2025‐001 Significant Deficiency: Working During Scheduled Class Time (U.S. Department of Education, Federal Work Study Program, ALN #84.033) Responsible Officials: Christin Mustard, Director of Financial Aid, is responsible for overseeing campus-based funding, and Melissa Tolbert, Financial Aid Offi...
2025‐001 Significant Deficiency: Working During Scheduled Class Time (U.S. Department of Education, Federal Work Study Program, ALN #84.033) Responsible Officials: Christin Mustard, Director of Financial Aid, is responsible for overseeing campus-based funding, and Melissa Tolbert, Financial Aid Office Manager, manages the work study contracts and training with supervisors and students. Kelly Pennington, Payroll and Benefits Supervisor, is responsible for paying work study students. Summary of Finding: During the audit, it was noted that a student appears to have been paid for Federal Work Study hours logged and submitted for time the student was scheduled to be in class without acceptable exemption, which contradicts guidance provided by the 2024-2025 Federal Student Aid Handbook, resulting in an over-payment of $11. Corrective Action Plan: King University has implemented a new mandatory training module for both work study students and supervisors. This training must be completed before a student is cleared to begin working, and this step will be an annual requirement for all new and returning students and supervisors. The training includes key points from the Work Study Handbook and an assessment test that must be passed in order to be cleared for work. Our Work Study Coordinator is completing individual training with all new supervisors as well as refresher training with returning supervisors. Supervisors are informed of their responsibility to verify the accuracy of all timesheets submitted and to ensure that clocked hours do not overlap with scheduled class time. They are required to meet with their work study students in advance to review the policies and expectations outlined in the Work Study Handbook. Both the student and supervisor must sign a document acknowledging that they have read the handbook. Timely communications and reminders will be sent throughout the academic year to supervisors and students as well. As an added safeguard, our IT department has created a report that compares student timesheets to their class schedules to ensure there is no overlap with class time. This report will be run by payroll or financial aid staff prior to each pay cycle to verify compliance. Anticipated Completion Date: King University has returned the overpayment of $11 to the Department via G6 in September 2025.