fast track policies. There is concern that there is a breakdown
in the notification process surrounding health, safety and security issues; that it is taking
longer than it should to get to the College President, Chancellor and Board. The Board wants
assurance that there is a system with a tag notifying a problem has been resolved. For
example, if lights are out at a bus stop and there are students standing there at 10:00 p.m.,
how long before the lights are fixed, who is putting in the work order. Ms. Waiters discussed
the new emergency disaster plan for the District which will be presented at the second Board
meeting in April.
There is not a good confidence level and Chair Withrow would like to see some policies and
procedures regarding health, safety and security. Ms. Waiters mentioned that while it is good
to have Board and Administrative policy, the District is lacking standard operating procedures.
Discussion revolved around training in emergency preparedness and how the disaster plan
needs to be instinctive. The Board is looking to the Inspector General to help develop this with
the Risk Manager. When Joanne Baldinelli started as Risk Manager, a top priority was to
develop the emergency disaster plan. It is now implemented at the District and she is now
going out to each of the colleges. The emergency disaster committee is required under law to
come to work in an emergency.
Chair Withrow questioned whether the District has a Columbine Policy. This is something that
the District was not aware of. VC Smith said that the District has the Sheriff’s department.
Chair Withrow wants to see plans at the colleges. The Sheriff’s patrol the colleges but do they
really know what to do in an emergency.
Trustee Guillen stated that other school boards have ID’s indicating that they are an official of
the District; we should have these to provide an official response because currently we have no
authority to the public. Ms. Waiters confirmed that the new lieutenant at the Sheriff’s
department says we should have picture ID cards for all staff and faculty. This will be
discussed with Risk Manager.
Ms. Waiters brought up the rabbits that were discussed at the March 13 th Board meeting. She
wanted to go on record to say that in the City of Oakland there is a strict ordinance about
poisoning animals, except for rats, in the city limits. This policy is very clear on environmental
concerns and she wants to ensure that the District complies.
Asset Control within the Peralta Colleges and District
There is no control, monitoring or items that affix asset tags to. There should be a policy and it
should be checked periodically as to who has what. Currently, anything under $25K is
expended.
Ms. Waiters found a memo from 2003 regarding setting a process up. This will be discussed in
standards management. Chair Withrow would like the IG to prepare a policy to go to the
Board. Ms. Waiters indicated that implementation will be the key. Chair Withrow would like to
see a policy first then set up the implementation; need to sample around the campuses. The
current policy is that the District expense everything under $25K. Ms. Waiters pointed out if
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someone is responsible it should be part of their ongoing duty, whether purchasing or general
services. Chair Withrow stated that new performance contracts include a requirement that
they control the assets that are paid for by the taxpayers. Need policy that we are required to
protect the assets procured by the District. This came out in the external audit report,
anything less than $25K is not included on the balance sheet. It is two separate things,
balance sheet and keeping record. Asset identifier tag should be in the policy. VC Smith is not
the person responsible; it is warehouse and Information Technology. Chair Withrow would like
this on fast track.
Collaboration between Inspector General and General Counsel/Risk Manager
There is potential overlap between Risk Manager and Inspector General. Chair Withrow
requested Risk Manager to report to General Counsel not Human Resources. Need
collaboration between these two positions so we do not have redundancy. Both areas report
directly to the Board.
Ms. Waiters needed some information from General Counsel, her concern is that she get the
information she needs as an IG over a general citizen, explaining that what she is doing is just
as confidential as General Counsel. Chair Withrow has on the agenda that there is a need for
coordination between the two departments.
Ms. Waiters mentioned that the last time she gave a presentation to closed session there was
concern about whether IG getting cooperation from people. Ms. Waiters is not getting the
feedback she requests, such as when she sends out the quarterly report. One president has
yet to respond to a request. She will add a date on the quarterly report of when the
information was requested and when it is needed. If there is still a lack of response, the Board
should be informed.
Audit Routine for Accreditation Process
Accreditation is an annual process and Chair Withrow would like PMI’s (Performance
Measurement Index) set up. Accreditation process intent is to have one each of the basic
elements and periodically we need to spot audit.
Ms. Waiters questioned whether these would be factors that the accreditation committee has
highlighted. Chair Withrow indicated that yes, each recommendation should be tied to an
element. Ms. Waiters asked if an element would be student learning outcomes? Yes, for
example, on scale of 1-10 we are 7, in terms of tracking student learning outcomes, i.e.,
transfers, AA degrees, we spot audit and they are not at 7 they are really a 3.
College will be able to update at any time. It is a continuous self-evaluation process. When
information returned they upgrade; real time update. One problem we have is everything is
episodic. The IG role would be to have access to online information and audit it. Chair
Withrow to draft policy, just wanted to bring up in general sense.
Purchasing Department – Quality Control
The external auditor is writing up a number of things in purchasing. We need to have periodic
assessment between carryover to observe and in both listening sessions at Berkeley and
Alameda. The colleges feel they put in requisition and it goes into a black hole and there is no
process for checking the status. When check status, they find it is an exception area because
something wasn’t complete. This becomes a quality control issue we need to find out if this is
pens and pencils or the equipment for a biology lab.
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This is where the Board would like the IG to come in. Ms. Waiters indicated that there are
extensive purchasing manual procedures. It may be that some people have missed some steps.
Chair Withrow concerned about the number of buyers the District has; we may need to get
another person in there.
[Chancellor joined at 5:40 p.m.] The Chancellor indicated they are discussions of hiring
another person to just monitor the bond funds. PeopleSoft has also caused some problems.
Another issue is the computers and HP, pricing has now been satisfied. Chancellor says we
should go directly to office depot or corporate express. A computer can only issue a computer
to a person; a department can not just order 10 computers without the names of who they are
being issued to.
Meeting adjourned 5:55 p.m.
March 15, 2007
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