The Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) recently decided, in unanimous favor, to approve an audit of the University of California finances.
The audit was requested by Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) after he found documents that he said displayed the UC’s mismanagement of the budget.
Yee believes the audit will finally hold UC executives accountable. Many students and faculty alike would probably agree with him, and the decision to investigate UC funds in light of recent student fee increases.
The audit will delve into every aspect of the UC system’s finances and will work toward creating full transparency in the UC budget.
Transparency of funds should already exist and anybody should be able to view the UC budget at any time. Although the UC already undergoes an audit by an outside firm, the state audit will provide an extra layer of scrutiny.
This audit will also prove beneficial to the UC system in other ways.
It’s a positive sign to see that the UC agreed to full participation in the process. In this way, it can clear its name of any such practices of financial mismanagement, should nothing incriminating be found.
Alternatively, if the results of the state audit do not match the results of UC’s annual audits, this will be a sign that UC isn’t doing a good job of monitoring itself.
Additionally, President Mark Yudof has agreed to solve any inconsistencies the audit finds.
Another obvious benefit is full access to the UC’s finances conducted by a more independent source.
This is a step in the right direction to full transparency of the UC system.
yay!