Audit questions GRAD Act data; local colleges meet requirements

Houma’s Fletcher Technical Community College and Morgan City’s South Central Louisiana Technical College are among 11 of Louisiana’s 16 technical and community colleges listed as not having sufficiently reliable student profile information, according to a Legislative audit of the state’s colleges and universities.

In accordance with Louisiana’s Granting Resources and Autonomy for Diplomas Act’s first inspection since being established in 2010, higher education institutions in the state were graded on their achievement of specific performance objectives intended to enhance student completion of college programs.

Results from the GRAD Act audit help determine if schools qualify to increase tuition by as much as 10 percent each year. In order to gain rate-hike approval, schools must justify the move by meeting certain admission, graduation rates and job placement standards.

Released at the end of June, the audit looked at statewide student profiles for spring 2011 and student completer systems for the academic year of 2010. In the case of nine four-year colleges, including Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, the audit also examined student credit hours for spring 2011. Nicholls was listed as sufficiently reliable in all categories.

Fletcher and SCLTC each met or exceeded performance objectives for increased student success, increased articulation and transfer, enhanced responsiveness to regional and statewide workforce and economic development needs, and increased institutional efficiency and accountability. Each was also faulted by auditors regarding the classification of select students.

“They looked at 30 random records out of 2,500 and found minor things,” Fletcher Chancellor Travis Lavigne Jr. said of the inspection at his school. “This was the first time they ever did this audit and they were charting new territory.”

Fletcher’s audit listed the criticism of one student being listed as a first-time freshman rather than a continuing student. Another student was as a continuing student rather than a first-time freshman. Four students were classified as readmitted rather than continuing, and four other students were classified as transfers rather than continuing students. The audit report read after each of these listings that, “These errors would not affect the calculations for targeted GRAD Act performance measures.”

The audit faulted SCLTC for having one student listed as a first-time freshman rather than a continuing student, one student classified as a first-time student rather than a transfer, one student classified as other rather than a first-time freshman and two students classified as continuing rather than readmitted students.

Auditors recommended that both Fletcher and SCLTC develop consistent policies and procedures for classifying the admission status of students, and that each develops comprehensive review processes to ensure data calculations are accurate.

Additional recommendations for Fletcher included documenting procedures for the design, development and testing of GRAD Act queries. It was also recommended that Fletcher formalize its procedures for correcting errors and storing student data.

“I’ve never seen an audit like this,” Lavigne said. “We didn’t know what they were looking for and they didn’t know what they were looking for. They were randomly selecting files and listing things like a student that may put one major on his application, but then changed his major, but didn’t bother to tell anyone. That was a minor thing. Now, if that starts appearing with greater frequency then I’m going to be concerned.”

“The Grad Act affords us certain opportunities as long as we meet certain benchmarks,” SCLTC Director James Sawtelle said. “We have met the primary benchmarks and believe in the process because there is a consistent number in the findings.”

“This is the initial audit of GRAD Act data, and has been a learning experience for all parties involved and has identified areas in which we can improve,” Louisiana Community and Technical College System President Joe May said in a formal response.

“Data used in the calculation of GRAD Act performance measures was submitted prior to the creation of the GRAD Act and before the targeted performance measures were defined,” May continued. “We generally agree with the recommendations included in the report. However, according to the report, some of the errors described would not directly affect the calculation for targeted GRAD Act performance measures.”

Sawtelle said areas that auditors questioned for several schools were related to the data collection software SCLTC, Fletcher and other technical colleges had previously used. The entire technical school system is now adopting a different program, called Banner.

“That is a multi-million dollar investment statewide,” Sawtelle said. “Not only does it do student data, but it allows students to register online and pay for services online. Banner will help capture those discrepancies that are consistent among many colleges around the state.”

Sawtelle said areas of shortcoming were present because of the software that had been used and its limited tracking of changes. “I think [previous software] had a programming error in how it collected data.”

“My attitude of auditors is they come here to help me,” Lavigne said. “If I’m not doing something right they are going to help me correct it. I look at auditors as coming in and perhaps seeing something you didn’t see. They’ve been nothing but a help to me. I think it’s great.”

“We were pleased with our performance,” Sawtelle said.”It is a tribute to the college itself, and the instructors, students and staff that harvest all this data. We acknowledge that there are a few areas we need to improve, but we are confident that the Banner system will help us improve.”

The Legislative audit was led by Baton Rouge CPA Daryl Purpera. According to this firm, institutions participating on the GRAD Act enter into a six-year performance agreement with the Board of Regents that specifically identifies the responsibilities of each institution and their respective management boards. There are 36 post-secondary educational institutions that have entered into agreements with Louisiana’s GRAD Act.