Report 2016-130 Recommendation 33 Responses

Report 2016-130: The University of California Office of the President: It Failed to Disclose Tens of Millions in Surplus Funds, and Its Budget Practices Are Misleading (Release Date: April 2017)

Recommendation #33 To: University of California

To determine the amount of money that it can reallocate to campuses and to ensure that it publicly presents comprehensive and accurate budget information, by April 2020 the Office of the President should report to the regents on the amount of funds it reallocated to campuses as a result of implementing our recommendations.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From November 2019

As a result of implementing the CSAs budget recommendations across all of the components: fund balances, programs, initiatives, administrative costs, salaries and benefits, total direct and indirect reallocation activity over the past three years, $166.3M, is being reported in Schedule G of the November Regents item, which has been provided to the CSA.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented

We assess this recommendation as fully implemented. According to the November 2019 Office of the President Budget to Actual Expenditures presentation to the Regents, the Office of the President has directly reallocated $87.6 million to campuses and indirectly reallocated $78.7 million to campuses as a result of implementing our recommendations over the last three years.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From April 2019

The Office of the President has initiated efforts to implement this recommendation and will provide a status update on its progress at the next reporting milestone.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Pending

The status of this recommendation is pending the Office of the President's implementation of our budget recommendations due in April 2020.

1-Year Agency Response

Implementation of this recommendation will be dependent on actions taken in response to the April 2019 recommendations.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Pending

The status of this recommendation is pending the Office of the President's implementation of our budget recommendations due in April 2019 and April 2020.

6-Month Agency Response

Implementation of this recommendation will be dependent on actions taken in response to the April 2018 recommendations.

The EBC charter includes the following specific language: "The Executive Budget Committee is accountable for ensuring that recommendations are consistent and aligned with the timely incorporation of the CSA audit budget requirements dated April 2017, as part of a transparent planning, resource allocation, and assessment process." As such, UCOP requires that the EBC provide campus-level input on future funding decisions.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

The status of this recommendation is pending the Office of the President's implementation of our budget recommendations due in April 2018 and April 2019.

60-Day Agency Response

Implementation of this recommendation is dependent on actions taken in response to the April 2018 recommendations.

Included in research and evaluation of Best-Practices, the budget process and presentation work groups will develop a comprehensive budget check-list to be submitted annually with budgets. The work groups will include the requirement to report amounts reallocated to campuses or used to offset subsequent year assessments or other purposes as determined by the President.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

The status of this recommendation is pending the Office of the President's implementation of our budget recommendations due in April 2018 and April 2019. The impact of this recommendation will vary based on the Office of the President's funding situation in April 2020; however, we are still concerned that the Office of the President implies in its response that it may not directly reallocate these funds to campuses. We look forward to the Office of the President's 6-month response to determine the level of campus input on these funding decisions.

All Recommendations in 2016-130

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.