Finding Text
Finding 2022?001 ? Assistance Listing No. 84.425 ? COVID-19 Education Stabilization Fund Criteria The System is required to use procurement procedures for the acquisition of property or services under COVID-19 Education Stabilization Fund, HEERF funding in compliance with the competitive procurement requirements of the Uniform Guidance. The System must maintain records sufficient to detail procurement transactions for the acquisition of property or services, and documentation showing compliance with procurement requirements under the Uniform Guidance. Condition/Context As part of our compliance testing, we reviewed the HEERF institutional funds expended on acquisition of property or services. As a result of this review, we noted that competitive bidding procurement requirements for HEERF awards were not met and competitive bids were not obtained for the School of Nursing project funded by HEERF. Cause The System did not establish a formal documented procurement policy to ensure compliance with applicable requirements under HEERF awards and competitive bids were not obtained. While the System worked collaboratively with the general contractor in the selection of subcontractors for the capital projects, competitive proposals were not obtained for the general contractor in accordance with the requirements of the Uniform Guidance procedure standards. While the System did review and select subcontractors with input from the general contractor, the Systems process for bidding relative to the subcontractors, including the final review and engagement of the subcontractors was not documented. Effect Documentation was not sufficient to demonstrate compliance with applicable procurement standards. Recommendation We recommend that the System establish procurement policies to meet federal compliance requirements. Views of Responsible Officials Management agrees with the recommendation and will establish and document written procurement procedures and maintain sufficient documentation for transactions including acquisition of property or services to ensure competitive bidding is obtained.