Finding Text
Finding 2023-001 - Significant Deficiency, Compliance and Control
Federal Assistance Listing No. 84.425E
U.S. Department Of Education
ESF Section 2 - Higher Education (Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund
(HEERF)) - Reporting
Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.328 and 2 CFR section 200.329 requires grantees to submit
quarterly reports for both student and institutional portions along with an annual report
to the Department of Education.
Condition: In our nonstatistical testing of 2 quarterly reports and 1 annual report, it
was noted that for the one student report selected, the appropriate form was not used for
reporting the current period activity and the report was not posted timely to the Ottawa
University website as required.
Cause: Management based the reporting requirement on previous guidance that did not
require the use of a specific form to report the required data. Updated guidance required
a specific form to use. The University did not use the required form, and the information
was uploaded to the Ottawa University website 344 days after the deadline.
Effect: Information on student disbursements was not available in the required format
or required timeframe.
Questioned Costs: Not applicable
Context: One student report from our sample was not reported in conformity with the
guidance.
Identification As A Repeat Finding: Not a repeat finding.
Recommendation: We recommend that management develop a system with
appropriate controls that allows for implementing the most recent guidance on HEERF
reporting.Views Of Responsible Officials: See Corrective Action Plan.
Completion Date: March 2024
Contact Person: Donna Ferguson, Controller and Director of Fiscal Operations, and
Carrie Stevens, Associate Vice President of Compliance