|
2.11 |
The institution has a sound financial base and demonstrated financial stability, and adequate physical resources to support the mission of the institution and the scope of its programs and services.
The member institution provides the following financial statements: (a) an institutional audit (or Standard Review Report issued in accordance with Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services issued by the AICPA for those institutions audited as part of a system wide or statewide audit) and written institutional management letter for the most recent fiscal year prepared by an independent certified public accountant and/or an appropriate governmental auditing agency employing the appropriate audit (or Standard Review Report) guide; (b) a statement of financial position of unrestricted net assets, exclusive of plant assets and plant-related debt, which represents the change in unrestricted net assets attributable to operations for the most recent year; and (c) an annual budget that is preceded by sound planning, is subject to sound fiscal procedures, and is approved by the governing board. (Resources) |
|
X |
Compliance |
|
|
Conditional Compliance |
|
|
Non-Compliance |
|
RATIONALE FOR COMPLIANCE JUDGMENT |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
(a)Nashville State Technical Community College has a
sound financial base and demonstrated financial stability. The college
is a member of the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) system and is
audited by the Comptroller of the Treasury [1]. The audit is performed
biannually. The audit has been conducted for the fiscal years 2003-05
[1a]. A review of the 2005-2006 financial statements was prepared by the
Comptroller of the Treasury during the spring of 2007 [1b]. A copy of
the written institutional management letter provided to the Comptroller
of the Treasury is also provided [1c] (b)The college prepares annual financial statements in accordance with GASB standards that present all funds of the college and the Nashville State Community College Foundation, a component unit of the college. The statements prepared include Statement of Net Assets [2], Statement of Revenues, Expenses, and Changes in Net Assets [3], Statement of Cash Flows [4] , Management's Discussion and Analysis [5], and Notes to Financial Statements [6]. (c)The college has a five year planning cycle as determined by the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR). The TBR establishes the planning priorities and requires the college to address the TBR priorities in the campus strategic plan. The four 2005-2010 TBR priorities are leadership, access, quality and resourcefulness. The Assessment and Planning Council is a standing committee of the College that is responsible for providing leadership and oversight for key assessment and planning processes, including the College Strategic Plan [7]. Annual progress reports are submitted to the TBR to demonstrate progress toward the plan goals [8]. (d)The budget development process at Nashville State Technical Community College is intended to link the allocation of resources closely to the college's strategic plan. The annual process begins in March of each year, when budget instructions [9] and budget forms are e-mailed to all employees of the college. The budget request forms require the requestor to tie the request to the strategic planning objective. The requests are reviewed and recommended through the chain of command. The requests are prioritized institution wide by the President’s Cabinet using the budget priorities established by the Assessment and Planning Council and are submitted to the President for approval. After approval by the President, the requests are routed to the budget office where the budget is prepared in accordance with TBR guidelines. In accordance with TBR policy, three budgets are prepared annually [10]. The first is a final estimate for the current year. This budget allows the college to fine tune revenue and expenditure estimates for the current fiscal year and reflect a reasonable carry forward fund balance for the next fiscal year. The July budget is prepared for the next fiscal year and reflects changes to the budget due to reallocation and revenues generated by projected enrollment increases. Both the final estimate and the July proposed budget are submitted to the governing board for approval in early May. The October budget revision revises the budget to include increases in state appropriations, state mandated pay increases, fee increases approved by the governing board in June, and the actual carry forward funding as of the close of the fiscal year. The October budget revision is submitted to the TBR in October and approved at the December board meeting. Net Asset Analysis:
Nashville State Technical Community College’s net assets are comprised of capital assets (58.12%), restricted expendable funds (1.19%), endowment and permanent funds (.02%), and unrestricted funds (40.67%). Table 1 shows the increase in each fund between FY 2004 and FY 2006.
Table 1 Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets 2004-2006
Table 2 shows that net assets have increased annually for the past three years. Table 2 Revenues, Expenses, and Changes in Net Assets
Physical Resources
Although the college has a shortage of faculty office and student services space, the physical resources of the college are sufficient to support its mission and the scope of its programs and services. The main campus of Nashville State Community College encompasses approximately 85 acres including parking and future expansion for additional buildings and parking lots. The seven campus buildings cover over three hundred fifty thousand square feet and serve approximately 2,790 FTE on campus and 669 FTE distance education. The Humphreys County Center is composed of 22,000 square feet, and serves approximately 192 FTE. The center is leased from the county. The Center has a shop, two computer labs, a Learning Resource Center, a multiple office area, one science lab, and eight classrooms. The Don Sundquist Center in Cookeville is composed of 71,747 square feet, and serves approximately 315 FTE. The center has eleven classrooms, seven computer laboratories, four engineering technology laboratories, one science lab, a virtual library, a tutoring room, a student lounge, and a multiple office area. This facility is owned by the Board of Regents. The Southeast Center is Nashville includes 13,000 square feet and serves approximately 80 FTE. The site is leased from the state. The site has five classrooms, one computer lab, a student lounge and offices. The college receives capital maintenance funding from the state for major maintenance items. The state also funds energy improvements through loans that the college repays using utility savings. The college funds additional repairs and renovations through renewal and replacement funds. During 2005-2006, the college renovated all biology, chemistry, and surgical technology labs [11]. During fiscal year 2006-2007, the college is funding $762,138 [12] in energy improvements through a loan which will be repaid over a ten year period with utility and maintenance savings. The college was funded $16,100,000 [13] in the 2006-2007 capital budget for the construction of a student services/classroom building. This building, due to open in January 2009, will increase the plant by approximately 60,000 square feet. Additional faculty office space will be constructed in renovated areas. Maintenance of Facilities
The operation and maintenance of facilities are coordinated through the NSCC physical plant department. Physical facilities are maintained, inspected, and evaluated regularly for functionality, effectiveness, temperature, cleanliness, and safety. The general repair of facilities is continually monitored.
