Education officials say Fred Gainous must find answers for the school's financial woes - or else.
By ANITA KUMAR
Published December 4, 2003
TALLAHASSEE - State higher education leaders delivered a stern message Wednesday to the president of Florida A&M University: Stop making excuses for the school's financial problems.
Just get them fixed, they warned, and do it soon.
"I've heard the explanations and, Mr. President, frankly, it doesn't do it for me," Miguel DeGrandy, a member of the Board of Governors, told FAMU president Fred Gainous. "This is a wakeup call. ... The eyes are on you."
Several members of the board that oversees Florida universities asked Gainous for a plan to solve the school's financial issues, which include a dysfunctional financial aid system, questionable business practices and accounting records that are off by $1.8-million. They also asked for a specific timetable. Gainous was unable to provide either.
But Jim Corbin, who leads the FAMU trustees who hired Gainous last year, pledged to provide the board with a plan in 30 days or less.
"I guarantee it. I absolutely stake my reputation on it," Corbin said. "We can't allow this school to hang in limbo. We can't allow the university to be the butt of jokes across the nation."
FAMU made national headlines this week after the St. Petersburg Times reported that one of the nation's best-known historically black universities is mired in a financial mess with roots that stretch back for years.
State officials recently refused to issue paychecks to 19 top FAMU administrators until the school turned over crucial financial records. The school was the only one among 11 public universities that missed the deadline, and it complied six weeks late.
Gov. Jeb Bush said Wednesday he is concerned about FAMU and has talked to Gainous about the school's troubles.
"This is not a new problem for FAMU," Bush said. "I have confidence Dr. Gainous will rectify these problems. He needs to."
During their hourlong questioning of Gainous, some members of the Board of Governors said they are running out of patience.
"I sit here today confused and embarrassed," said board member Castell Bryant, a FAMU graduate whose voice shook with emotion. She said alumni from across the nation are calling her daily to ask, "What the hell is going on there?"
These are tough times for the 13,000-student school, which was named the nation's College of the Year by Time magazine and the Princeton Review just six years ago. State and school officials blame many of the problems on Frederick Humphries, the longtime president who retired in 2001.
"Some people are reluctant to criticize past administrations," said Steve Uhlfelder, a member of both the Board of Governors and its predecessor, the Board of Regents. "I'm not so reluctant."
Humphries, who now leads a Washington organization that supports the nation's historically black schools, denied Wednesday that he left the school in the lurch.
"In August 2001 the books were closed and there were no difficulties," he said in a telephone interview with the Times. "In 2003, (Gainous') first full year of service, there's problems. I don't see how you get from there to "Humphries left the university in bad shape."'
Corbin, chairman of the FAMU board of trustees, still faults Humphries. "He left us with a mess," he said.
Without offering specifics, some former members of the Board of Regents said FAMU has long been a special case in Florida, in part because of a reluctance to take on Humphries, who would criticize officials for coming down too hard on a historically black school.
"There are times we had uncomfortable conversations," said Carolyn Roberts, a former regent who is now chairwoman of the Board of Governors. "And we backed off."
"You became a little gun shy, especially with Fred Humphries' criticism," Uhlfelder said.
Corbin, also a former regent, agreed the school was treated differently.
"You would think the Board of Regents had one list of expectations for FAMU and another one for the other universities," he said.
That was supposed to change under Gainous, a FAMU grad who took over the presidency last year. But his tenure has been rocky.
Last week, FAMU trustees said Gainous deserved blame for not disclosing the severity of the school's problems and failing to make them a priority. They also chastised him for not hiring a financial chief after the last one left just before he arrived.
The trustees hired a consultant to evaluate Gainous, and they will use that evaluation to determine whether he should remain on the job. That evaluation is expected to be completed in several weeks.
"Clearly, I am not here to make excuses," a solemn Gainous told the Board of Governors. "I am here to accept full responsibility."
Recent internal investigations outline the school's problems:
- Officials often used purchase orders instead of stricter written contracts and planned to overspend for leased space. They sometimes contracted twice for the same consulting work.
- The school failed to follow its own policies and procedures, including balancing its books every month.
- Offices that deal with finances haven't been modernized, leaving employees to use paper instead of computers.
- A federal grant intended to strengthen curriculum and student services was used for unapproved expenses, such as travel to London and Paris for the former grant director.
- State auditors are attempting to determine why the school's books are off by $1.8-million. School officials say the money is not missing and was spent, but say they are not sure how.
After discovering accounting problems earlier this year, Gainous' staff examined a decade of completed budgets. The numbers, the president said, did not add up.
The construction budget was off by more than $3-million. The school spent $3-million from a grant program, but it never billed the federal government for reimbursement. About $1.5-million in surplus funds from last year had to be used to pay contractors.
DeGrandy, who leads the Board of Governor's audit committee, said he wants the Department of Education to take an independent look at Gainous' plan for solving the problems.
Corbin said they would be fixed.
"What we need from the Board of Governors is real tough love," he said. "But let us fix it because we can. It is our responsibility to do it."
- Times staff writers Lucy Morgan and Tim Nickens contributed to this report.
What's next
- FAMU officials will write a plan designed to solve the school's financial problems.
- A Board of Governors committee will discuss it Jan. 22.
- State officials will continue auditing the university's books.
- A FAMU consultant will submit a report to the school's board of trustees on the president's job performance.
