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TSU audit committee hears FY23 external audit closeout, internal audit of president—s office and updates to internal audit plan
Summary
At the March 13 internal audit committee meeting, staff reported the state auditors— FY2023 field work is complete and the FY2024 audit is on schedule; an internal financial audit of the president—s office found no reportable findings; and the internal audit plan was revised, increasing total hours and adding or shifting several engagements.
The Tennessee State University internal audit committee met March 13 and received updates on external and internal audits and a revised internal audit plan.
Chair Smith Knight opened the committee, explaining a finding of necessity to allow electronic participation under Tennessee Code Annotated and the committee approved the motion to permit remote participation. The committee then approved minutes from the November 22, 2024, audit committee meeting.
On external audits, Dr. Williams Ford reported that the state auditors have completed field work for the FY2023 financial statement audit and expect to release the audit report in April; the university—s Tennessee single audit report was expected in late March. The FY2024 financial statement audit is on schedule, with field work anticipated to be complete by June.
On internal audit work, Ford summarized a required internal financial audit of the office of the president covering the period July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, conducted under Tennessee Code, Title 49, Chapter 7. The audit report found no reportable findings. Ford reported presidential-office expenses totaling $1,078,611 (institution), $6,263 (foundation) and $60,055 (external sources) and a total presidential expense figure presented in board materials; she also identified an increase in total presidential expense of about $127,008 (approximately 11 percent) compared with the previous year.
Committee members asked what positions are included in the president—s salary and benefits line; Ford responded it generally covers everyone in the president—s office at that time (executive assistants and other staff) and offered to supply a breakdown and a 5-year comparison after consulting the budget office.
A recurring coding issue was discussed: charges related to Nissan Stadium that appear on the university—s Schedule B but should have been assigned to the foundation. Ford said the foundation—s books often close before these charges are captured and, because the amounts are considered immaterial, the team does not restate prior reports.
Ford also presented an update to the internal audit plan. Changes noted in the March 2025 plan include adding cash-advance work into travel-card testing, extending certain dates, and deleting this year—s QAR (quality assurance review) while increasing total planned hours from 3,915 to 4,415. Committee members pressed on how a single internal auditor—s annual capacity relates to 4,415 budgeted hours; Ford said the office has discussed co-sourcing and that much of the work is required engagements and investigations. She said a risk assessment was completed with risk management.
Committee chair moved that the committee enter executive session to review confidential audit matters; the committee recessed for executive session as provided under state law.
Actions and votes taken at the meeting were entered in the record: the committee unanimously approved the finding of necessity for electronic participation, unanimously adopted the Nov. 22, 2024 minutes, and later recessed into executive session.
Committee members asked for follow-up materials including a multi-year comparison of president—s-office expenses and further documentation on conflict-of-interest form reviews and any executive-session items reserved for discussion.
