Auditor: No problems at CCSN in past 18 months

Friday, Aug. 6, 2004 | 9:50 a.m.

Money and resources were used properly and records well kept during the past 18 months of demoted CCSN President Ron Remington's tenure, the higher education system's internal auditor said.

"There's some minor problems and we've identified those and they are working to correct those," said Sandi Cardinal, director of the University and Community College System of Nevada's internal audit division.

The Community College of Southern Nevada audit notes only six areas where there were any discrepancies, and most dealt with how items were tracked in the accounting system. The audit found no instances of inappropriate spending.

"I'm pleased," Patricia Charlton, vice president for finance and administration, said of the audit. "It does look good, and we really are positive that, with some of the improvements that we put in place over the last year or more, that we will continue to have audits that look good."

Remington's predecessor, Richard Moore, earned an unfavorable exit audit in June 2000 that showed irregular accounting procedures and deficit spending. The audit also showed that Moore had commissioned busts of political figures using college money and had donated college computers to community groups without approval.

Presidential exit audits are routine, Charlton said, to make sure that new presidents come in with a clean slate.

One area of concern in the Remington audit, a $500,000 deficit for the dental faculty plan, was because of the timing of the audit, both Cardinal and Charlton said.

Under the current CCSN accounting system, Charlton said the professors' annual salaries are added all at once at the beginning of the fiscal year. This makes the account look like it is running at a deficit, but the salaries are covered throughout the year by revenue from the dental clinic.

"The practice did end in a positive cash balance and it was all fine," Charlton said. "It was just at that particular point in time."

Remington, whom regents demoted in November 2003 based on allegations of improper hiring and lobbying practices, said he knew his audit would come out clean. He also noted that he had received a stellar job evaluation just before he was demoted.

"I was in my 15th year as a president and I always had clean audits," said Remington, who was president of Great Basin College before joining CCSN. Having sued the Board of Regents over his demotion, Remington is waiting for the chancellor and regents to approve a proposed settlement agreement he agreed to on Tuesday.

University regents must review and approve the audit at their Aug. 19 meeting in Reno.