Institutional Self Evaluation Report

Standard IIID.2

To assure the financial integrity of the institution and responsible use of its resources, the financial management system has appropriate control mechanisms and widely disseminates dependable and timely information for sound financial decision making.

The key to institutional financial integrity begins with a well-documented and transparent budgeting process, followed by implementing an enterprise reporting system, which in this district is the Colleague (formerly Datatel) system that provides accurate budget and expenditure tracking within each of the college’s many cost centers. By providing position control through Analytic software, and purchasing requisition management, budget monitoring, and compliance with Colleague, the institution’s intended allocation of resources is ensured. The system allows each budget manager at any time to have clear visibility of their financial picture, comparing budgeted to encumbered and actual expenses via the MyWVMPortal link to Colleague. (3D.2.1) Additionally, the college’s Office of Administrative Services provides assistance monitoring and adjusting budgets and expenses to dynamically reflect changing circumstances within a cost center.

The district’s Vice Chancellor of Administrative Services publishes quarterly and annual district financial reports comparing budgeted and actual expenditures as well as an annually audited financial report to District Council the Audit and Budget Oversight Committee (ABOC), and to the Board of Trustees (3D.2.2). Any report presented at a Board meeting is available to the public. The Board also complies with CCR Section 58307 through monthly reports of budget transfers between major expenditure classifications as defined in the California Community College Budget and Accounting Manual.

Given the importance of Colleague financial management and reporting system, the district Information Services unit continuously updates the system software, adding new capabilities and services as available. Through funding provided by both Measure H and Measure C bonds, new computing hardware has been purchased to improve Colleague operations and planned upgrades include migration to the SQL database for improved data access and warehousing, and implementation of both Human Resources and On-Line Purchase Requisition models. (3D.2.3) The Human Resources module provides integrated position control and assignment contract management, while the On-Line Purchase Requisition module performs real-time monitoring of funds availability as well as purchase order tracking.

Systems supporting the budgeting and financial operations have limited authorized access. Individuals requiring access must obtain prior approval before being granted log in authorization, and the systems are not generally accessible off-campus or through non-administrative campus networks. Colleague has been successfully employed to provide ad hoc, monthly, quarterly, and annual reports for financial management as well as for state and federal compliance reporting. Analytic software, an even more highly restricted software system, is used to monitor position control, develop and analyze budgets, and provide analytical financial reporting. COGNOS is used as a data-mining tool to access the data base repository from Colleague for specialized and analytical financial and enrollment reporting.

Self-Evaluation

The college meets this standard. The 2006 FCMAT report (3D.2.4) prepared for the district states: “The district uses different financial systems for different functions. The lack of a single system significantly increases the probability of error. The district should identify the best single financial system for its needs and purchase it, or add modules and capacity to the current Datatel system.” During Fiscal years 2011-12 and 2012-13, improvements and upgrades to district systems replaced the PARIS reporting tools and eliminated the multi-system reporting concerns. Colleague is now the primary tool for financial management, providing a database from which reports are derived based upon consistent data.

Actionable Improvement Plans

None.

Evidence

3D.2.1	MyWVM Portal link to Colleague	http://www.westvalley.edu/committees/Accreditation/2013/evidence/3d/Portal_Link_to_Budget_Information.png
3D.2.2	District Financial Report 2013	http://www.westvalley.edu/committees/Accreditation/2013/evidence/3d/FY_12-13_Audit_Report.pdf
3D.2.3	Colleague migration memo	http://www.westvalley.edu/committees/Accreditation/2013/evidence/3d/ellucian_migration-memo.pdf
3D.2.4	FCMAT Executive Summary Executive Summary, page 4, 6^th paragraph.	http://www.westvalley.edu/committees/Accreditation/2013/evidence/3d/3D26_fcmat_final_report_page12.pdf

Standard IIID.2.a

Financial documents, including the budget and independent audit, have a high degree of creditability and accuracy and reflect appropriate allocation and use of financial resources to support student learning programs and services.

Descriptive Summary

Financial documents, in their best form, are a collective portrayal of the institution’s participatory governance process by which resources are allocated in support of student success. Ultimately, all resources, whether human, physical, or fiscal, are reflected by financial measures; therefore, the budget reflects the intended allocation of resources while the audited results chronicle the actual employment of those resources. The annual independent audit validates the district’s and college’s internal accounting practices have followed applicable practices, including generally accepted auditing practices, the California Community Colleges Budget and Accounting Manual, Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), and applicable regulatory compliance. The 2011-2012 annual audit (3D.2.a.1) was completed with the following comments from the auditors to the district’s Board of Trustees:

We conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America and the standards applicable to financial audits contained in Government Auditing Standards, issued by the Comptroller General of the United States. The financial statements of the West Valley-Mission Community College Foundation and the Mission-West Valley Land Corporation were not audited in accordance with Government Auditing Standards, but were audited in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America for nongovernmental entities. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall basic financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions. (3D.2.a.2)

In our opinion, the basic financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of West Valley-Mission Community College District and its discretely presented component units as of June 30, 2012 and 2011, and the respective changes in financial position and cash flows, for the years then ended in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Self-Evaluation

The college meets this standard. Resource allocations through the budgeting process follow a participatory governance model wherein multiple governance bodies contribute to the overall result. Those participatory bodies include:

• 
  ^{District Executive Management Team}
  
• 
  ^{District Council}
  
• 
  ^{Enrollment Management Committee, reporting through District Council}
  
• 
  ^{College President’s Cabinet}
  
• 
  ^{College Council}
  
• 
  ^{Academic Senate}
  
• 
  ^{Classified Senate}
  
• 
  ^{College Division Chair Committee}
  
• 
  ^{College Performance Goals Committee}
  

Actionable Improvement Plans

None

Evidence

3D.2.a.1	West Valley-Mission Community College District Annual Financial Reports	http://www.westvalley.edu/committees/Accreditation/fiduciary_documents.html
3D.2.a.2	Independent Auditors' Report, page 2	http://www.westvalley.edu/committees/Accreditation/2013/evidence/3d/audit_report_fy_11-12_page2.pdf