The physical plant department uses college employees, contract services, and direct-order contractors as needed to maintain college facilities. A maintenance email system collects and issues work orders, tracks maintenance functions, and communicates work request status when necessary via e-mail to building occupants. A maintenance survey [14] located in Public Folders allows faculty and staff to evaluate the physical plant performance and grade work as satisfactory or unsatisfactory and make comments. The survey is always available and is periodically emailed to everyone to complete if needed. Contractual services and the direct order contractors are used to execute projects and tasks that are too large, require special expertise, or that cannot be completed in the requested time frame by the maintenance staff due to other commitments. Building access and energy management activities are coordinated with class schedules and other college functions/events.
Renovations and Capital Improvements
The NSCC Physical Plant is responsible for coordinating budget proposals for renovations, new construction, and major maintenance projects with the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) facilities group. The capital budget process allows the college to request funding for items in the campus master plan, funding for major repairs and renovations and to disclose projects the college plans to fund through the operating budget, unexpended plant fund or the renewal replacement fund. These budget requests, available in the office of the Vice President for Finance and Administration, result from an annual collaborative effort by faculty, staff, administrators, and other interested parties. The list of priority projects is reviewed regularly by college officials, and submitted to TBR as part of the capital budget process. The TBR reviews the projects, compiles them for all colleges in the TBR system, prioritizes them system-wide and submits them to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) for approval. The THEC combines the requests of the TBR system and the University of Tennessee system, prioritizes them state wide and submits them to the state for inclusion in the state capital budget. Disclosed projects, funded from campus funds, are forwarded to the State Building Commission for approval.
When the State Building Commission approves capital improvements, an independent design firm works with college personnel to assist in the design process. The needs of the campus users are foremost in design considerations.
The annual NSCC budget process provides a framework for completion of preventive maintenance activities and serves as the basis for budgeting financial resources for specific maintenance activities.
Space Planning and Utilization
The Physical Plant is responsible for managing over 350,000 square feet of college space, maintaining the Physical Facilities Inventory [15], data submission to the Tennessee Board of Regents, and analyzing current and future space needs for the college. The college prepares a new facilities master plan every five years. The master plan is approved by the Tennessee Board of Regents, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission and the State Building Commission. The last campus master plan, which is available in the office of the Vice President for Finance and Administration, was approved in 2003. The college prepared a Utilization and Migration of Space study, also available from the Vice President of Finance and Administration, to enhance the master plan in 2005-2006. In additional to internal resource management, the utilization and migration study will be used by the architects and designers in the design of the student services/classroom building and the renovation of areas that migrate to the new building.
Accessibility
The NSCC Student Disability Services works with a variety of campus offices to establish priorities for upgrading facilities to improve accessibility. Recent projects include the upgrade of restroom facilities. Issues concerning accessibility are addressed during the design process of all renovation and new construction projects. Computer Resources Nashville State Community College has the following computer labs and computer classrooms: Nashville main campus - 53 Nashville Southeast campus - 1 Humphreys County campus - 3 Cookeville campus - 9
Nashville main campus - 1334 Nashville Southeast campus - 35 Humphreys County campus - 62 Cookeville campus - 253
Legacy SunGard Plus system (until August, 2007) (Alpha server) Microsoft Exchange WebCT NSCC web site File server ePrint xTender AppWorx
Network core router connecting to TNII with 16 MB of bandwidth T-1 direct connection with each of the three remote locations (Cookeville and Humphreys Co also have a T-1 connection into TNII) Network switching for the main campus NEC NEAX 2400 telephone switch with VoIP capability, voice mail and a FAX server
The major software used at Nashville State Community College includes: SunGard Banner Enterprise Resource Planning system Legacy SunGard Plus system (until August, 2007) Oracle Reports & Discoverer AppWorx WebCT Microsoft Exchange / Outlook Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Access, Project and PowerPoint) Internet Explorer Adobe Reader SnagIT eTrust Antivirus Antigen anti-SPAM Ghost MS System Management System Variety of academic applications
Computer Technology for Classrooms and Labs - $460,000 Computer Software - $207,000 Network and Technology Infrastructure Costs - $121,000 Classroom & Laboratory Technologies - $238,000 Technology for direct student support - $6,700 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||