To weaknesses in its grant management
The data reporting error was unintentional, Aaron Martin, UL-Lafayette communications director, said in an email response Monday.
“The university has added a new control to prevent such a future error,” Martin said.
University officials disagreed with the audit’s findings related to weaknesses in its grant management.
The university hired a director in May 2013 for its new Office of Sponsored Programs Finance, Administration and Compliance who manages a staff of six: an accountant, two financial analysts, an office coordinator and two post-award specialists, wrote Jerry Luke LeBlanc, UL-Lafayette vice president of administration and finance.
The director implemented revised policies and procedures to strengthen control over grants management around the time the audit began, LeBlanc wrote.
“With adequate staffing in place and the implementation of these changes, the University does not concur that the identified items reflect a weakness in controls over grants during normal operations, but rather reflect this transition period,” LeBlanc wrote.
LeBlanc disputed other weaknesses identified in the audit related to grants, such as untimely billing and overbilling of grantors. LeBlanc said the auditors “failed to take into account the complex nature of sponsored projects.”