Wait, that doesn't make sense. It could easily be subpeona'd by the Feds or State GA's office. Plus, if they are a public school, it should be public record.
You would think so, TexasCPA, but that's not the case. I think only Delaware and Pennsylvania now maintain laws that in effect make these institutions eligible for state funding, but don't require the schools nor the respective Boards of Trustees to release information about their operations.
Gov. Corbett in Pa has made clear, in the aftermath of the Sandusky scandal, that a lot more transparency will be required of Penn State if it is to receive its huge annual allotment of state funding, which, BTW, includes both operational funding and capital improvements $$'s.
By contrast, Gov. Jack Markell of Delaware has, as recently as last month, reiterated that requiring transparency from both the University of Delaware and Delaware State University is 'not a priority of this administration'. BTW, the 'relatively small' amount that the UD received last year for operational expenses was $112 million. Hey, if they want to give that up, I'm all for it.
I find the Delaware governor's position more than ironic in light of a recent contract-bidding scandal at Del State that ensnared a powerful former Delaware legislator who was 'moonlighting' as the person in charge of purchasing and procurement at Del State...to the tune of about $120K per year.
One bone of contention in both states regards the full minutes of the meetings of the schools' respective Boards of Trustees. All too often, the BOT's will go into 'executive session' to discuss important business and then only meet officially to conduct pro-forma business. Release of minutes dating back at least a decade in the Sandusky matter would help clarify how deeply, and for how long, the University was involved in the entire matter.
These schools are powerful, with tens of thousands of alumni, and scores of lobbyists in the state capitol.
That's why it's taken something as sordid as the Sandusky affair (and, remember, Corbett was criticized for 'slow-walking' this when he was the state's Attorney General) to make this a front-burner issue. As a resident of Delaware, and someone familiar with the incestuous ways of Delaware's institutions, I'm not holding my breath for reform here. It will take a huge scandal, one much bigger than a $2 mill bid-rigging evidently, to force some sunlight onto these huge devourers of state funding.
