Audit: Pennsylvania-owned universities need consistent sexual violence policies
The state System of Higher Education will spend as much as $850,000 to renovate the president’s residence, which occupies the first two floors of this South Hall wing at California University of Pennsylvania.
In this photo from late January, interim president of California University of Pennsylvania Geraldine M. Jones and her husband, Jeffrey Jones, discuss the changes to the library in the president’s residence on campus that were made as part of a major renovation project.
Pennsylvania’s state-owned universities need to have more consistent policies to meet federal law regarding how to address sexual discrimination and sexual violence, and find more ways to cut costs to keep tuition affordable, a new audit recommended Monday.
State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale also said his audit of the State System of Higher Education found it’s especially important for it to find ways to increase enrollment “in a time of stagnant state funding” of higher education.
“In general, our audit shows they are on track,” DePasquale stated in a news release. “However, we did find that the system needs to step up its game to ensure that every campus has consistent policies and procedures in place to adequately address instances of sexual discrimination and sexual violence.”
The audit findings did not specifically address the operating costs of any of the 14 state-owned schools, including California University of Pennsylvania, said Susan Wood, spokeswoman for the auditor general.
However, the audit did make note of $850,000 in renovations last year to the century-old president’s residence at Cal U. following media reports the project included spending on “lavish materials such as crystal doorknobs, custom draperies and Italian marble in the entryway.”
The report suggested the state system carefully review such project costs rather than allow an individual university’s council of trustees to manage such work when the spending exceeds $650,000.
“This is not only necessary to demonstrate awareness of public perception, but also to foster prudent spending by its universities in projects of this magnitude,” the report stated.
Cal U.’s interim President Geraldine M. Jones, who was appointed in May 2012, did erase an $11.8 million deficit in her first year in office through a variety of cost-cutting measures. She also eliminated 30 jobs through attrition or furloughs as enrollment began to fall at the university, which currently has about 8,000 students.
Meanwhile, the federal civil rights law known as Title IX requires these universities to have an annual report on campus crime. The audit showed the schools are taking campus crime seriously, even though the state system discontinued in 2013 the practice of conducting internal audits regarding crime statistics, the report concluded.
“Such audits are necessary to evaluate the completeness, accuracy and timeliness of the universities’ reporting of Clery Act crime statistics,” the audit stated.
It recommended the Clery Act audits be reinstituted and that the state system adopt and publish grievance procedures for sexual discrimination complaints and monitor the schools on how they comply with the policies.
The state system believed the audit affirmed its commitment to providing students with a high-quality education, said its spokesman, Kenn Marshall.
He said the state system will reinstitute the internal Clery Act auditing, even though it did hire a law firm to “conduct a detailed assessment of each university’s policies and procedures regarding the act.”
Marshall said the state system also hired a Title IX coordinator more than a year ago to address inconsistencies.
Cal U. has a Title IX policy in place and includes on its website a link explaining how to file such a complaint, said Christine Kindl, the university’s spokeswoman.