By Toma Lynn Smith
The finances are in a healthy state at the University of Louisville, according to the Board of Trustees.
“The university has come through the first quarter well, despite the downturn in the general economy,” said Mike Curtin, U of L vice president for finance. Curtin gave a financial update at the Board of Trustees meeting held Wed., Jan. 14.
“The university financial position remains strong as of September 30. The total assets for the university are $1.2 billion. That’s with a ‘b,’ that’s the first time we’ve ever hit the billion dollar mark,” said Curtin.
Fall 2008 tuition revenue and football games are contributing factors to U of L’s current financial strength.
“There were eight this year versus six (games). That generated additional $2.8 million in cash,” said Curtin.
Also, recommendations were discussed to avoid misappropriations of funds throughout the university. This was in response to the federal investigation of Robert Felner, the former College of Education and Human Development dean.
“Felner has been indicted on charges of fraudulently obtaining nearly $2.3 million in grant money from University of Louisville and University of Rhode Island,” reported The Courier-Journal. He entered a plea of not guilty to one count of mail fraud, one count of money laundering conspiracy, and six counts of income tax evasion, reported The Louisville Cardinal, Oct. 23, 2008.
U of L director of audit services David Barker presented recommendations by Cotton & Allen, a local accounting and advisory firm. They are assisting a special task force appointed by U of L President James Ramsey.
The six major categories under review are to have principal investigators, avoid conflicts of interest, identifying restructuring opportunities that need to be addressed, improve reporting, further training of unit business managers, and to keep a watchful eye on the use procurement cards.
“We just didn’t want them to just be reactionary, but we wanted them to be comprehensive and provide a framework to make sure our future growth and research was well positioned and have infrastructure in place to be efficient and effective,” said Curtin.
