Mines say state education cuts damage accounting

Article Published: Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Auraria, Mines say state education cuts damage accounting

By Dave Curtin
Denver Post Higher Education Writer

University leaders at the Colorado School of Mines and the Auraria Higher
Education Center told the Legislative Audit Committee on Tuesday that
severe state budget cuts resulting in administrative and accounting
cutbacks have made it difficult to keep track of money.

Audits by Colorado Springs audit contractors BKD recommended that the
School of Mines in Golden keep better track of federal research grant funds.

The audit also showed that the Auraria Higher Education Center, which
manages and operates facilities, buildings and grounds on the downtown
Denver campus shared by three colleges, needs better financial controls at
the campus book center and parking department.

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"We've had a 23 percent reduction in staff this past year. As we tried to
adjust to these changes, we couldn't do everything expected of us in a
timely fashion," Dean Wolf, Auraria vice president for administration,
told the audit committee. "We hope to add an internal auditor to the staff
- depending on the fiscal condition - which we think will help a lot."

However, state colleges and universities were bracing for more budget cuts
Tuesday as the staff of the legislature's Joint Budget Committee
recommended another $123 million in cuts to higher education, on top of
the $170 million cut over the past two years.

"We're living in interesting times," Mines president John Trefny told the
committee. "Like everyone else in the state, we've had significant cuts in
state funding that have resulted in severe cuts to the administrative side
to preserve the educational side. There is great uncertainty about what
the general fund level and tuition-setting level will be."

Mines relies on tuition and state appropriations for 42 percent of its
funding and has suffered a reduction in international enrollment because
students are having difficulty obtaining visas since the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks.