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Audit tells CCAC to tighten policies

Audit tells CCAC to tighten policies

Expenses, travel, hiring need more vigorous oversight

Community College of Allegheny County should tighten policies on expense and travel reimbursement, provide additional oversight for the expenses of the college president and re-examine its hiring policies, an audit released yesterday recommends.

The college, in a news release and comments by the board treasurer, said the audit by Schneider Downs & Co. reported CCAC was in "material compliance" with the board of trustees' policies on topics that include reimbursement for travel and relocation and recruitment expenses. Those words, however, do not appear in the audit.

The auditors examined thousands of documents generated between July 1, 2003, and June 30, including expense reports for 275 trips taken by college administrators and trustees, receipts for dues for professional organizations and salary histories for top administrators, and provided six recommendations for the college.

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The board yesterday, through Vice Chairman Bill Robinson, sent the audit report to its finance committee for recommendations, which the trustees will consider at their next meeting Nov. 20. The committee can send along the auditor's recommendations, revise them and add some of its own, said Jerry Fedele, chairman of the finance committee and board treasurer.

Mr. Fedele said he "got a lot of comfort from the audit because policies were complied with."

CCAC came under scrutiny the past few months for questionable travel and other expenses, including the relocation of administrators. In addition, the college in May decided to withhold its budget until ordered to release it by county Chief Executive Dan Onorato.

The controversies prompted the board of the publicly funded college to abide by Pennsylvania's Right to Know Law and to order the outside audit of its spending practices.

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The audit did not reveal any particularly egregious violations but disclosed details on the total costs of trips for President Stewart Sutin, the trustees and school administrators, as well as expenses associated with recruitment and relocation of administrators and top salaries.

The audit also disclosed the cost of a Duquesne Club membership for Dr. Sutin that the college canceled last year. It cost $16,463 during the three years covered by the audit and included a month in which Dr. Sutin's expenses for club services reached nearly $1,800, two months when they were more than $1,500 and one month when they were more than $1,000.

Dr. Sutin, who is leaving CCAC in July, did not comment on the audit during his report at yesterday's board meeting and he was not available for comment afterward.

The audit recommends that future expenses from the college president be reviewed by a member of the board of trustees instead of by the college's internal auditor, as is the practice now.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette previously disclosed questionable travel expenses by Dr. Sutin, as well as Mr. Robinson, and the fact that many receipts for travel reimbursement were either missing or incomplete, apparent violations of the school's current policy.

The college's policy on reimbursement states that "receipts must show the amount, date, place and essential character of the expenditure" to comply with federal tax regulations and that expenses that were not properly documented would not be reimbursed.

The auditors recommend the college establish a new process to document travel expenses on a monthly or quarterly basis that would include even more detail, such as the name, position, destination, purpose, amount, approval and source of the funds used.

The top travelers at CCAC during the three-year audit period were Nancilee Burzachechi, vice president of Institutional Advancement and External Relations, with 35 trips at a cost of $30,781; Dr. Sutin with 27 trips that cost $23,790; and Dr. Charles Blocksidge, vice president of the Center for Learning and Organizational Development, with 23 trips that cost $13,966.

The top trustee traveler was Mr. Robinson, who took six trips that cost $8,759.

Some of the meals on the trips apparently were pricey. From July 1, 2003, to June 30, 2004, Dr. Sutin averaged $300 per trip for meals, while Ms. Burzachechi averaged $107, according to the audit. The next year, the college paid $169 for a canceled hotel reservation for Ms. Burzachechi.

The auditors examined $242,000 in travel expenses and questioned $513, including a double payment of $157.22 as reimbursement for office supplies and meals to Dr. Sutin that was also paid by the college's corporate credit card. Mr. Fedele called the $513 in questionable expenses a "relatively small amount," considering the total travel expenses examined.

The auditors also questioned about $3,000 in relocation expenses that exceeded the amount contracted when a new administrator was hired.

Also included in the audit were another $11,500 for the purchase of appliances and flooring and a $6,336 payment for temporary housing the college failed to include as income for an administrator at CCAC's South campus.

The finance committee will review the board's policy on paying for items such as appliances and flooring, which are permitted but are a concern to committee members, Mr. Fedele said.

The audit also revealed the salary histories of top administrators.

The clear winner during the period of the audit was Jeanette Blackston, vice president of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, whose salary increased 33 percent during the three years, from $71,588 to $95,155.


Correction/Clarification: (Published Oct. 18, 2006) The salary of Jeanette Blackston, former vice president of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning at Community College of Allegheny County, increased 33 percent, from $71,588 to $95,155, from July 1, 2003, to June 30, 2006. An incorrect percentage increase and salary amount were listed in this story as originally published on Oct. 17, 2006 about the release of a CCAC audit. Also, CCAC President Stewart Sutin spent an average of $300 for meals, not that much per meal, on trips he took for the college in 2003 and 2004.

First Published: October 17, 2006, 4:00 a.m.

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