REPORT DIGEST

NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY

COMPLIANCE EXAMINATION
FOR THE YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2021

Release Date:  June 29, 2022

FINDINGS THIS AUDIT:  18

CATEGORY:  NEW -- REPEAT – TOTAL
Category 1:  0 -- 1 -- 1
Category 2:  4 -- 13 -- 17
Category 3:  0 -- 0 -- 0
TOTAL:  4 -- 14 -- 18

FINDINGS LAST AUDIT: 16

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

INTRODUCTION

This digest covers our Compliance
Examination of Northern Illinois
University for the year ended June 30,
2021.  A separate Financial Audit as
of and for the year ended June 30,
2021, was previously released on May
18, 2022. Additionally, a Single Audit
as of and for the year ended June 30,
2021 will be released separately. In
total, this report contains 18
findings, four of which was reported
in the Financial Audit and Single
Audit.

SYNOPSIS

• (21-5) The University has not
established adequate internal controls
over contracts to ensure they are
approved prior to performance and
comply with all applicable State
requirements.

• (21-8) The University has not
established adequate controls over the
completion of I-9 forms for employees
hired by the University.
• (21-12) The University did not fully
comply with requirements applicable to
its property and equipment.

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

INADEQUATE INTERNAL CONTROLS OVER
CONTRACTS

The University has not established
adequate internal controls over
contracts to ensure they are approved
prior to performance and comply with
all applicable State requirements.

During our review of 40 contracts for
the year ended June 30, 2021, we noted
the following:

• Thirteen contracts (33%) totaling
$425,303 were not approved prior to
goods or services being provided. The
contracts were executed between 8 to
145 days after the commencement of the
services or the receipt of the goods.

• One contract (3%) totaling $9,047
did not contain the required level of
approval based on the purchase amount.

During our review of 5 inter and intra
agency contracts for the year ended
June 30, 2021 we noted two contracts
(40%) totaling $1,816,000 were not
approved prior to goods or services
being provided. The contracts were
executed between 21 and 49 days after
the commencement of the services
provided or the receipt of the goods.
(Finding 5, pages 17-18)   This
finding has been repeated since 2012.

We recommended the University
establish and maintain internal
control procedure over contracts to
ensure contracts are complete and
properly approved prior to
performance, and the University adhere
to State laws and regulations.

University officials accepted the
recommendation.

INADEQUATE CONTROLS OVER I-9 FORMS

The University has not established
adequate controls over the appropriate
completion of I-9 forms for employees
hired by the University.

During our review of a sample of forty
(40) employee hires, we noted the
following:

• Five employees (13%) did not
complete the preparer and/or
translator certification portion of
section 1 of the I-9 form.

• Four employees (10%) did not
complete section 1 of the I-9 form on
or before their respective hire date.

• One employee (3%) did not complete
on Section 2 of the I-9 form properly
as the hire date per I-9 and the
employee personnel file do not match.

• One employee (3%) did not complete
Section 2 of the I-9 form properly as
their first day of employment was not
filled out.

• One employee (3%) did not have an
I-9 form on file.  (Finding 8, page
21)

We recommended the University enhance
their controls over the process for
preparing and reviewing the I-9 Forms
to ensure compliance with U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services
requirements.

University officials accepted the
recommendation.

INADEQUATE INTERNAL CONTROLS OVER
PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT

The University did not fully comply
with the requirements applicable to
its property and equipment.

We reviewed the University’s property
inventory certification, dated January
19, 2021, which was submitted to the
Illinois Department of Central
Management Services (DCMS).  The
inventory certification to CMS
reported 116 pieces of equipment
(summing to $143,047) that could not
be located by the University.  These
assets were acquired by the University
during past fiscal years.  Included in
this listing were chairs, computers,
projectors, servers, iPads, electronic
storage devices, microscopes and other
lab equipment.  74 of the 116 items
(64%) were missing electronic data
processing (EDP) equipment.

During our review of the University’s
adherence to policies and procedures
over protecting and tracking equipment
with confidential and sensitive
information, we sampled seven items
from the 74 EDP items within the DCMS
inventory certification.  We noted
three of seven missing pieces of EDP
equipment items sampled (43%), did not
have a Missing Asset Investigation
Form filed in a timely manner, ranging
from 98 to 124 days late.

During our testing of 25 equipment
additions, we noted four additions
(16%) totaling $7,089 were actually
acquired in a previous fiscal year.
These assets were not reported timely
on the University’s C-15 reports with
years of acquisition ranging from
fiscal year 2015 to 2020 and as such
were not recorded as acquisitions
timely. (Finding 12, pages 25-26)
This finding has been repeated since
2015.

We recommended the University continue
to strengthen its internal controls
over the accountability of University
property and equipment.

University officials accepted the
recommendation.

OTHER FINDINGS

The remaining findings are reportedly
being given attention by the
University.  We will review the
University’s progress towards the
implementation of our recommendations
in our next State Compliance
Examination.

AUDITOR’S OPINION

The financial audit report was
previously released. The auditors
stated the financial statements of the
University as of and for the year
ended June 30, 2021 are fairly stated
in all material respects.

The single audit report was separately
released.  The auditors conducted a
single audit of the University as
required by the Uniform Guidance. The
auditors stated the University
complied, in all material respects,
with the types of compliance
requirements that could have a direct
and material effect on the
University’s major federal programs
for the year ended June 30, 2021.

ACCOUNTANT’S OPINION

The accountants conducted a compliance
examination of the University for the
year ended June 30, 2021, as required
by the Illinois State Auditing Act.
The accountants qualified their report
on State Compliance for Finding
2021-001.  Except for the
noncompliance described in that
finding, the accountants stated the
University complied, in all material
respects, with the requirements
described in the report.

This State Compliance Examination was
conducted by CliftonLarsonAllen LLP.

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:TLK