Speak Out: They may not be stealing...
Jan Gunn
But they can’t prove they aren’t
As a member of the Douglas Students’ Union I must say I think that Lisa McLeod, chair of the Canadian Federation of Students B.C., has been grossly misinformed about the financial position of my student union. In her clarification of fleming-scaraceno’s “Manna from Heaven for Douglas students” [The Peak, November 14] she states that an allegation of financial mismanagement is “wholly unsubstantiated, as confirmed by the auditor of the Douglas Students’ Union,” [The Peak, November 28]. Hmm. I have this same auditor’s post-audit memorandum that strongly indicates otherwise.
Every year, all student unions in B.C. are required to present audited financial statements to their membership. Part of the service provided by the auditor (in this case Thompkins, Wozny, Miller and co.) is a letter indicating the auditor’s concerns, as well as a series of recommendations. The DSU directors received their post-audit memorandum in August. I have this letter and I have never seen a more condemning document; the College Board has a legitimate concern and the students at Douglas should be hopping mad at the state of affairs of their student union. I would think SFU would feel the same concern if this was happening here with your Student Society. These audits (three, possibly four year’s worth) are highly qualified. That’s audit lingo for financial trouble. I’ll quote from the auditor’s letter:
“Our examination indicated serious deficiencies in internal controls over Kiosk Revenue and Other Revenue. As a consequence, we were unable to satisfy ourselves that all revenues and expenditures of the society had been recorded nor were we able to satisfy ourselves that the recorded transactions were proper.” Internal controls are designed to protect the organisation from theft, and they protect signers from accusations of theft. I’m not suggesting that anyone at the DSU has been involved in the misappropriation of members’ fees. I’m sure there’s an adequate explanation for the internal control problems. For anyone interested, the DSU’s post-audit memorandum can be found here: www.douglasstudent.blogspot.com.
McLeod also states that the college is withholding fees due to an “an ongoing political dispute” with the DSU. Hmm. That’s an interesting interpretation. However, I’ve been to a College Board meeting where the Board asked the DSU treasurer exactly how much money was missing. The treasurer’s answer was that money was not missing, but that about $100,000 of revenue was unaccounted for. In other words, they have a hundred grand but they don’t know where it came from. The next logical thought must be: How do we know that there shouldn’t be $200,000 in revenue? Or a million? The Performing Arts Students at DSU would like to know where the money in the Performing Arts Fund, which should be about $225,000, has gone. As pointed out by the auditor, it’s under-funded, which means there’s no money in the fund. So where is it? And the answer is they don’t know and, because there are no internal controls, they never will. So McLeod can call this a political dispute, but I’m relieved to know that the college will not be giving my fees to this negligent organisation.
The loan from the CFS to the DSU is dodgy, too. There are no records of any meeting where the Students’ Union directors ever agreed to accept a loan or negotiate terms. Also important, but left out by Mcleod, is that the college has offered to pay all the DSU’s outstanding bills, payroll, etc., if the Students’ Union would simply provide such things as receipts, cheques requisitions, or any kind of documentation to substantiate the expense. This seems to be beyond the DSU’s bookkeeping capabilities. Fortunately for the DSU, the CFS seems to have little care how the money is spent. Remember, all SFU students are CFS members, and it’s your money they’ve loaned. The DSU’s only problem is that they desperately need to clean up their own financial house. They don’t need to be bailed out by the CFS — they need the tough love of a boot in the ass.
What’s most unfortunate about this whole financial scandal (see Tri-City News, October 14, 2005 for more) is the bad rep it gives to other student unions. The Simon Fraser Student Society, for example, can boast at least five years of fully unqualified (i.e. near perfect) audits. I believe that student unions provide important services on our campuses. And I believe that they must function as autonomous bodies. But at the very minimum a student union must be financially accountable to its members. To date no completed audits have been adopted by the students at Douglas in over four years. McLeod may want to point a distracting finger at The Peak for expressing an opposing view of DSU finances, but the real problem is why she isn’t addressing the inexcusable incompetence of the Douglas Students’ Union.