Barton Community College received a clean audit from Adams, Brown, Beran and Ball for Fiscal Year 20, college trustees were told Tuesday. The audit for the year ending June 30, 2020, was approved.
“We are giving the college a clean opinion or an unmodified opinion, which is the highest opinion that the college can receive,” Danielle Hollingshead, a Certified Public Accountant from ABBB, told the trustees. The governance letter which accompanies the report adds, “We noted no transactions entered into by the College during the year for which there is a lack of authoritative guidance or consensus.”
The college ended the fiscal year with $60,023,363 total assets, compared to $57,738,325 the year before. The college’s management discussion and analysis statement by Vice President of Administration Mark Dean offers this note on the economic outlook:
“Barton’s overall credit hour production increased slightly for FY20. While COVID did affect our FY20 enrollments, the biggest impact on enrollments will be for FY21. Our hours generated through face-to-face classes on the Barton Campus increased significantly this past year; however, those increases were offset by sharp declines at Fort Riley/Leavenworth/Grandview. Our online credit hour production was flat for FY20. The method of delivering education continues, especially during COVID, toward distance education versus traditional face-to-face delivery.
“Our dependency on state funding and local valuations for funding plays a major role in our financial success. The ongoing political and financial uncertainty of the state continues to be a challenge for higher education. After four straight years of level funding by the State, and then two additional years of reductions (4%), the State restored 2% of the reduction for fiscal year 2019, and then another 2% for FY20. The college continues to focus its efforts in areas that will provide funding such as SB155, online, and specific targeted markets. Unfortunately, the State has decreased those courses eligible for SB155 funds due to the lack of state revenues and increased participation. The state continues to discuss additional programs to enhance opportunities for high school students, which may again reduce the revenue that higher ed can collect.”
Senate Bill 155, referenced by Dean, is now known at Excel in CTE (Career and Technical Education). It is a bill passed into law on July 1, 2012, that provides tuition reimbursement for high school students enrolled in college-level CTE courses.
Dean’s letter concludes, “The college will continue to increase the efficiency of its operation, using the resources it receives to make the lives of our students better. We will take appropriate actions to increase our credit hour production where possible and ensure the success of our educational operations.”
No significant deficiencies reported
A summary of auditors’ results showed no material weaknesses were identified, no significant deficiencies were reported, and no noncompliance material to financial statements were noted. For federal awards, no material weaknesses were identified and no significant deficiencies were reported in regard to internal control over major programs.
Overpayment of Pell awards corrected
An audit finding from the previous year was resolved. In that finding, four students were over-awarded a total of $2,284 in Pell awards due to them dropping one or more classes and not being reevaluated for a reduction in award per the college’s policy. The college developed internal controls that assist in monitoring when Pell recipients add or drop courses so the award amount can be recalculated and adjusted if necessary.
Two new employees hired
In other business Tuesday, the board approved hiring Melissa Feist as coordinator of Adult Education and Cody Woods as an interim groundskeeper. Both are at the Barton County campus.
