3) General Administration
There were issues noted with the general administration of the Bursar Office billing and collection activity.
- Policies and Procedures. Although the Bursar Office has desktop procedures illustrating how to process payments in the Banner financial system, there are no detailed policies and procedures to guide personnel in the performance of their job duties. This increases the risk of noncompliance with intended policies and procedures. This could also lead to inconsistencies and inefficiencies with activity processing.
- Mailed Payments. The Xerox Solution Center and Mail Room (third party provider) is responsible for the delivery and pick up of mail on campus. Xerox personnel picks up the mail from the post office in the morning and drops off mail in the afternoon. The incoming mail is sorted by department and delivered daily. Any mail that is not addressed to a specific department is put in a “dead file” until the appropriate department for delivery can be determined. Due to the mail initially going to the Mail Room prior to delivery to departments, there is an increased risk that payments or donations to the university may be inappropriately or not specifically addressed which would result in an untimely delivery to the Bursar Office for deposit.
- Debt Collections. Kentucky State University contracts with third party vendors to provide debt recovery services on behalf of the university. The administration of the contract is the responsibility of the Bursar Office. No one in the Bursar Office reviews the invoices to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the student debt collected. Also there is no verification of the collection fee charged by the vendors to ensure accordance with contractual terms.
Recommendations
Appropriate personnel should consider the following recommendations concerning general administration of OMB – Medical Billing and Collections activity.
- ✓✓ A written internal policies and procedures manual should be developed to guide Bursar Office personnel in the administration of activity that includes the timely deposit of funds and the assessment of tuition and fees charged to students. The internal policies and procedures manual should:
- include sufficient detail for each job duty performed, copies of forms used, and the policies followed in the processing of activity, and
- include sufficient detail to guide personnel in the processing of credit card payments over the phone, and
- reflect the most current information and be updated periodically, and
- be distributed to all applicable personnel. In addition, key personnel should be trained to help ensure consistent adherence to the requirements.
- ✓✓ Appropriate personnel should explore the feasibility of centralizing the receipt of incoming mail (e.g., post office box). Centralizing the receipt of incoming mail serves
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