Report 2021-611 Recommendation 17 Responses
Report 2021-611: Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund: Some University Campuses Did Not Maximize Available Federal Pandemic Funds, and They Prioritized Students Differently When Awarding Relief Funds (Release Date: November 2021)
Recommendation #17 To: University of California, Merced
To ensure that UC Merced complies with the U.S. Department of Education guidance, it should compile a specific list of housing and dining refunds reimbursed with HEERF funds and review the transactions to ensure that they were eligible for reimbursement.
This file has been provided and we consider this item completed.
- Completion Date: October 2021
California State Auditor's Assessment of Status: Resolved
UC Merced provided a list of specific housing, parking, and dining refunds. This addresses the portion of our recommendation that pertains to compiling a list of specific refunds UC Merced reimbursed with HEERF funds. However, we do not consider the portion of the recommendation that pertains to reviewing those transactions to have been implemented. When we asked how UC Merced ensured that these transactions were eligible for reimbursement, it provided us with an explanation of how it originally identified transactions before it issued refunds. This process did not prevent an instance in which a student was refunded in excess of what they should have been, as described in our report. Further, we do not have assurance that Merced has identified other students who might have been provided refunds in excess of the amount they should have been. Nevertheless, because additional time has elapsed and we recognize the difficulty involved in requesting repayment now, we consider this recommendation to be resolved.
- Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
- Auditee did not address all aspects of the recommendation
This file has been provided and we consider this item completed.
- Completion Date: October 2021
California State Auditor's Assessment of Status: Partially Implemented
Although UC Merced provided a list of specific refunds it paid for with HEERF funds, it did not describe how, or whether, it ensured that the refunds were eligible for reimbursement with these funds.
- Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
- Auditee did not address all aspects of the recommendation
All Recommendations in 2021-611
Agency responses received are posted verbatim.