Some University of Nebraska-Lincoln employees may have been misusing the university’s purchasing card program, according to a report from the Nebraska Auditor of Public Accounts released Oct. 29.
This was the first audit of the purchasing card program.
“The concerns are there was insufficient oversight in the purchases being made,” said Mike Foley, the Nebraska state auditor.
The purchasing card program allows faculty and staff to use an electronic purchasing card that acts like a credit card to manage inexpensive purchases in support of an academic program, said Christine Jackson, the vice chancellor for business and finance.
This is an alternative to the university receiving small reimbursement requests from employees and helps negate the costs of having to write small checks, she said.
According to the audit, there have been 168 purchases made that were not approved or reconciled by the proper official and 79 purchases made where the transaction was not approved.
As a result of this, Foley said, there were unauthorized and excessive purchases made using the program, including first-class plane tickets and other items.
“There were purchases made that were very expensive, unnecessarily expensive,” he said. “The university could save money if they had better oversight.”
According to the audit, the highest number of improper use of the card were payments to other university departments for purchases.
Regent James McClurg, chairman of the audit committee of the Board of Regents, said in a press release that he welcomed the auditor’s review of the program.
“The university is committed to good stewardship of financial resources, transparency of business operations and accountability to Nebraska’s taxpayers,” he said.
There are several things the university can do to correct the program’s lack of oversight, Foley said.
“They need to have better instructions to the card holders on how to properly use it,” he said.
The university could also review the purchases being made using the program and step in and make corrections when there are unnecessary purchases being made, Foley added.
The university has already made some changes to have better oversight of the purchases being made with the program, Jackson said, including looking more closely at what purchases are being made using the card.
“We have made oversight of the program under one unit in the business and finance department instead of two,” she said.
This has made the program more centralized.
“We’re stressing the financial responsibility of cardholders, reconcilers and approvers,” Jackson said.
kimbuckley@dailynebraskan.com
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