The Arizona Board of Regents will be taking a closer look at the state universities' information technology programs in the future, now that the State Auditor General has released a report detailing a lack of supervision in IT programs.
A group of about three auditors from the State Auditor General's office spent six months reviewing university programs. The report, published in mid-October, found no improprieties, program deficiencies or dissatisfaction by university students or staff.
ABOR Spokesman Matt Ortega said Thursday that university information technology departments had too much leeway in expenditure decisions. Previously, ABOR had delegated control of IT programs, with budgets that can run into the multi-millions of dollars, to the universities themselves.
"The auditor general's report was right on. We have not been as focused as we ought to have been with IT departments. The last audit was conducted ten years ago and at that time, the Internet didn't even exist," said Ortega.
Ortega explained that as trustees of the university system, ABOR should have control of programs exceeding $1 million and now has to catch up with current technological trends.
"We have to put in place mechanisms to make sure we have oversight and strengthen our IT programs," Ortega said. "Through Proposition 301, we are expected to be ambitious and aggressive in finding ways to help the state economy."
William Lewis, ASU vice provost of information technology, said part of the problem was a simple lack of communication.
"Honestly, we haven't done a very good job of keeping ABOR informed," Lewis said.
The question now is how much it will cost to piece together an ABOR-approved supervising committee recognized by the auditor general, in light of recently projected university budget cuts.
Ortega said it might be possible to outsource the work so that the expenses associated with a full staff could be avoided. But more than likely the additional burden of supervision will be absorbed by existing ABOR staff.
Milton Glick, ASU senior vice president and provost, said what the auditor general objected to were not the expenditures or decisions made by the IT departments, but the lack of a formal process. What will now be added is another layer of supervision that hopefully won't siphon dollars out of the system.
"In some cases, it may slow us down, but I don't think this will have a negative effect," Glick said.
Reach Victor Allen at victordallen@cs.com.
