Transparency and the Public Trust

One month ago, Senator Leland Yee (D--San Francisco/San Mateo) requested an audit of the finances of the University of California system.  The Joint Legislative Audit Committee unanimously approved Senator Yee's request.  

Senator Yee issued this statement regarding the audit: "A comprehensive state audit will help further uncover the extent of the waste, fraud, and abuse within the UC, and finally hold university executives accountable.  The UC administration expects taxpayers and students to foot the bill without asking any questions.  It is long overdue for the UC administration to start acting like a public institution and not a private country club."  Yee's demand for increased transparency within the UC system largely stemmed from reports that UC regents had direct ties to UC investments

The audit--primarily focused on the UC Office of the President (UCOP), where the Office of Technology Transfer resides--will investigate the sources of UC's funding; review the policies and practices UC uses to track and allocate public funds; and determine how the UC has spent taxpayer funds (from both California and the federal government) among other issues.  Significantly, this audit will be conducted by independent auditors of the State of California rather than UC's annual "self-audit."

It will be interesting to see whether the audit will evaluate the conflicts of interest that may exist in the UCOP.  Senior officials of technology transfer offices often hold positions on numerous boards, may have direct financial interests such as major equity holdings in a pharmaceutical corporation, or serve as consultants which may represent significant conflicts.  Whether the UC audit will review these issues remains to be seen.

Although no timeline for completion exists the final report will hopefully highlight the abuses resulting from the conflicts of interest running rampant at the university level.  As institutions of higher learning, the universities owe the public at least some modicum of service to the public interest.  As a public university, the UC owes the taxpayers not only service to the public, but also budgetary transparency.  

Sadly, the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education issued the results of a survey indicating that less than one-third of respondents believe that a university's primary concern is educating its students.  Conversely, nearly two-thirds of all respondents stated a belief that universities today act more like businesses and are more concerned with making money than preserving the ideals of any public mission. 

Given the overwhelming concern of financial abuses at universities as well as a diminishing public mission, budgetary transparency is desperately needed so that taxpayers (and the students attending these institutions who pay high tuition bills!) know what their money is actually funding and whether the senior officials in the university act in the best interests of the institution or are motivated by their own self-interest.

Krista Cox