Finding Text
Federal Program Information: Federal Work-Study (“FWS”) Program (ALN: 84.033)
Criteria or Specific Requirement (Including Statutory, Regulatory or Other Citation): N. Special Test and Provisions – Disbursements To or On Behalf of Students – Federal Work Study – Before an institution makes an initial disbursement of FWS compensation to a student for an award period, the institution must notify the student of the amount of funds the student is authorized to earn, and how and when the FWS compensation will be paid (34 CFR 675.16(a)(3)). The institution must also establish and maintain program and fiscal records that include a certification by the student’s supervisor, an official of the institution or off-campus agency, that each student has worked and earned the amount being paid. The certification must include or be supported by, for students paid on an hourly basis, a time record showing the hours each student worked in clock time sequence, or the total hours worked per day (34 CFR 675.19(b)(2)(i)).
Condition: A certain student’s timesheet was not appropriately certified.
Cause: Administrative oversight and insufficient internal control.
Effect: The University was not in compliance with recordkeeping requirements in order to ensure federal awards are disbursed in accordance with federal regulations.
Questioned Costs: None.
Context: For 1 of 40 FWS payments tested, the University was unable to provide documentation evidencing approval by the student’s supervisor.
Identification of Repeat Finding: No similar findings noted in the prior year.
Recommendation: We recommend the University enhance its procedures and internal controls to ensure that all FWS students’ timesheets are appropriately reviewed and approved.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The instance of non-compliance occurred during a period of software change for timecard recordkeeping. The former software allowed the supervisor to electronically approve a student timecard after payroll was processed. The new software does not allow this and the process now requires manual follow-up and signature. The Payroll Office in combination with Human Resources will enhance training for supervisors and require additional training for those supervisors that fail to approve timecards timely. Reporting has been improved to identify timecards that have not been approved. A procedure change has been implemented to remove wages from FWS if the hours in question remain unapproved after 30 days.