November 17, 2022 To: Chair of the Audit Committee From: Debra Martin, Vice President for Finance and Administration RE: Response to Baker Tilly Audit Communication ? Uniform Guidance Audit Findings Finding 2022-002: COVID-19 Education Stabilization Fund - Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund - Reporting Program: COVID-19 Education Stabilization Fund Assistance Listing Number (ALN): 84.425E Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Federal Award Identification Number: P425E202255 Federal Award Year: June 30, 2022 Criteria: The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) has issued guidance for the Education Stabilization Funds (ESF) Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF) for quarterly reporting for all sections (a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(3) and (a)(4) that requires that institutions to prepare a report for each quarter for funds that are drawn down and disbursed/spent. The reports are to be posted on the institution?s website within 10 days of the calendar quarter end. Condition: The annual report had some information that did not agree to the underlying support provided by the University. Specifically, the variances were in the total count of students receiving HEERF emergency financial aid grants reported was 2,539 and the unduplicated count from the support provided was 1,835, and the amount of emergency financial aid grants applied to satisfy student's outstanding account balances upon receiving affirmative written consent from students to do so reported was $1,617,374 and the support provided totaled $1,581,150. Cause: The University noted that there were various files used for compiling the annual report information and could not locate the file that agreed to the amounts reported. The University also noted that students requested to change to receive the grant funds via check or to change to have the funds applied to their account and these changes also led to changes in the files used to support reporting. Effect: The University?s annual report contained some information that was not accurate. Questioned costs: Not applicable Context: Not applicable. Recommendation: The University should ensure it keeps up to date on the Department?s HEERF guidance and ensure that reporting is done accurately and timely. Management?s Response: The University will carefully reconcile all data and provide a corrected report as part of the final reporting period this spring. Correction Action: The Office of Student Accounts and the Office of Financial Services are provided a complete list of students who received aid during the calendar year. Both offices are completing a full reconciliation to ensure the information reported will be complete and accurate for the final report in Spring 23.