News-Record.com

Friday's lead editorial.

A state audit of N.C. A&T’s finances included this scolding: “Employees should not be allowed to award scholarships to themselves or immediate family members.”

Whether that actually happened or not, A&T did fail to set and follow basic rules for distributing grants and aid.

“We noted a number of questionable scholarship awards and deficiencies in documentation supporting awards. Most of the questionable awards were made to relatives of University employees,” the annual financial audit issued last week noted.

The university attributed the problems to poor documentation.

“We do not feel that it is improper to award scholarships to deserving students who happen to be family members,” Robert Pompey, vice chancellor for business and finance, wrote in response to News & Record questions. “However, we do understand that it is imperative that we maintain adequate support and documentation for all scholarship awards, especially those involving family members.”

He added: “The managers that ultimately approved these awards were not family members of the students. We have taken disciplinary actions against the individual responsible for maintaining the scholarship forms.”

The auditors said they couldn’t tell who approved scholarships in some cases: “We examined a total of 81 awards to relatives of employees over the past two years. The University was unable to locate authorizations for 25 of these awards.”

Some of the authorizations found were questionable. One grant for $5,000, much higher than the average of $1,528 for that type of scholarship, “was authorized solely with the Financial Aid Director’s signature stamp.” In two cases, relatives of employees received scholarships worth thousands of dollars even though their files showed they “did not have financial need that was not met by other funding sources. ... Treasurer’s Office personnel stated that the scholarship was to assist students with significant financial need.”

When so many students rely on financial aid to pursue higher education, the university must demonstrate that all are given fair consideration for limited resources. The audit raises questions about that. Pompey said they’re being addressed:

“We are reviewing policies as it relates to our financial aid awards to insure that we have the criteria in place for awarding scholarships. We have reviewed our scholarship awards for this academic year to make sure all forms are present. Additionally, we have reviewed the individuals receiving the scholarships in question to insure that there are no actual or perceived issues. The university understands the importance of financial support to all of our students.”

State auditors should return as soon as possible to make sure the corrections have been made. It’s not only a matter of dollars but integrity. A&T should not leave the impression that it employs favoritism in the awarding of scholarships.