Audit committee adopts more detailed charter, establishes dashboard to track findings

The audit committee of the Public Universities Board of Trustees unanimously adopted a revised audit committee charter at its special May 27 meeting. Chair Don Williams said the updated charter breaks the committee's responsibilities into clear categories such as external audit and financial reporting, internal audit, compliance and ethics, and transparency, and will help the committee meet its oversight duties.

"Brian had a very good idea of breaking that down into some very specific categories," Chair Don Williams said, praising the draft and thanking Director of Internal Review Brian Green for his work. Williams also emphasized that committee members are volunteers and not managers or auditors.

The charter adds specificity about the committee's responsibilities and requires the committee to monitor the status of audit findings and corrective actions through a systemwide audit-recommendation dashboard. The full dashboard will include aging (how long a finding has remained open), ownership (the department or person assigned to address the finding) and status (open, in progress or closed), the chair said; Brian Green agreed to implement the dashboard and report on it at future meetings.

Committee members who spoke described the revisions as a practical step toward stronger oversight. "We need to be sure that we're protecting taxpayers' money," said Regent Rick, thanking staff for the work to strengthen controls and oversight.

The motion to adopt the revised charter was made, seconded and approved on a voice vote; the committee recorded the motion as carried unanimously. Chair Williams said the revised charter will be forwarded to the full Board of Regents for its consideration.