April 27, 2015

State System responds to audit

Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu

From State System spokesman Kenn Marshall:
“The auditor general’s performance audit reaffirms the State System’s deep commitment to providing high-quality, high-value educational opportunities to our students. It also demonstrates how important the work of our universities is to the Commonwealth, and how seriously we take our responsibility as Pennsylvania’s public university system.
“In a statement to the media, the auditor general noted that, overall, he and his staff concluded that the State System ‘is serious about creating and maintaining a safe and non-discriminatory learning environment and is committed to holding the line on tuition costs.’
“The auditor general acknowledged the serious challenges we face as a System, given our stagnant or declining state appropriations, while recognizing all we have done to control costs. We agree we need to continue those efforts, and are committed to doing so.
“The audit also confirmed that the State System takes quite seriously the issues of campus safety and the need to ensure that every individual who spends time on any of our campuses is treated fairly and with respect. In his public statement on the audit, the auditor general notes that the State System ‘has taken steps to help ensure its universities are complying with state and federal laws related to sexual violence and sexual harassment, including employing a Title IX coordinator who acts as a liaison between the Office of the Chancellor and the universities.’
“He also points out that during the course of doing the audit, his staff talked with a number of rape crisis centers near the State System university campuses and that ‘every one of these centers said that they have excellent relationships with each campus and that the universities are responsive and supportive to their work helping victims.’
“While the report was critical of the fact that the State System has discontinued the practice of conducting internal audits of Clery Act reporting practices of the campuses, it should be noted that in place of those audits the System hired an external law firm to conduct a detailed assessment of each university’s policies and procedures regarding the act. That assessment provided us a baseline for compliance and will be helpful to the universities as they design programs for enhancing compliance going forward. Those programs will be reviewed regularly as we reinstitute the internal auditing process.
“In regard to Title IX, we previously identified some inconsistencies across the System with interpretation of the regulations, and already have begun to address those inconsistencies. In addition to hiring a full-time Title IX coordinator more than a year ago to work directly with the campuses, we also have provided in-depth training to those responsible for compliance at each of the universities. We are confident that these training and assessment procedures will serve to provide greater consistency systemwide.
“We are grateful to the auditor general and his staff for the thorough work they put into this audit and for all of the findings and conclusions contained in the final report, including the recognition of the hard work and commitment of the Board of Governors.
“It is gratifying to have the Board be recognized specifically by the Auditor General for being actively engaged and committed to fulfilling its duties and responsibilities,” said Board Chair Guido M. Pichini. “The many hours put in by the individual Board members on behalf of our students and the Commonwealth are important to the overall success of the State System.”