Finding Text
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.