LUMBERTON — Robeson Community College officials say that deficiencies found in the school’s financial reporting during a state audit are about “presentation,” not substance.
The audit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012, was conducted by the Office of the State Auditor. An “unqualified opinion” — the highest rating available — was issued, despite some deficiencies that were found in how college staff categorized entries in financial statements. The audit revealed no evidence of fraud or missing funds.
According to the audit, there were instances when financial entries were place in the wrong categories, resulting in some accounts showing an overstatement of receivables and others an understatement. One example was that RCC’s intergovernmental receivables were overstated by $257,811, a result of accounting methods being used that resulted in a payment to the school from another government agency not being recorded. That left the appearance that the college was owed more money than it was actually owed.
The college also incorrectly classified its net asset balances, resulting in net assets restricted for scholarships and fellowships, capital projects, and specific programs accounts to be understated by $302,065, $39,316 and $100,000 respectively, the audit said. Unrestricted net assets were overstated by $424,040.
Pamela Hilbert, RCC’s president since March, said that all college funds are accounted for, although some were classified in ways that were not acceptable to state auditors.
“ The auditors did not tell me they have any major concerns,” Hilbert said. “Being president, if there were major concerns, I would have been told.”
College officials say they have already implemented corrective procedures recommended by the auditors. Among the recommendations of the auditors is that the college place more of an emphasis on the year-end financial reporting process, as well as strengthen internal controls to ensure accuracy.
“The auditor recommended the adjustments noted in the report, and the college concurred with those adjustments,” George Regan, chairman of RCC’s board of trustees, said in a statement. “There is no indication of mismanagement and the adjustments make the financial reporting consistent with other colleges.”
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I spent two years getting my A.A.S degree from RCC. I have taken classes both online and in the traditional classroom setting. Believe me when I tell you this school is not student friendly at all. I have seen instances where instructors would flat out refuse to help certain students because they did not 'like' that particular student for whatever reason. This has happened to me. I have heard instructors talk pure junk about students behind their back to other faculty members. Yet, at the same time, the instructors claim they are there to help the students.
You can complain to the chair or whoever else but the chair will back their faculty and at times cover up for their bad faculty members. It is all politics and who you know.
Students are afraid to speak up against bad instructors in fear that their instructor will give them bad grades or reprise against them in some sort of way.
There have been some good faculty at RCC thise are the ones that have impacted my life in a positive way. On the other hand, I have had some instructors whose class I hate going to so much that I would rather have a root canal performed. Some instructors at this college have no compassion or empathy for their students. I understand that there are students who will abuse the system. However for students, especially the non-traditional students, who work and have families why not help them when they are in the class? Why would an instructor refuse to help a single mom or dad who works to support their family and go to school to better themselves? You can complain all you want to about unethical instructors but instructors will protect their own. This school is filled with corruption and discrimination.
As far as tutors, tutors are O.K., yet the instructors should do their jobs and not depend on tutors to make up for their slack in the classroom.
It is true that not every student can get into the exact class they want and advisors may say take an elective. There is only a finite amount of space and if the classroom can only hold 30 people, then we cannot book 35 people into that room. Students must be flexible with your scheduling and realize that we cannot always accommodate your schedule. If you don’t want an 8:00 class, I’m sorry that’s life. Get over it and take the 8:00 class. I know many of you have to work and go to school; however, school has to be a priority, with the amount of students we have, we cannot adjust class times for each individual unless you are willing to do online courses and I’m not sure RCC has taken that step yet.
As far as abusing financial aid, there is now a process in place called SAP, Student Academic Progress, which measures the progress a student is making in a program. If a student does not maintain the pace designed for their program, then financial aid will be terminated. Yes, they can play the system for a couple of semesters, but they will get caught and terminated.
In any school, you have good and bad instructors. If you have a bad teacher, make sure you are filling out your course evaluations or complain to the chair of the department. Sometimes, they are blind to the situation. As bad as it sounds, an instructor cannot always hold the hand of a student. I am hoping that RCC has a learning lab/tutoring center that could provide additional support/mentoring for those students who need additional help. A student also has to take responsibility for their actions/non-actions. Students need to make sure they have the prerequisites for the course; unfortunately, it seems like a lot of students are not getting the basics they need in high school. If you need a remedial math course, it is not going to do you any good to take a calculus class first, just because you don’t want to seem dumb. Likewise, if you have learning disabilities, you need to make sure that you inform the school so that reasonable accommodations can be arranged. You are setting yourself up for failure to do otherwise. Also, don’t wait till you are struggling or goofed off half the semester before asking for help. A faculty member is less inclined to help someone that they perceive as making a last ditch effort to pass a class.
Remember, just because you pay tuition, doesn’t entitle you to a good grade. The purpose of school is to learn. This includes time outside the classroom. You should be allowing yourself approximately 3 hours of study time per credit hour, so if you are taking a 3 credit class, that is 9 hours outside of class to study. If you are taking 12 credits that equates out to 36 hours of studying, now you can see why advisors say cut your work hours if you carrying a fulltime load.
In terms of the gym and the cafeteria, there were given specific reasons why they were terminated/not allowed. In my opinion, some smart person could make a nice penny by setting up a food truck in the campus lot and supplying hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken tenders, etc or else if you cannot afford to eat out, then bring a sandwich! You cannot expect RCC to lose money running a dining hall if students were not buying the food.
Community Colleges are a wonderful way to get a leg up in this world whether it is through learning a new trade or completing your associates and transferring to a University. The experience is in the student’s hand and I hope to see RCC continue to grow and educate the citizens of the county.
RCC is a terrible school.
Over half the faculty are there only to receive a check and could care less whether the students learn or not. I have seen were some faculty refuse to help students who were struggling and really wanted to learn, especially non-traditional adults. There are some good faculty there but for the ones who do not want to teach they need to go get a real job.
As far as the weight room they would not let my friend use it, he is a second year student in Business Administration, tell me why if students are allowed to use this weight room?
2) Most of the faculty here help those who help themselves. There's only so much they can do when students don't do their part or want their hands held 24/7. This should be a school for adults, not kids who need babysitters.
3) If you would have passed your RED090 class, you would have seen in my previous comment that the weight room is for PE STUDENTS AND BLET (Basic Law Enforcement Training) STUDENTS. It was actually BLET funds that paid for the weight room. That is a whole separate entity from curriculum students. In essence, they could just lock it down to BLET students and say "screw the rest of you".
It's obvious that you decided to become a student at RCC because you thought it would be easier than going to a university or you would have your hand held from beginning to end like the public school system here. It's not the case. Accountability is something that is lacking with students such as yourself and when you're called out on it, you blame everyone except yourself.
Don't get me wrong, no school is perfect and is only as good as the board and administration. RCC is no different. There are some things that change but I get tired of hearing people who put in 25% effort complaining about not getting 100% success.
2) There's no cafeteria because students wouldn't use it and they lost money by being open. Apparently paying $3-$4 to eat a whole meal (including drink) was asking too much. I bet if they accepted food stamps they'd still be in business
People who use RCC for education can't expect to have everything handed to them. At some point in time you have to realize that you're an adult and should be a productive member of society instead of someone who runs to advisers saying "I don't care what classes you put me in, I need 12 hours to get all my Pell refund."