Hlovida Agricultural and Mechanical University TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32307-3100 ELMIRA MANGUM, Ph.D., PRESIDENT OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT Memorandum To: Florida A&M University Board of Trustees From: President Elmira Mangum, Ph.D. ce: State University System Board of Governors Date: October 21,2015 Re: Response to Alleged Financial Irregularities and Improprieties I waite this memorandum to address the charges regarding the purported financial improprieties set forth below Repairs to the President’s Residence Much has been made about the capital improvements and repairs made to the President's residence. First and foremost, I had no knowledge nor did I authorize any unpermitied or unlawful renovations or additions made to the house. I did not have any knowledge nor did I authorize or sign off on the construction of the garage. Upon further inquiry, it was discovered that the Board of Trustees authorized the garage project. It should be noted that the purchase order for renovations on the property was issued on February 13, 2014, almost two months before the commencement of the term of my contract, with Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. Second, it is worth noting that at the time of the purchase order, there was no executed employment contract, and, as such, I could not have possibly violated a term of a contract that did not then exist! While the purchase order for the garage was issued on June 19, 2014, the process began prior to my arrival Third, and finally, while the $10,000 limit in paragraph 6.2 of my contract requires prior approval for capital improvements above the stated amount, it is implied that such limit applies when I authorize or request the repair or capital improvement. This clause does not, however, preclude the landlord, herein the University, from making capital improvements to enhance the property's value on its own accord. As stated earlier, that is what occurred in this matter i. the University, pursuant to the direction of the Board of Trustees, made improvements to the property on and of its own accord, unprompted and unbidden by me. It is important to remember that the President's residence is the University’s property, and any improvements made to it are not for my profit or gain, but the University’s. FAMU IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/EQUAL ACCESS UNIVERSITYResponse to Alleged Financial Inregularties Page2 October 21, 2015 Payment of Bonuses Regarding “signing bonuses” or lump sum payments made to Dale Cassidy, Brittanian Gamble, Marcella David, John Lee, and Milton Overton, itis important to note that each payment was authorized in the offer of employment to these individuals, and was approved by my office pursuant to the authority vested in me by this Board of Trustees (FAMU Regs. 1.021). Except for the payment to Provost David, all of the payments were processed properly and charged to a lawfully appropriate funding source. (F.S. § 215.425 (2)(a)). As to the Provost's one-time lump sum payment of $15,000, it was discovered on Friday, October 16, that this payment was made using E&G funds. Once this error was identified, the University’s Associate Vice President for Financial Operations and Reporting was instructed to ‘make the appropriate accounting adjustments to correct the error. The correction was posted on Tuesday, October 20. It is worth reiterating that this was an error ~ and nothing more ~ which upon discovery was corrected promptly. The University processes hundreds of thousands of accounting eniries each fiscal year as it pays and accounts for transactions totaling more than $100,000,000. It is also worth noting that the regular annual process for the extemal audit of financial information is currently underway. I speak from years of financial and budget experience when I reiterate that errors are found in every audit. This error was found and duly corrected. | take matters of budgeting and financial operations serious and would obviously not purposely misuse funds with clear knowledge that the University goes through a detailed auditing process annually. Conclusions Neither of the issues raised by the Board rises to the level of improper behavior or malfeasance. Baseless claims like these do, however, create a difficult work environment that reduces our value propositions, impedes fundraising, harms morale, and stifles student recruitment. They also, in my opinion, constitute an overreach by the Board into the operational side of the University. It is a continuing violation of the principle of shared governance, where normally the chief executive should be given latitude to operate and manage the University while the governing board sets policy, vision, and direction. ‘This violation is evidenced by the repeated requests regarding employee contracts, employee compensation, my annual and sick leave time, my day-to-day calendar, my travel schedule, my meeting schedule, my communications with intemal and extemal stakeholders, and it involves taking away direct reports and functional responsibilities. Upon information and belief, | am the first and only President required to have weekly 3-hour meetings with the Chair. I am the first and only President (also the only president in the State University System) whose General Counsel is not a direct report. I am the first and only President required to provide monthly progress reports, in addition to weekly notes that I was already voluntarily providing, bi-weekly calls, quarterly reviews, and annual reviews. I am the first and only President to have been subjected to this level of micromanagement, surveillance, and control. The environment simply is neither conducive nor enabling for success.Response to Alleged Financial Irregularities Page 3 October 21, 2015 I rise each day to provide a best-in-class education to our students. I rise to inerease customer service and improve processes. [rise each day to better our school and our community. It is this administration that secured the largest single gift in University history. It is this administration that worked tirelessly to complete the largest land transfer to a land-grant HBCU from the USDA in the nation’s history. It is this administration that ensured we retain an engineering school. It is this administration that has given out over $600,000 directly to students to encourage retention and timely graduation. It is this administration that stabilized the University leadership and started an aggressive reorganization to increase efficiency and effectiveness. All these things and more are happening at this great institution under this administration. Itis time to stop with the conjectures, collusions, rumors, innuendos, gossip, and hearsay. It is time to move FAMU forward. It saddens me that we have reached this nadir in my relationship with the Board of Trustees. I write this response as a last-ditch effort to truly reset and work with this Board on actually moving FAMU forward. I have in good faith tried my hardest to increase communication and to be open and transparent. Records will show that I regularly communicate with each and every Board member at least bi-weekly if not weekly, and hold myself out as responsive to any and most inquiries received from Board members, There have been multiple outreaches, invitations, and distributions of information to create a stronger and more productive working relationship.