A routine review by a state auditor has found that the University of Central Florida may have inappropriately lent its independent intercollegiate-athletics association more than $7.4-million, a practice the university has discontinued, and provided more than $49-million in student fees to the athletics association without proper oversight.
The operational audit, prepared last month by David W. Martin, Florida’s auditor general, took special interest in the lending of public funds to a “direct-support organization” like the athletics association, which is independent of the university. On July 1, 2003, the university’s athletics department became the UCF Athletics Association Inc.
The audit found that from June 2004 to January 2007, the university issued nine loans from auxiliary university accounts to the association, totaling more than $7.4-million. Only two such loans were approved by John C. Hitt, the university’s president, and none were approved by the university’s Board of Trustees, the audit reported.
In its response to the audit, university administrators noted that the loans were not required by the athletics association but were initiated by the university “as a way to help the intercollegiate athletics program increase its quality and competitiveness.” Administrators added that “the university has requested an updated plan of repayment from the association and has ceased to initiate new loans.”
Additionally, the audit found that the university did not have procedures to monitor the use of millions of dollars in student fees collected to support the athletics program, which may be used only to pay debt on capital projects. The university noted that those fees are no longer directly transferred to the athletics association but rather are overseen in a university account and distributed through the university’s finance office.
The audit’s findings, which were first reported by The Central Florida Future, the university’s student newspaper, will not result in any legal action or penalties. —JJ Hermes
