Audit of Northern Essex Community College (NECC)

This is a Massachusetts State Auditor performance audit of Northern Essex Community College covering July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2020.

“In accordance with Section 12 of Chapter 11 of the Massachusetts General Laws, the Office of the State Auditor has conducted a performance audit of Northern Essex Community College (NECC) for the period July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2020.”

Auditors reviewed how the college handled equipment, purchasing cards, prior audit fixes, asset disposal, missing-property reporting, and required purchase documentation.

“In this performance audit, we examined NECC’s activities related to the administration of fixed assets and procurement cards (P-Cards).”

If the college does not track its equipment well, it may not know whether public property is being misused, lost, missing, or stolen.

“As a result of these issues, NECC cannot be certain that all its fixed assets are adequately safeguarded against misuse or that it can effectively detect lost, missing, or stolen items.”

For taxpayers and students, this matters because the college uses public resources, and better controls help protect money, property, and campus operations.

“NECC received appropriations of $20,288,244 and $21,111,643 from the Commonwealth for fiscal years 2019 and 2020, respectively.”

The college had multiple problems to fix: equipment tracking, purchasing-card documentation, security incident recordkeeping, and its internal control plan.

“NECC has not updated its internal control plan (ICP) since 2015.”

The auditor recommended that NECC update records and policies, improve monitoring, require documentation, and update its internal controls; NECC said it agreed and was taking steps.

“Based on its response, NECC is taking measures to address our concerns on this matter.”

The audit is significant because it found the college had not fixed issues from a prior audit and lacked some records needed to prove public property and purchases were properly controlled.

“Without proper approvals and adequate documentation to support the business purposes of the transactions made with P-Cards, NECC cannot ensure that purchases are for the college’s benefit.”

A P-Card is a college purchasing card used by employees to buy approved supplies and business or travel items.

“NECC’s procurement cards (P-Cards) are designed to be used to purchase consumable supplies related to college-related business and travel expenses that are consistent with established policies and procedures.”