2008 Woodie Awards
Mission Gets Pass on Cash
LaGina Phillips
Issue date: 4/6/05 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
After improperly receiving $5.73 million in state funds, the state controller's office is not asking Mission College to pay back the money.
"We wouldn't want to hurt the students," said Richard Steffen, staff director to Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, whose office requested the audit. "This is not a pay-it-back kind of thing."
The college received the funds over three years by reporting inflated enrollment figures for two non-credit computer courses, according to
the state controller's office.
Auditors found that students who used computers in a campus lab were automatically enrolled in a vocational course entitled "Computer Technology in the Workplace."
In the fall 2001 semester, the community college in Sylmar reported that work hours were four times the level the lab could have possibly handled given the number of computers available and the facility's schedule.
Auditors concluded that top Mission administrators were long aware of the situation but did not investigate it. The audit did not level any accusations of fraud and some state officials said they did not expect the 7,000-student college or the Los Angeles Community College District would be forced to pay the money back.
The college receives nearly $30 million annually in state revenue and grants, campus officials said.
Mission President Adriana D. Barrera said she found out about the problem in March but thought the situation was taken care of.
Mission has begun prevention measures to ensure the problem doesn't happen again, including purchasing software to monitor use of campus computers, said Barrera in a recent report.
"I don't see any individual culpability," said LACCD Chancellor Peter J.
Landsberger. "There certainly wasn't any intentional wrongdoing we're aware of."
"We wouldn't want to hurt the students," said Richard Steffen, staff director to Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, whose office requested the audit. "This is not a pay-it-back kind of thing."
The college received the funds over three years by reporting inflated enrollment figures for two non-credit computer courses, according to
the state controller's office.
Auditors found that students who used computers in a campus lab were automatically enrolled in a vocational course entitled "Computer Technology in the Workplace."
In the fall 2001 semester, the community college in Sylmar reported that work hours were four times the level the lab could have possibly handled given the number of computers available and the facility's schedule.
Auditors concluded that top Mission administrators were long aware of the situation but did not investigate it. The audit did not level any accusations of fraud and some state officials said they did not expect the 7,000-student college or the Los Angeles Community College District would be forced to pay the money back.
The college receives nearly $30 million annually in state revenue and grants, campus officials said.
Mission President Adriana D. Barrera said she found out about the problem in March but thought the situation was taken care of.
Mission has begun prevention measures to ensure the problem doesn't happen again, including purchasing software to monitor use of campus computers, said Barrera in a recent report.
"I don't see any individual culpability," said LACCD Chancellor Peter J.
Landsberger. "There certainly wasn't any intentional wrongdoing we're aware of."
