Not a well run institution, but I bet many of NJ's small colleges/universities are hurting:
www.nj.com
New Jersey City University has suspended all employees’ school-issued credit cards in a bid to rein in spending that faculty critics have called an “abuse of taxpayer money.”
Chief Financial Officer Ben Durant Thursday night announced a handful of cost-cutting steps – including a moratorium on all non-essential spending and catered meals for employee-related on campus events -- in an email to the NJCU community.
The suspension of the credit cards, known as “purchase cards (P-Cards for short)” is long overdue, say faculty members who brought numerous examples of questionable spending to the school’s board of trustees last year ahead of a no-confidence vote against Sue Henderson, who resigned last week.
Among the questionable charges by a handful of school administrators were physical therapy and dental bills, expensive hotels, fast food, and $1,000 restaurant charges.
“It’s very good news about the deactivation of the P-Cards,” said professor of English as a Second Language Anne Mabry, who filed the Open Public Records Act request for the credit card spending. “I would like to say that it is related to the OPRA I filed last year that revealed the extensive abuse of tax-payer money for things like limos, medical expenses, Amazon gifts, Grub Hub, expensive hotels, and groceries.
“This did not go unnoticed. The deactivation comes at a time of extreme financial distress; unfortunately, it didn’t come sooner. It’s a time of extreme fiscal austerity … Now faculty and staff are waiting to hear about the furloughs we will be asked to take.”
Last week the school’s Board of Trustees declared a “financial emergency,” saying it closed out the fiscal year with a $20 million deficit and only 25 days of cash on hand. They voted to increase tuition by 3% and adopted an interim 90-day budget while seeking more state aid.
Cash-strapped NJCU suspends staff credit cards, announces other spending restrictions
The suspension of the credit cards is long overdue, say faculty members who brought numerous examples of questionable spending to the school’s board of trustees last year.
New Jersey City University has suspended all employees’ school-issued credit cards in a bid to rein in spending that faculty critics have called an “abuse of taxpayer money.”
Chief Financial Officer Ben Durant Thursday night announced a handful of cost-cutting steps – including a moratorium on all non-essential spending and catered meals for employee-related on campus events -- in an email to the NJCU community.
The suspension of the credit cards, known as “purchase cards (P-Cards for short)” is long overdue, say faculty members who brought numerous examples of questionable spending to the school’s board of trustees last year ahead of a no-confidence vote against Sue Henderson, who resigned last week.
Among the questionable charges by a handful of school administrators were physical therapy and dental bills, expensive hotels, fast food, and $1,000 restaurant charges.
“It’s very good news about the deactivation of the P-Cards,” said professor of English as a Second Language Anne Mabry, who filed the Open Public Records Act request for the credit card spending. “I would like to say that it is related to the OPRA I filed last year that revealed the extensive abuse of tax-payer money for things like limos, medical expenses, Amazon gifts, Grub Hub, expensive hotels, and groceries.
“This did not go unnoticed. The deactivation comes at a time of extreme financial distress; unfortunately, it didn’t come sooner. It’s a time of extreme fiscal austerity … Now faculty and staff are waiting to hear about the furloughs we will be asked to take.”
Last week the school’s Board of Trustees declared a “financial emergency,” saying it closed out the fiscal year with a $20 million deficit and only 25 days of cash on hand. They voted to increase tuition by 3% and adopted an interim 90-day budget while seeking more state aid.
