Finding Text
Program Information: Title III Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program (ALN: 84.031B)
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 states 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: Lack of internal controls and administrative oversight 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 noted that a physical inventory of equipment and real property purchased with federal funds was not performed during the current fiscal year. Additionally, the University was unable to provide equipment records and/or an equipment listing of all federally funded equipment. The University was also unable to provide documentation supporting the required tagging of federally funded equipment.
Repeat Finding: This is a repeat finding from prior year. This was reported as Finding 2020-018 in the prior year schedule of findings and questioned costs.
Recommendation: We recommend that the University enhance its internal controls and procedures over the applicable compliance requirements of the equipment and real property management.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Significant steps have been taken to remediate this finding. Staff transitions coupled with the transition from on-site to remote work environment were the primary reasons for this finding. With the implementation of the new ERP system along with extensive training on utilizing the fixed asset module to assist with more accurate tracking of the inventory will reduce the risk of this finding.