REPORT DIGEST

ILLINOIS COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARD

COMPLIANCE EXAMINATION
FOR THE TWO YEARS ENDED JUNE 30, 2020

Release Date:  April 8, 2021

FINDINGS THIS AUDIT:  7

CATEGORY:  NEW -- REPEAT -- TOTAL
Category 1:  0 -- 1 -- 1
Category 2:  4 -- 2 -- 6
Category 3:  0 -- 0 -- 0
TOTAL:  4 -- 3 -- 7

FINDINGS LAST AUDIT: 7

Category 1: Findings that are material
weaknesses in internal control and/or a
qualification on compliance with State
laws and regulations (material
noncompliance).
Category 2: Findings that are significant
deficiencies in internal control and
noncompliance with State laws and
regulations.
Category 3: Findings that have no
internal control issues but are in
noncompliance with State laws and
regulations.

State of Illinois, Office of the Auditor
General
FRANK J. MAUTINO, AUDITOR GENERAL

To obtain a copy of the Report contact:
Office of the Auditor General, Iles Park
Plaza, 740 E. Ash Street, Springfield, IL
62703
(217) 782-6046 or TTY (888) 261-2887

This Report Digest and Full Report are
also available on the worldwide web at
www.auditor.illinois.gov

SYNOPSIS

• (20-001) The Board did not exercise
adequate controls over initiating and
monitoring grant agreements.
• (20-002) The Board failed to enforce
compliance with its rules and regulations
over the timely submission of required
informational reports and schedules.

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

INADEQUATE CONTROLS OVER INITIATING AND
MONITORING GRANTS

The Board did not exercise adequate
controls over initiating and monitoring
grant agreements.

We selected a sample of 15 of the Board’s
grant programs active during Fiscal Year
2019 and Fiscal Year 2020 to test.  These
15 grant programs resulted in 60 grant
agreements between the Board and various
entities.  During our testing, we noted
the following weaknesses:

• For 60 of 60 (100%) grant agreements
tested, the agreements were not signed
prior to the start of the grant period.
The grants were signed between 7 and 358
days late.  In addition, we noted the
Board did not date one (2%) agreements.

• For 11 of 15 (73%) grant programs
tested, the grantees either did not
provide required documentation to the
Board, required documentation did not
meet the timeframes and/or specifications
outlined in the grant agreement, or
documentation was not retained by the
Board to demonstrate the required
documentation was received and met all
related requirements.  It is the Board’s
responsibility to enforce the submission
of all required documentation and
maintain adequate record-keeping over its
grant programs.  (Finding 1, pages 9-13)
This finding has been repeated since
2012.

We recommended the Board ensure all
reporting requirements are adhered to and
ensure grant agreements are approved
prior to the effective date of the
agreement.

The Board concurs with the finding and
stated staff have drafted a Grants
Management procedural manual and provided
additional training to new staff.

FAILURE TO ENFORCE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

The Board failed to enforce compliance
with its rules and regulations over the
timely submission of required
informational reports and schedules.

Informational reports and schedules are
required to be prepared by the community
colleges and community college districts
and submitted to the Board to provide
data necessary to determine funding and
to provide assurance funds are being
properly utilized.  During testing, we
noted the following:

• 41 of 468 (9%) informational reports
tested due in Fiscal Year 2019 (23
reports) and Fiscal Year 2020 (18
reports) were submitted to the Board
between one and 667 days late.

• Four of 468 (1%) informational reports
tested due in Fiscal Year 2019 (two
reports) and Fiscal Year 2020 (two
reports) were not submitted to the Board.
(Finding 2, pages 14-15)  This finding
has been repeated since 1996.

We recommend the Board continue to work
with each community college and community
college district to ensure required
reports are submitted timely.

The Board concurs with the finding and
stated staff utilize a tracking system to
enter report submission dates and will
explore technology solutions for
automated communication of reminders.

OTHER FINDINGS

The remaining findings pertain to
inadequate controls over contractual and
interagency agreements, reporting
requirements, Board vacancies, and
personal services and inadequate review
of user access rights.  We will review
the Board’s progress towards the
implementation of our recommendations in
our next compliance examination.

ACCOUNTANT’S OPINION

The accountants conducted a compliance
examination of the Board for the two
years ended June 30, 2020, as required by
the Illinois State Auditing Act.  The
accountants qualified their report on
State compliance for Finding 2020-001.
Except for the noncompliance described in
this finding, the accountants stated the
Board complied, in all material respects,
with the requirements described in the
report.

This compliance examination was conducted
by Adelfia LLC.

JANE CLARK
Division Director

This report is transmitted in accordance
with Section 3-14 of the Illinois State
Auditing Act.

FRANK J. MAUTINO
Auditor General

FJM:jac