Holyoke Community College

This is a Massachusetts State Auditor review of Holyoke Community College for July 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011.

“In accordance with Chapter 11, Section 12, of the General Laws, we have conducted an audit of HCC for the period July 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011.”

Auditors looked at HCC’s controls over food service, student activity money, trust funds, and property and equipment.

“The purpose of our review was to conduct an audit of HCC’s financial management internal controls over its food service contract, student activity account, trust funds, and property and equipment.”

Weak tracking of college property and fuel can make public resources easier to lose, steal, or misuse.

“Because HCC did not effectively control its non-GAAP fixed assets in compliance with OSC regulations and its own internal control policies and procedures, these inventory items were exposed to potential loss, theft, or misuse.”

If you are a taxpayer, student, or community member, this matters because college equipment and fuel are public resources that should be tracked carefully.

“As a result, HCC’s gasoline inventory, on which HCC expended $45,829 for 14,425 gallons of fuel during our audit period, is vulnerable to loss, theft, or misuse.”

HCC needed to improve inventory records, report stolen property properly, and add controls over gasoline use.

“Our audit found that HCC was not adequately controlling the gasoline inventory used by its maintenance and campus security personnel.”

The report recommends that HCC update its controls, complete annual inventories, reconcile discrepancies, require property passes, train staff on theft reporting, and track gasoline use.

“To properly control and maintain its non-GAAP fixed asset inventory, HCC should update its internal control policies, implement monitoring procedures to ensure that the storekeeper enters all new computer equipment purchases into the inventory system on a timely basis, and ensure that an accurate and complete inventory is performed by June 30th of each fiscal year.”

The findings are significant because the auditor identified specific control gaps that could stop the state from understanding thefts and fixing the weaknesses that allowed them.

“As a result, the OSA was precluded from determining the internal control weaknesses that contributed to or caused the theft; making recommendations to correct the condition found; identifying the internal control policies and procedures that need modification; and reporting the matter to the appropriate management and law enforcement officials.”

“Non-GAAP fixed assets” means items like vehicles, furniture, software, computer equipment, buildings, roads, and infrastructure that cost within certain dollar ranges and last more than one year.

“Non-GAAP fixed assets are defined as singular assets and include such items as vehicles, equipment, furniture, computer software, and all electrical and computer components with a useful life in excess of one year and with an original cost of between $1,000 and $49,999.”