Internal audit finds 68 students admitted without required vaccine records; corporate card approvals delayed

The Office of Internal Audit released a departmental audit of Austin Peay State University’s Admissions Office that found two primary issues: students admitted without required vaccination documentation and delays in approving university corporate‑card transactions.

Beth Chancellor, Assistant Director of Internal Audit, said the audit identified 68 students who were admitted in the fall 2024 semester without the immunization documents the university requires under Tennessee Department of Health rules. The audit attributed the issue to the student information system failing to populate required fields; the system’s vendor is reviewing the cause and possible corrective actions. Chancellor said exemptions requested for religious or other reasons are handled by Health Services according to state‑approved exemption processes.

The audit also reviewed corporate‑card transactions. Of 42 transactions tested, 13 (31%) were not approved by the cardholder in a timely manner and 22 (52%) were not approved timely by the supervisor. The University Credit Card Manual sets monthly deadlines for cardholder and supervisor review to detect unauthorized charges and ensure proper recording. Management assigned approval duties to better balance workloads and required cardholders and approvers to enable email alerts in the credit card system to prompt timely reviews.

The committee treated the audit as an information item; no committee action was required. Internal audit will track management’s planned corrective actions and perform follow‑up reviews after the reported expected completion dates.