Audit committee flags recurring control gaps; trustees press for faster fixes and staffing

Tennessee State University's audit committee received a comprehensive review of internal and external audit findings on June 12, and trustees and audit staff agreed the university must accelerate fixes for recurring control weaknesses. Presentations by Internal Audit Director Dr. Renee Forbes Williams and others summarized required federal and state reports and 15 combined findings from recent external audits.

The external reports referenced by internal audit included the State of Tennessee single audit for year end 06/30/2024, the FY2023 financial and compliance audit and a FY2023 Triple E report; the external audits issued clean opinions on financial statements but collectively identified 15 findings, several of them repeats. Noted repeat issues included delayed bank reconciliations (previously identified in multiple audits), weak controls over ledgers/grants/student fees, collection procedures for accounts receivable and Title IV deficiencies such as untimely refunding of Title IV credits and reporting of enrollment status.

Dr. Forbes Williams told trustees the internal audit office completed required reviews during the year but that investigations and complaint responses had consumed a significant portion of audit staff time. She said the office had received 27 allegations with possible merit in 2024 and had closed or submitted 15. Dr. Forbes Williams also described an internal laptop-inventory audit that found no university-wide policy and noted the controller and other key accounting roles have been vacant for months, limiting accounting and control capacity.

Trustees pressed administration for clear timelines, stronger enforcement of policy and for management-level accountability: several trustees asked that an agreed list of the highest-priority audit fixes be assigned to specific managers with deadlines. Interim President Tucker told trustees he had reorganized some reporting lines to free up leadership bandwidth: for example, payroll moved to HR and IT now reports to a strategic adviser, with the intent of allowing finance leadership to concentrate on closing the audit findings. He also said the administration is exploring outside help and said the university has advertised open accounting and audit roles but has struggled to attract candidates while public controversy and turnover have continued.

The audit committee approved the FY2025'026 internal audit plan, subject to obtaining an external readiness/quality assessment and securing additional audit hours from an external firm. Dr. Forbes Williams noted the internal office's prospective hours for required audits total about 1,290 and said total projected audit hours for the plan are about 3,890; she also said external assistance is expected but the contract was under legal review and not yet finalized at the meeting.

Why it matters: The committee's review documented both operational deficiencies (bank reconciliations, collections, Title IV compliance) and structural capacity gaps (vacant accounting and audit positions), and trustees directed management to accelerate remedial action because recurring findings expose the university to financial, regulatory and reputational risk.

Next steps: Internal audit will provide the committee with a prioritized remediation plan, including named managers, timelines and progress updates. Trustees also requested regular updates on hiring and any interim use of contractors to close control gaps.

Ending note: Trustees emphasized that policy updates, training and enforcement must be paired with sufficient staffing and project management to ensure repeat findings are resolved and do not resurface in future audits.