SEMO ACTS SWIFTLY

An internal audit at Southeast Missouri State University revealed that federal funds for programs to help students were badly mismanaged. It is the kind of information some officials prefer to keep very quiet.

But Southeast's president, Dr. Bill Atchley, turned a financial bombshell into a demonstration of openness and integrity. Atchley talked candidly about the shortfalls and personally dealt with the severe mismanagement.

Talent Search, Project Upward Bound and Student Support Services -- known collectively as Trio -- are designed to help low-income and first-generation college students and prospective students.

Ironically, the fraud surfaced almost a year after the university touted the local success of the program at a celebration to honor the 30th anniversary of the Trio programs nationwide.

The internal audit revealed budget overruns and unbudgeted expenses totaling more than $54,000 in fiscal 1995. Apparently no money was stolen outright. But program funding, the audit showed, was squandered on personal telephone calls, failure to report two months of employee sick leave, $900 worth of bottled water, thousands of dollars spent on undocumented student awards and much more. One of the programs bought more than $22,000 in merchandise from the campus bookstore when school policy limits such purchases to small-cost items unavailable from central receiving.

Problems with travel advances and expenses on American Express credit cards were also uncovered. Fraud with taxpayer dollars is dangerous ground. These Trio excesses show the potential for problems when good accounting goes out the window.

The university fired the programs' director and then placed the programs under the direct supervision of top officials in the student affairs division. The president also discussed the mismanagement and audit openly at a press conference.

Atchley said he doesn't sweep things under the rug, and his actions reflect a man of his word.

The university president ordered the audit last fall after preliminary financial data involving the Trio programs pointed to operating deficits and irregularities. In a restructuring move, Atchley also shifted the university auditor so that she reports directly to the president. It reflects Atchley's hands-on approach to the job.

The mismanagement of Trio funding could have far-reaching results. It could affect future federal grants to the program. It could also reflect on those with oversight of the Trio programs. Why didn't others notice that expenditure or reimbursement policies weren't being followed by those responsible for the Trio programs? It may reflect a need for a stronger checks-and-balances system throughout the university.

This fraud and mismanagement also reflects on the university as a whole, which is why Atchley's candor goes a long way to minimizing public distrust.