delinquencies, consistent communication to the customer and a monthly accountability cycle.
Vice President Pinkard stated we are now using the Kentucky Department of Revenue in collections and have transferred 177 Kentucky resident accounts totaling Two Million Dollars.
Regents Whitehead and Henry asked about the One Stop Shop effectiveness and measuring success in the Bursar's office. President Burse stated that the One Stop Shop will be reevaluated for improvements and finalized by September. Vice President Pinkard will also report on success metrics at the next meeting.
Perkins Loans were discussed with concerns about the university's cohort default rate. Vice President Pinkard spoke to collections improvement processes and Dr. Bennett, per President Burse's request, spoke to the relative position of KSU compared to other institutions noting that our cohort default rate was about average at 21%. Regent Bearden asked about account holds being lifted for students with balances. Dr. Bennett and Dr. Downing confirmed that this had happened, but now only 2 people have the authority and ability to lift holds.
Vice President Pinkard stated that operations revenue is still our biggest issue. He spoke to vendor contract rationalization and focus to reduce service frequencies. He noted that Mel Jones, a retired GE Purchasing agent, was now on board to help.
Mr. Paul Edwards, Director of Accounting gave the financial overview. He highlighted the following:
The 51% accounts receivables decrease from $12.2MM to under $6.0MM is primarily due to a $5.1MM in student accounts receivables reduction in August and September 2014. This reduction in student accounts receivables was due to an increase in the allowance for doubtful accounts by that amount. Accrued Liabilities increased from $2.0MM to $5.3MM or by 92%. This increase over the prior year was primarily Accounts Payable ($225K) and Payroll Liabilities ($2.3MM). Tuition and fees were down to $16.1MM vs. $20.2MM last year due to student enrollment.
Mr. Edwards then covered our banking arrangements and highlighted all accounts, their usage and status.
Motion for adjournment of the Finance and Audit Committees was made by Regent Bearden and seconded by Regent Guarneri. The meeting adjourned at 11:50 am.
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