A new performance audit by the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office has found a number of areas that require increased oversight by the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees.
The audit includes 12 findings and eight observations focusing on several campus operations including security and safety, mental health services, student and faculty engagement, facilities, strategic plans and performance measures, tuition affordability, and athletics programs, according to a press release.
A broad summary of the results is shown below:
• The University of Tennessee Board should encourage collaboration, coordination of resources, and communication between University of Tennessee campuses to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the UT system.
• The University of Tennessee Board should increase its oversight of various academic and nonacademic areas to ensure the University of Tennessee is meeting its strategic and operational goals. The Board has a duty to oversee strategic planning, academics, admissions, tuition, faculty evaluation and retention, student conduct and satisfaction, facility maintenance, and athletic operations.
• The University of Tennessee Board must increase its oversight of student safety and campus security and ensure the accurate and complete reporting of safety and crime information.
• The University of Tennessee Board should ensure the UT System monitors the mental health services offered by each UT campus.
“The UT Board of Trustees is the governing body for the UT system,” said Tennessee Comptroller Justin P. Wilson, in a press release.
“Each board member has a personal responsibility to ensure that he or she is fulfilling his or her obligation to act in the best interest of the UT System. I am encouraged that board members are taking these findings seriously and are already working to correct weaknesses.”
The Comptroller’s Office presented audit results to the Joint Government Operations Subcommittee on Education, Health and General Welfare this week.
The full audit report can be found here.
– – –
Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “University of Tennessee Campus Sign” by TN 66. CC BY-SA 3.0.
[…] The University of Tennessee Board must increase its oversight of student safety and campus security and ensure the accurate and complete reporting […]