Quinsigamond Community College

This is a state performance audit of Quinsigamond Community College, a public two-year college in the Worcester area.

“QCC is an accredited public two-year institution serving the Greater Worcester/Central Massachusetts region.”

The State Auditor reviewed selected college activities because state law allows the office to audit public entities like QCC.

“In accordance with Chapter 11, Section 12, of the Massachusetts General Laws, the Office of the State Auditor has conducted a performance audit of certain activities of Quinsigamond Community College (QCC) for the period July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014.”

The audit looked at whether public money, property, administrative spending, and campus crime reporting were being handled properly.

“In this performance audit, we examined certain QCC activities related to trust funds, inventory of property and equipment, certain administrative expenditures, and the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.”

If you are a taxpayer, student, parent, or local resident, the main takeaway is that the auditor found QCC had adequate controls in the areas checked.

“Based on our audit, we have concluded that QCC has established adequate controls and practices in the areas reviewed that were related to our audit objectives.”

The audit answered yes to every question it tested, including spending, inventory, missing property reporting, and Clery Act compliance.

“Below is a list of our audit objectives, indicating each question we intended our audit to answer and the conclusion we reached regarding each objective.”

The report does not list required fixes or recommendations because the auditor did not find significant deficiencies in the reviewed areas.

“We did not identify any significant deficiencies in those areas.”

This is significant because an independent state review found QCC’s controls were adequate for the specific areas audited during the one-year period.

“We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.”

The Clery Act is a federal law that requires colleges to report crimes on and near campus; the audit checked whether QCC’s policies supported that reporting.

“This act requires colleges and universities to report crime on and near their campuses.”