Iowa Regents expect some receipts from consultant this week

The Board of Regents this week is expecting to receive its first batch of expense receipts from a consulting firm hired to conduct an efficiency review of its universities after initially allowing the firm to charge more than $220,000 in travel, food, and lodging costs without receipts.

The Gazette over the summer reported the board was not requiring Deloitte Consulting LLC to submit receipts for expenses - as is required for state and university employees - and regents subsequently voted to amend the contract. According to the amendment entered into Oct. 1, Deloitte must provide receipts retroactive to Aug. 11 for airfare, rental cars, taxi or shuttle services, lodging and printing.

It is not required to provide receipts for meals, parking and telecommunication charges - although the amendment does include more strict guidelines. For example, consultants cannot charge more than $8 for breakfast, $12 for lunch, and $20 for dinner.

Earlier this week during a legislative fiscal committee meeting in Coralville, Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, asked Board of Regents President Bruce Rastetter about the receipts. Rastetter said 'we have and are” getting them.

'I don't know of any other place in state government where we don't ask for those things,” Dvorsky said. 'I've never heard of anything like that. It's incredible.”

Aimee Claeys, associate counsel for the Board of Regents, told The Gazette on Wednesday morning that Deloitte had not yet provided any receipts but was planning to shortly. She said the documents are expected to come in three batches - one for August, one for September, and one for October.

Claeys said she expected only the August receipts to come Wednesday but she has asked Deloitte for an estimated time frame for when they will submit the remaining documents. Claeys said Deloitte has provided the board with an explanation for the delays, and she has asked for that in writing.

Because the amendment is only retroactive to Aug. 11, the board will not receive receipts for the $220,273 in expenses billed to the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and University of Northern Iowa before that date.

In addition to those expense totals, the Board of Regents to date has agreed to pay Deloitte $3.3 million for its help conducting a sweeping efficiency review of the state's three public universities. Deloitte has identified 17 possible efficiencies on the three campuses - 12 of which relate to administrative operations, and five of which are academic in nature.

The board has agreed to proceed with four of the 12 administrative suggestions - including ones to improve sourcing and procurement practices and create a common application portal for students interested in applying to more than one of the Iowa universities.

Each university president is expected to provide campus feedback on the remaining eight suggestions Thursday during the Board of Regents meeting on the UI campus. The Board of Regents will vote on whether to proceed with those suggestions in November.

The board has said it plans to continue working with Deloitte to implement its sourcing and procurement recommendations, but those negotiations have not yet yielded a new contract.

Rastetter has said he has no concerns with Deloitte's spending practices. And, he said, the expenses will amount to a 'relatively small” cost when compared with the review's potential savings. Deloitte has projected savings between $30 and $80 million.

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