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FAMU's latest measure: Show ID to get paid

The interim president said FAMU is trying to get a better handle on its many budget woes.

By DAVID KARP and AAKASH PATEL
Published March 31, 2005

TALLAHASSEE - Before she could get her paycheck Thursday from Florida A&M University, Kaleena Wiley had to prove she was indeed Kaleena Wiley.

It wasn't easy.

First she had to wait in line for a half-hour. Then FAMU officials wouldn't accept her college ID. She finally had to go home, retrieve her social security card and stand in line yet again.

"It was a big hassle," said Wiley, one of about 2,500 FAMU employees who are feeling the personal effects of the school's financial mismanagement.

This week, interim FAMU president Castell Bryan ordered employees at the historically black school to produce a government-issued ID when picking up their paycheck or pay stub, which are being issued only at the student union building.

"If you have not picked up your check or check stub by April 1, 2005 ... you may be subject to discipline, up to and including termination of employment," Bryant warned in a memo sent out Wednesday.

She said the move is part of an effort to get a better handle on FAMU's many budget woes.

Auditors recently reported that FAMU spent at least $51.1-million more this year than it had budgeted. And it paid staff $19.5-million less in salaries than state records said it could.

In a news release, Bryant described the ID requirement as an "audit." She said it was a "common practice" done by a "large number of organizations."

"It is just another measure that we are taking here at the university to protect and secure the financial integrity of our great institution," Bryant said in the release. She did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Accounting experts said Thursday that this kind of payroll audit is typically done to find people who are getting paid but aren't doing legitimate work.

"It is a process that has been used before to look for what we would call "ghosts' on the payroll," said David Walker, a former partner at Arthur Anderson who is director of the accountancy program at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg.

Three years ago, the former dean of FAMU's College of Education served jail time after he was convicted of stealing $50,000 by signing fraudulent payroll sheets.

In 2000, the FBI arrested a FAMU financial aid officer on charges of soliciting and accepting bribes from students in exchange for submitting fake records for extra aid. At least two other employees and 13 students were thought to be involved in the scheme, which dated to 1996.

Last year, a state audit found that FAMU paid $19,752 to three "consultants" who also were university employees. The consultants were paid for work "typically performed by the employees as a normal part of their regular duties," auditors said.

Soon after Bryant took office in January, she hired the accounting firm KPMG to review the school's finances. Then she forced out the vice president for development, the athletic director, the comptroller, and the vice president for administrative and financial services.

Two weeks ago, she ordered a spending freeze and forced every employee to turn in their campus cell phone.

For some at FAMU, the ID requirement was at least as onerous, especially when they had to wait in the rain to prove their identity. Tallahassee and campus police stood by, keeping the line straight.

"I don't know why we have to do this," said Bruce Harvey, an electrical engineering professor who teaches on a satellite campus miles from FAMU.

His department had to get a shuttle to transport staff.

"It's annoying," Harvey said.

Some professors complained that Bryant acted without consulting them, then threatened to fire employees who didn't fall into line.

Many employees said they had not received Bryant's memo, which was put in mailboxes.

"A lot of people do not check their mailboxes," said Bill Tucker, a physics professor and faculty union president. "And the e-mail system is a near disaster. Quite a few people will not get the message."

"She may think she is too busy," Tucker said, "but someone has to communicate these things."

[Last modified March 31, 2005, 20:20:02]