Audit 336312

Finding 2024-001: FEDERAL WORK STUDY- WORKING DURING CLASS TIME Criteria: SFA Regulations state that working during scheduled class time is prohibited. Students are not permitted to work in FWS positions during scheduled class times unless certain exemptions are documented. FSA Handbook Volume 6 page 33 of 145. Condition: In ten (10) of the thirteen (13) files tested that were subject to FWS regulations, we noted that the Institution’s records indicated a conflict between employment time and scheduled class time. The records showed that the student was employed and working hours as a federal work study student while also accumulating hours earned during class. Upon further investigation, many of the conflicts were due to the instructors allowing students to leave class early after completing assignments and presentations or cancelling class altogether. The students associated with this finding are B1, A1, A6, A7, A9, A10, A11, A13, A14, and A15. The instances of noncompliance were a result of a significant deficiency in the internal controls related to scheduling work study students. Cause: The cause was an oversight by staff. Effect: As a result, the Institution did not follow FWS conditions and limitations. Questioned Costs: $0 Prior to the issuance of this audit, $117.88 was refunded to FWS for the 22/23 award year and the Institution issued a corresponding institutional scholarship to each student to make them whole. Recommendation: Due to the error rate of FWS instances of noncompliance, the Institution should review and update its internal controls related to FWS to ensure that students are not working during scheduled class time and enhance communication between Federal Work Study supervisors and registration department to ensure instances of noncompliance do not recur. Views of Responsible Officials: We concur with this finding and have strengthened our controls to prevent future occurrences of non-compliance. Refer to the corrective action plan attached for more details.

Finding 2024-001: FEDERAL WORK STUDY- WORKING DURING CLASS TIME Criteria: SFA Regulations state that working during scheduled class time is prohibited. Students are not permitted to work in FWS positions during scheduled class times unless certain exemptions are documented. FSA Handbook Volume 6 page 33 of 145. Condition: In ten (10) of the thirteen (13) files tested that were subject to FWS regulations, we noted that the Institution’s records indicated a conflict between employment time and scheduled class time. The records showed that the student was employed and working hours as a federal work study student while also accumulating hours earned during class. Upon further investigation, many of the conflicts were due to the instructors allowing students to leave class early after completing assignments and presentations or cancelling class altogether. The students associated with this finding are B1, A1, A6, A7, A9, A10, A11, A13, A14, and A15. The instances of noncompliance were a result of a significant deficiency in the internal controls related to scheduling work study students. Cause: The cause was an oversight by staff. Effect: As a result, the Institution did not follow FWS conditions and limitations. Questioned Costs: $0 Prior to the issuance of this audit, $117.88 was refunded to FWS for the 22/23 award year and the Institution issued a corresponding institutional scholarship to each student to make them whole. Recommendation: Due to the error rate of FWS instances of noncompliance, the Institution should review and update its internal controls related to FWS to ensure that students are not working during scheduled class time and enhance communication between Federal Work Study supervisors and registration department to ensure instances of noncompliance do not recur. Views of Responsible Officials: We concur with this finding and have strengthened our controls to prevent future occurrences of non-compliance. Refer to the corrective action plan attached for more details.