The financial management audit of the state’s public junior colleges was performed at the request of both houses of the 1978 Legislature. The report presented the findings of the PEER Committee in two ways-in an overview for the entire junior college system and in self-contained reports for individual junior college districts. In addition to presenting PEER findings and recommendations, each of the self-contained reports contained the response of the particular junior college audited.
The main purpose in reviewing the operations of the sixteen junior college districts was to determine the effectiveness of their financial management practices. Since the initial PEER study of the state’s junior college system in 1974, improvements had been made in the financial management systems of most of the junior colleges. Positive steps also had been taken towards professionalizing the administrative staffs responsible for managing the financial resources. However, several problems, some of which were encountered in the 1974 study, continued to exist. (See report number 23.)
Major weaknesses still existed in the accounting systems and internal controls at many of the junior colleges. Many junior colleges failed to follow Department of Audit guidelines for accounting system design and depended on Department of Audit personnel to perform normal bookkeeping functions such as year-end adjusting and closing entries and error correction. Use of State Department of Audit guidelines in combination with appropriate internal control mechanisms would eliminate many of the problems encountered.
Another area of concern involved system-wide budgetary procedures of the state junior college system. The PEER Committee recommended filing budget requests based on actual needs, rather than on revenue availability, to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in the state junior college system.
In addition, all of the junior colleges experienced some difficulty in collecting tax monies from supporting counties in their districts. Many also had significant weaknesses in the planning process associated with their capital expansion programs, which led to instances in which revenues were spent in an inefficient manner.
For a paper copy of this report, contact PEER by telephone at 601-359-1226 or by e-mail at reports@peer.ms.gov.