University of Central Florida has been in the news for something other than their football fans recently. UCF was flagged by the Florida House Public Integrity and Ethics Committee when Director Don Rubottom expressed in an email that there is reason to believe there has been a misuse of funds.

Other universities flagged were Florida State University, the University of Florida, Florida Atlantic University and the University of West Florida. This alleged misuse of funding is due to leftover operating funds being funneled into places labeled vaguely as “university.”

UCF has been accused of using these funds for the construction of a building that lay outside what leftover operating funds may be used for. Vice President of Administration and Finance Shari Shuman at UNF explained in an interview with Spinnaker what systems the University has in place to prevent funds being used for projects that they aren’t designated for.

Shuman explained that UNF is unique in the level of transparency and communication between the administration and the Board of Trustees.

“We have been extremely transparent with our Board of Trustees as to how we spend our money,” Shuman said. “We’ve been doing a lot better on reporting to our board.”

Shuman explained that these leftover funds are called “carry forward” funds, being that anything  unused rolls over and can be used in a few pre-designated areas. Shuman said that UNF’s carry forward funding is used often for police vehicles, adjuncts, visitors and improving software systems; all of these areas being previously approved to accept carry forward funding.

Shuman further explained that not only is the funding very clearly budgeted, but that it also goes through multiple offices and university officials.

“We have multiple people signing off,” Shuman said.

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