Finding Text
Federal Program Information:
Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program (11.028) and Higher Education Institutional Aid (ALN: 84.031B and 84.031E)
Criteria or Specific Requirement (Including Statutory, Regulatory or Other Citation):
F. Equipment and Real Property Management - Equipment records shall be maintained, a physical inventory of equipment shall be taken at least once every 2 years and reconciled to the equipment records, an appropriate control system shall be used to safeguard equipment, and equipment shall be adequately maintained. Equipment property records should contain the following information about the equipment: description (including serial number or other identification number), source, who holds title, acquisition date and cost, percentage of Federal participation in the cost, location, condition, and any ultimate disposition data including, the date of disposal and sales price or method used to determine current fair market value. The Uniform Guidance further requires that equipment owned by the Federal Government shall be identified (tagged) to indicate Federal ownership.
Condition:
The University did not comply with the requirements of equipment and real property management.
Cause:
Insufficient administrative oversight and internal controls with respect to equipment and real property management.
Effect or Potential Effect:
The University did not comply with the requirements of equipment and real property management.
Questioned Costs:
None.
Context:
The University was unable to provide documentation supporting the completion of a physical inventory of equipment and real property purchased with federal funds during the most recent two fiscal years. Additionally, for 2 of 2 sampled items in the CMC program, the University was unable to provide documentation supporting the required tagging and appropriate maintenance of property records for federally funded equipment.
Identification as a Repeat Finding:
This is a repeat finding from prior year. This was reported as Finding 2023-006 in the prior year schedule of findings and questioned costs.
Recommendation:
We recommend that the University enhance its internal controls and implement formal policies and procedures over the equipment and real property management compliance requirements.
Views of Responsible Officials:
Government Sponsored Programs and Research (“GSPAR”) implemented a process for recording and inventorying federal purchases during the Spring of 2024, however, the information did not capture all the required information.
While there was improvement the issues were not fully remediated by June 30, 2024.
GSPAR will update its inventory tracking process to capture required information. In addition, the grant onboarding process will be revised to emphasize key federal regulations and emphasize the importance of compliance.
GSPAR will improve its internal controls, policies, and procedures to mandate a physical inventory count at a minimum of once every two years. This ensures accurate tracking and accountability of assets. Additionally, we plan to revise our current inventory form to incorporate all data points required by our governing governmental agency. GSPAR will review and rectify existing records for equipment acquisitions made within the past two years.