Glitch may alter UT’s enrollment, state aid

An upcoming enrollment audit at the University of Toledo by the Ohio Board of Regents could include an examination of a processing glitch in 1999 that may have skewed the state subsidy received by the university, according to an official with the state board.

UT officials have acknowledged the reporting problem, which they said is being corrected in this fall’s report.

The mistake, which involves some graduate transfer students being improperly classified, may have caused UT to receive a larger or smaller subsidy than it deserved, said Dawn Rhodes, the university’s associate vice president for planning and analysis.

Based on initial figures, Mrs. Rhodes said: "We could go from the university owing less than $100,000 to the board of regents owing us $130,000."

UT’s nearly $200 million budget this year includes $88.8 million in government appropriations. The university has almost 18,000 students.

The regents’ visit has been planned for weeks and is unrelated to the processing error, said Mike Brown, a spokesman for the regents. He did not know when the audit team will arrive on campus, but said the group will take a general approach to examining UT’s numbers that could include the past reporting problem.

"This is a routine enrollment audit that will take place in the next four to six weeks," Mr. Brown said, adding: "This is not a crisis situation."

The regents periodically audit the enrollment data at the state’s public universities. Mr. Brown said it has been at least six years since UT’s last audit.

State subsidy figures are based on enrollment and are the result of a complicated formula that takes into account the number of full and part-time students and the courses they take.

Mrs. Rhodes said the 1999 error was brought to her attention in September, and there may have been similar errors dating back to 1997.

In November, the regents undertook a special audit of Owens Community College to investigate possible enrollment irregularities.

The report found no misrepresentation or misconduct at the college of about 15,500 students, which has campuses in Perrysburg Township and Findlay.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 15, 2001