Draft Committee Meeting Minutes - December 12, 2002

BOARD OF VISITORS
Audit Committee
Board of Visitors Conference Room
December 12, 2002
10:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

MINUTES (draft)

Cpt. Fred S. Garner, called the meeting to order at 10:15 a.m. Roll call indicated that the following Committee members were in attendance and that a quorum was present.

Committee Members Present:

Dr. Alvin Bryant, Rector (ex officio)
Mrs. Teresa H. Carrington
Mrs. Viola M. Madison-Foreman
Cpt. Fred S. Garner, Acting Chairman
Mr. Michael L. Ball

Committee Member Absent:

Dr. Caspa L. Harris, Jr., Chairman

Members of NSU Staff Present:

Dr. Alvin J. Schexnider, Interim Executive Vice President
Mr. Ernest M. Ellis, Jr., Director of Internal Audit
Mr. Edward B. Jolley, Jr., Vice President for Finance and Business
Mr. Patrick B. Kelly, General Counsel
Mr. Earlie P. Horsey, Executive Director of Planning and Budget

The revised agenda was approved as indicated by Cpt. Garner.

Mr. Ball motioned, seconded by Mrs. Madison-Foreman and unanimously voted by the Committee to approve the minutes of the August 29, 2002 meeting with amendment.

Amendment:
Dr. Harris proposed to the committee a recommendation for the internal audit plan to be revised to include annual review of the travel-related expenses incurred by major administrators ( addition: "that directly report to the President and the Vice Presidents") as well as members of the Board.

He proposed travel-related procedures include joint approvals in writing by the Rector and (change "and" to "or") the President before expenses are incurred.

Dr. Bryant stated that the audit committee be tasked with creating a policy that states procedures for authorization and approval of board travel. After asking what procedures and policies were now in place in regards to this.

Mr. Jolley stated the current procedure was that State guidelines were followed and that any amounts over guidelines may be paid out of non-State funds and he then stated that these types of items should be reflected in the policy that is developed.

After much discussion it was decided to defer this issue until the March 2003 meeting to meet with Dr. Harris to get his views on this issue. Dr. Bryant then asked that the Committee be furnished with the current State policy in place as it relates to this topic.

Mr. Ellis opened discuss by stating that the Administration has set up a time table of quarterly status reports on corrective actions being taking. The first status report was due on November 27, 2002. Internal Audit then reviews the corrective actions that are submitted by the State as a base. Then gets with each Vice President to review their status report. Mr. Jolley then stated that the Vice Presidents then review the plans and meet with their staff to make any necessary corrections and must respond to the APA within 30 days.

Mr. Garner then proposed the question of who is responsible for insuring that the University’s obligations on reporting are being met? Mr. Jolley informed that it goes through the President and that she then appointed the duty to him.

Mr. Schexnider told the committee that the purpose of the quarterly reviews is to move the University from a reactive mode into a proactive mode, so that it can begin to anticipate problems and not react to them. His goal is to have the Internal Audit Office work directly with the management of the University.

Mr. Ellis informed the committee that to date there were only four hotline complaints and that none of them had been considered significant enough to apply the Internal Audit’s resources to them.

The issue was deferred until the March 2003 meeting.

Mr. Ball motioned, seconded by Mrs. Madison-Foreman and unanimously approved by the Committee to adjourn and reconvene in closed session, as permitted by §2.2-3711.A. of the Code of Virginia, for the purpose of discussing and evaluating the performance of University administrative/academic departments, specifically the Cashier’s Office pursuant to §2.2-3711.A.1.

The Audit Committee having reconvened in open session. We will now take a roll call vote on certification that (1) only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements, and (2) only such public business matters as were identified in the motion by which the executive or closed meeting was convened were heard, discussed or considered in the meeting by the Board. Any member of the Board who believes that there was a departure from the requirements as stated above, shall so state prior to the vote, indicating the substance of the departure that in his, or her judgment, has taken places.

Committee Members who certified the motion:

Mrs. Carrington asked if the Internal Audit Office Secretary position was still vacant and if it is currently frozen. Mr. Ellis responded that the position is currently frozen. The impact on the staffs ability to complete its tasks with a secretary was posed. Mr. Ellis replied that he has student support for filing and the audit staff is proficient in computers to complete their reports.

Mr. Garner asked if staff are properly trained and prepared to audit the IT Department. Mr. Ellis informed the committee of the training his staff has received and assured him that Internal Audit is capable of performing the audit.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:00 a.m.

	Respectfully submitted,
	_______________________________
	Edward B. Jolley, Jr. Vice President for Finance and Business
	_______________________________
	Cpt. Fred S. Garner Audit Committee

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