Truckee Meadows Community College recently had its travel expenses audited. Concern has been expressed about how much TMCC administrators were traveling, particularly to foreign countries.
The auditors said the institution is compliant.
“In our opinion, we can be reasonably assured that the travel function at TMCC is being performed in a satisfactory manner,” they wrote. “However, implementation of…recommendations would further improve this process.”
Auditors found a number of violations. Most were procedural missteps, such as not filling out travel claims in a timely manner.
“TMCC spent approximately $550,000 in travel related expenses during the audit period [of July 1, 2018 through September 30, 2019],” auditors reported. “Of that amount, nearly $488,000 consisted of domestic travel to conferences, meetings and for other administrative purposes. The remaining $62,000 involved international travel for student recruitment purposes and to attend conferences.”
Auditors found college administrators traveling without an international travel policy in place, as required by the Nevada System of Higher Education.
“The college has not developed a written international travel policy as required by the Board of Regents Handbook…” auditors found. “Although a documented policy does not currently exist, the college has created an International Travel Authorization Request form which is used to collect some of the information [required by policy].”
The auditors also noted TMCC was using student fees for administrators to travel to various countries to recruit students. They said the violation was actually a result of NSHE’s conflicting policies, not a misstep by TMCC.
“We noted the Board of Regents Handbook states, in Title 4, Chapter 10, Section 19, that any fees collected from students are to be utilized for the direct benefit of the students from whom they are collected. Thus, use of these funds to pay for employee travel costs for student recruiting purposes does not appear to meet the intent of the policy. However, the NSHE Procedures and Guidelines Manual, Chapter 7, Section 11, Subsection B, seems to contradict this policy by indicating that the need for the fee is due to increased costs of providing services to international students, including ‘recruitment’ expenses.”
NSHE auditors recommended that its chief financial officer review the situation and update NSHE policy.
Elena Bubnova, TMCC’s associate vice president, said, “I would point out that the recent NSHE travel audit indicated that TMCC is in fact in compliance.”
TMCC representatives, in the audit, wrote they would improve practices to ensure policies were followed.
International travel focused on student recruitment
This Is Reno placed an order last year for public records showing years of international travel expenses. Records show TMCC spends $50,000-$64,000 a year on international travel. One employee claims about half of those travel expenses each year.
Most of the travel is to recruit students. The college averages enrollments of 35-50 international students each semester. The largest concentration of students are from Japan, representing 10 of the 36 international students attending in the fall of 2019.
A TMCC official in January said the institution’s spending was appropriate.
“The budget for international travel is generated from a percentage of international student tuition, which is reinvested to support the program,” Bubnova said. “TMCC expenditures on international recruitment are comparable or less to similar institutions and are commensurate with institutional priorities, continuous efforts to provide top quality educational opportunities to our students and prudent stewardship of resources.”
Many students are from Japan, while various countries, such as Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and Romania have a single student enrolled each semester at TMCC.
In addition, international students need different services from other students, requiring staff and an office for international students.Tutoring, immigration services and advising are some of the many services TMCC offers students.
“Our staff and peer mentors provide one-on-one support as you navigate through orientation and registration, career exploration, and cultural adjustment to life in Reno, Nevada,” TMCC’s website indicates.
A benefit of a student attending TMCC from another country is an American education at a lower cost — $22,300 an academic year. About half of that is for academic expenses while the rest is for living expenses.
Transfer agreements with universities mean college students can complete two years at TMCC, at a cost lower than a university, and then earn a bachelor’s degree elsewhere, such as the University of Nevada, Reno, UNLV or Sierra Nevada College.
Academics in commonly required courses can be delivered in a more cost-effective manner at TMCC. Likewise, language skills can be acquired through TMCC’s college-level English-as-a-Second-Language courses, further preparing the students for the future.
Students bear costs of the program through student fees. The student fee noted by NSHE auditors raised the question of conflicting policies about how the fees could be used.
TMCC officials said the recruitment efforts are a necessary investment.
“Successful student recruitment starts with building strong foundations, understanding the global market demand, as well as our own student populations. Many colleges and universities do not see a return on their recruitment efforts until years of consistent recruiting, so the fact that TMCC has already started to see a return on these efforts after a short time is encouraging,” Bubnova, TMCC’s associate vice president, said. “The primary benefit is that our students have an opportunity to interact with peers from all over the world.”
