CU Says It's Fixing Problems In Fundraising, Football Programs

Monday, August 20th 2007, 3:38 pm

By: News On 6

DENVER (AP) _ The University of Colorado has made significant progress cleaning up problems in its fundraising operation and in its tarnished football program, CU President Hank Brown assured lawmakers Monday.

Brown said the university has added 23 positions and adopted stricter rules since scathing state audits two years ago. The university has also seen major turnover in key positions, he said.

``The efforts that started several years ago with these very comprehensive audits have led to massive changes in the university that have been enormously beneficial for the institution,'' Brown told lawmakers on the Legislative Audit Committee.

A 2005 audit of football camps run by former head coach Gary Barnett said bookkeeping was so sloppy that it wasn't clear whether more than $400,000 worth of transactions were proper.

Auditors also said the camp did not check the criminal backgrounds of staff working with young campers.

That issue is unresolved. Brown said individual background checks are impractical because it would be almost impossible to determine which of the university's 24,000 employees come in contact with the youngsters who attend the camp.

Brown has formed a task force to make recommendations by March. He said if no policy is in place by then, he will cancel the camp.

A separate audit of the CU Foundation, the university's independent fundraising arm, said the foundation paid more than $700,000 in questionable expenses, failed to adequately ensure that donations were spent the way donors wanted and made poor choices in accepting some contributions.

Foundation President Wayne Hutchens told lawmakers Monday the organization has fixed most of the problems identified by auditors. He said donors are returning and the foundation collected $105 million last year, up from $60 million the year before.

The audits came amid allegations of sexual misconduct by football players and recruits. CU President Betsy Hoffman resigned over questions about her leadership that included the football scandal. She was replaced by Brown.

Others who left include Richard Bynny, chancellor of the Boulder campus, and Athletic director Dick Tharp, who resigned under pressure as a result of the football scandal.