ALBANY — The Albany Herald has obtained a copy of a University System of Georgia internal audit of Albany State University’s Financial Aid Office in which a review of the financial aid histories of five students who also were employees of the university shows that one former employee of the financial aid department received $270,000 in federal student financial aid since 1985.
The ASU Office of Communications has confirmed that four financial aid office employees have been terminated, but would not release the names of the former employees.
Among the recommended actions from the University System were corrective personnel action and reorganization within the ASU Financial Aid Office and referring the report to authorities for review for any possible criminal violations.
“Earlier, we communicated with the campus about a report of irregularities in our financial aid office,” ASU Interim President Art Dunning said. “We engaged the proper authorities and launched an immediate, complete and thorough investigation. That investigation has now been completed. The investigation revealed serious misconduct on the part of several of our employees. We have taken appropriate disciplinary action with the involved employees.
“I want to make very clear that this type of misconduct has no place at Albany State University. We are moving forward to ensure that the financial aid office has the human and technical resources, policies and protocols in place to better serve the needs of our students. Going forward, we can assure you that proper oversight, integrity of the process and quality customer service will be the priorities of the financial aid office.”
According to the heavily redacted audit report, the irregularities came to light in August after Stephanie Lawrence, the newly appointed director of the Financial Aid Office, contacted the ASU Office of Internal Audits regarding irregularities she found in financial aid awards to an employee of the Financial Aid Office.
