Dec 2, 2005 10:00 am US/Mountain
Report: Audit Of CU Football Focuses On Camps
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) ―
State auditors investigating the University of Colorado's football program are looking at large cash advances to staff and the accounting done for football camps that were run by coach Gary Barnett, according to a university document obtained by The Denver Post.
University officials created the two-page document as a guide to state audits involving the school and distributed it to some employees in September, the newspaper reported Thursday. It lists 19 concerns of the auditor's office about the football program.
More than half involved the university's fundraising arm, the CU Foundation, and were included in a state audit released in November, which made 21 recommendations to reform the university's relationship with the organization.
Former CU President Elizabeth Hoffman asked for the audit in November 2004 after a statewide grand jury report was leaked to some news organizations that included questions about numerous unexplained transactions involving CU, the foundation and two football camps run by Barnett.
The audit of the football program is scheduled to be released Dec. 12.
Karon Hoover, an assistant to state auditor Joanne Hill, said her office would not comment on the document or its listed concerns. She said the complete audit is secret until the Legislative Audit Committee votes to release it to the public.
Assistant athletic director Dave Plati said Barnett and other athletic department employees would not discuss the audit.
"If something has been leaked, we're certainly not going to comment," Plati said.
The university may have resolved some concerns when it took control of Barnett's football camps last summer and renamed them the University of Colorado Football Camps. Barnett had operated the Gary Barnett Football Techniques School as an independent contractor.
CU spokeswoman Michele McKinney said the university now handles all accounting for the camps and coaches are paid a bonus for working at them.
The document said state auditors were interested in copies of checks made to the camps, tax documents showing how much Barnett and other coaches earned and how Barnett spent money from his private company, High Hopes '95.
The document also said "football staff can take large advances without sufficient documentation."
CU controller Mary Catherine Gaisbauer said employees can get cash advances for travel by filling out request forms. The athletic department often uses the advances to pay for meals while traveling, she said.
State auditors also investigated CU coaches' use of courtesy cars, the document said.
Gaisbauer said auto dealers often allow a coach to drive a vehicle in exchange for athletic tickets. The dealer leases the vehicle to CU, and the coach is required to log miles used for university business, she said.
(© 2005 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Stumble It!
