State University SUNY Administration of New York
Selected Financial
Management Practices
The central administrative operations of The State University of New York (SUNY)
are overseen by SUNY Administration, which employs more than 600 staff and is
located in Albany. SUNY Administration is responsible for SUNY's financial affairs,
including internal controls, accounting and financial management, human resources
and business services. Our audit concluded that SUNY Administration needs to correct
internal control weaknesses to protect State assets, to justify hiring and promotion
decisions, to support the legitimacy of business expenses and to verify the propriety
of payments from expenditure accounts. For example, we found that SUNY Administration
could not account for 482 of the 2,210 items shown on a January 2003 inventory
list. These items, with a combined original purchase cost of at least $723,000,
represented 22 percent of SUNY Administration's equipment inventory. We also found
that nine SUNY Administration professional staff received annual raises totaling
more than $120,000 without documentation to show that these staff received their
required performance evaluations. SUNY Administration may also have paid for unnecessary
or inappropriate expenses for employees' travel and business expenses.
For a complete copy of Report 2003-S-2 click here.
For a copy of the 90-day response click here.
For a copy of the associated follow-up report click here.