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In a special audit of Hocking College just released, the Ohio Auditor of State found that three HC officials – Roxanne DuVivier, Lynette Hull and Myriah Short – each improperly paid herself $9,224 in salaries from a grant fund.
The audit also found, among other problems, that the college had improperly paid $530 worth of miscellaneous travel expenses for then President John Light to travel to his second home in Shelter Island, N.Y., and $72 in personal expense reimbursements for two purchases on a college credit card.
The audit included findings for recovery on both the $9,224 for each of the three employees, and the travel money for Light, meaning each will have to pay that money back to the state.
Ongoing state and federal investigations have been looking into these matters, though at this point it’s uncertain whether criminal charges will result. The audit did not make that clear.
The purpose of the state audit was to examine travel expenses for top HC officials, to see if those paid for by the college all related to college business; and to examine a state technology grant HC obtained in 2002, to develop a software system called SAIL that helps students create a psychological profile of themselves. The audit was looking to see whether HC used the funds from the $297,053 grant properly.
The audit stated that DuVivier, Hull and Short should not have received any pay for their development and oversight work on the grant project, because they were already being paid salaries by HC, and their work on SAIL was “inherent to the responsibilities of their positions with the college.”
The audit also noted that the college has received $252 in royalties from sale of the software developed with the grant. The auditor has referred some issues to the Ohio Ethics Commission, relating to the copyright registration of the SAIL software, and a supplemental contract that Light signed off on between the college and DuVivier, his wife.
When The Athens NEWS spoke with Light and DuVivier in November 2007, they insisted that, to the best of their knowledge, HC was not violating any terms of the state grant by selling the commercial software, and that no college officials were seeing any direct personal financial benefit from its sales.
Regarding travel expenses, the audit looked at three funding sources: the President’s Development Fund; the Hocking Hills Travel Agency, which is run by HC; and funding “other than the president’s development fund.”
In the President’s Development Fund, the audit found 29 expenditures that were not adequately supported by documentation, and 269 credit card purchases that were supported only by a statement or receipt, without an itemization.
For the travel agency, the audit found 10 reimbursements that weren’t adequately documented, and 24 reimbursements for mileage where no reasons for the travel were indicated.
The audit made numerous recommendations for tightening up oversight and book-keeping with regard to travel, expenses and other costs.
The NEWS will follow this up with an expanded story in our Monday print edition, plus online updates as they’re warranted.
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I wonder if that accounting will ever add up to indictments????
Where does all of the student's "material fees" go????
Will the BOE ever come out and say what they found or didn't find????