Memo: Audit Findings 2023-2024
Submitted by: Karson Kent, University Registrar
Date: 9/13/2024
Below is a description of and explanation for the 3 findings from the 23-24 audit pertaining to the Registrar’s
office. Also included is an explanation of how the findings have been addressed, and the acti...
Memo: Audit Findings 2023-2024
Submitted by: Karson Kent, University Registrar
Date: 9/13/2024
Below is a description of and explanation for the 3 findings from the 23-24 audit pertaining to the Registrar’s
office. Also included is an explanation of how the findings have been addressed, and the action that has been
taking to prevent them from happening in the future. ETBU uses the National Student Clearinghouse for
enrollment reporting to the National Student Loan Data System.
Case 1 – Student 1 withdrew from the spring term on 1/29/2024, but withdrawal was reported as end of fall 2023.
Case 2 – Student 2 withdrew from the spring term on 1/31/2024, but withdrawal was reported as end of fall 2023.
Error: The enrollment report was being pulled and sent to the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) after
the census date when roster certifications and withdrawal requests, up to that point, had been processed.
Students 1 and 2 both withdrew during the roster certification period, which was before the census date, but
after late registration had ended. Their withdrawals were processed in the Registrar’s office before the
initial enrollment report was pulled, and since they received W’s for the term, they should have been
reported for the term to the NSC. In researching the finding, it was discovered that the system is set up to
only include students in the enrollment report who are enrolled as of the date that the first report is pulled.
This means that students 1 and 2 were never included in the initial enrollment report for spring 2024, and
therefore weren’t captured on any of the subsequent of term reports that notify the NSC of enrollment
changes throughout the semester. This made it look like they never attended ETBU in the spring, which is
why the NSC showed their withdrawal to be the end of the fall term.
Action Taken: Students 1 and 2 enrollments for the spring 2024 term have since been corrected with the
NSC. Additionally, since learning how the report is set up, the Registrar has been in discussion with the
Director of Financial Aid and Institutional Research, to figure out the best timeline for processing the
enrollment report moving forward. It has been determined that the initial enrollment report needs to be
submitted as soon as late registration ends, so that everyone who is registered for the term is captured on
the report. Once the roster certification period is over, students who have been reported as not attending
will be dropped, and any University withdrawal request will be processed. Once those things have been
done, the Registrar will submit the first subsequent of term enrollment report to the NSC. This will ensure
that any enrollment changes that have happened after registration ended up to census date get reported
within the time frame needed by Financial Aid. Case 3 – Student 3 was reported as withdrawn after the fall 2023 term, but actually graduated.
Error: Student 3 should have been reported to the NSC as a fall 2023 graduate, but was not included on the graduation report. In investigating it appears student 3’s degree was conferred after the fall graduation report had already been submitted, and the Registrar was not made aware of the discrepancy. Since student 3 was not reported as graduated for fall 2023, and was not enrolled in the spring 2024 term, they were considered withdrawn through the the NSC.
Action Taken: Student 3’s status has been changed from withdrawn for the fall 2023 term to graduated, with the NSC. To prevent this from happening in the future, the Graduation Certification Officer has been made aware to notify the Registrar anytime a degree is conferred outside of the normal time frame, so that it can promptly be reported to the NSC. As an added measure moving forward, after degrees have been conferred for a standard term, the Records Assistant will double check all the degrees conferred to help ensure that nobody was missed.