LSU Shreveport Under Scrutiny Following Audit Uncovering Financial Issues and Management Concerns

Shreveport Faces Challenges at LSU

Shreveport, Louisiana – The air is chilly at around 31°F with clear skies as LSU Shreveport feels the heat from a recent audit. The Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office has revealed some concerning issues that need to be addressed at the university. This audit, which covered the fiscal year from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023, has spotlighted three major areas of concern that LSU Shreveport needs to tackle pretty quickly.

Bank Reconciliation Woes

One of the first issues that raised eyebrows during the audit was the ineffective bank reconciliations. It turns out there’s a significant net difference of $167,800 between what’s shown in the bank and what’s recorded in the university’s accounting systems. Yikes! It seems that LSU Shreveport hasn’t learned from past mistakes, as the same issues were flagged in previous audits. Talk about déjà vu!

Auditors reported a bit of a mess with transactions. We’re talking about $1.8 million in transactions that were recorded but never made it onto the bank statements, not to mention $1.7 million worth of deposits that appeared on the bank statement but weren’t recorded. Among these, nearly $69,292 from Pilots Pointe Apartments went unaccounted for! That’s quite a chunk of change escaping their books.

Timekeeping Troubles

The second shocking revelation in the audit pertains to timekeeping records. LSU Shreveport didn’t comply with state regulations requiring that unclassified employees certify their time and attendance records. A staggering 8% of payroll records were not certified according to state law. Some delays in certification were absolutely mind-boggling, stretching an average of 64 days, with the longest stretching all the way to a whopping 424 days!

Just imagine – that’s like waiting for paint to dry, but in payroll terms! All this definitely raises some red flags about how the university is managing its personnel records.

Cash Conundrum in the Athletics Department

The third and perhaps most jaw-dropping issue involves a case of cash theft. It appears that the athletic department has suffered two thefts leading to an estimated loss of around $8,850. The first incident, occurring back in October, saw a seemingly casual $850 go missing from an unsecured area of a desk – not the best security practice! An investigation followed but turned up no suspects, meaning the cash just up and vanished.

Then in April, things got even stickier: upon checking a safe after an employee left, the management found the safe was empty. What happened to approximately $8,000 in cash seems a mystery. Given that about 54 sports games took place during the involved months, no deposits were made, which further adds to the confusion.

Looking Ahead

The management at LSU Shreveport has stated they believe most of the transactions could balance out but acceptance of this uncertainty isn’t comforting. The university certainly has its work cut out for it. Improvements are necessary to resolve these issues if it wants to gain trust from its students and the public alike.

While these are some serious hiccups, it’s essential to recognize that all institutions can face challenges. The upcoming months will be significant for LSU Shreveport as it seeks to rectify these findings and reinforce systems to prevent any future fallout.

As the chill of winter settles over our city, the folks over at LSU Shreveport might want to warm things up with some action plans to resolve these issues!