Eight down, seven to go.

That's the scorecard for financial reforms in the University of Colorado's athletic department, where officials have made a lot of progress but still have some work to do to clean up spending problems identified in a highly critical audit completed in fall 2005.

That audit found numerous problems, from lax accounting of expenditures that saw the university pay for baby cribs at a bowl game to financial disarray in the records of football camps operated by former head coach Gary Barnett.

Monday morning, CU President Hank Brown, Boulder campus Chancellor Bud Peterson and other officials were back before the Legislative Audit Committee, and this time the news was better.

The university has fully implemented eight reforms recommended in the 2005 audit and has made progress on six others.

Only one - conducting criminal background checks on those who staff summer sports camps - remained completely unfulfilled.

And, Brown told the committee, it won't be that way for long. He pledged to have a policy in place by March, well before summer sports camps begin in June.

"If we don't have it in place, we'll cancel the camps," Brown said.

Monday's hearing was the result of a follow-up review of spending in the athletic department, conducted to check compliance with recommendations made in the 2005 audit. That audit was undertaken in the wake of numerous questions raised about CU's spending and recruiting practices that grew out of a Dec. 7, 2001, party held at an off-campus apartment. Three women later alleged they had been sexually assaulted at the party or afterward by football players or recruits. The women sued in federal court, sparking a series of investigations. One lawsuit was dropped. The other, which involved the allegations of two of the women, was dismissed. Those women have appealed.

In the meantime, CU has implemented significant reforms.

For example, CU strengthened policies governing spending on bowl games and took over operation of all sports camps, some of which had been operated as private businesses by coaches. The university has taken numerous other steps, including a push to get regents and top officials to file financial disclosure forms and and the overhaul of policies on cell-phone use.

At the same time, auditors told Brown and Peterson to finish other work, including an ongoing effort to reform the university's procurement system.

"I think we've accomplished a tremendous amount," Peterson said after the meeting. "There are still some things to do."

• Strengthen controls over cash advances issued in the athletic department.

• Implemented

• Ensure the athletic department adheres to state fiscal rules and university policies on expenditures.

• In progress (CU pledged to fully implement the recommendation by March 2008 as part of a comprehensive restructuring of its procurement process).

• Use a planning and approval process for football bowl games that ensures state fiscal rules and university policies are followed when it is determined who will be part of CU's official travel party, what awards should be given to participants, and how money is spent on official functions.

• Implemented

• Ensure compliance with state fiscal rules and university policies on bowl game spending by documenting expenditures, requiring guests to pay their way on trips, determining who is eligible for awards, and ending payments for family members to attend games.

• Partially implemented (CU pledged that the recommendations will be fully followed the next time it attends a bowl game).

• Establish a policy for the use of courtesy cars, including prohibitions on their use by non-employees and requirements that agreements be fully executed before the cars are provided to employees.

• Partially implemented (CU pledged to fully implement the recommendation this month).

• Improve oversight of sports camps operated in-house by following state and university cash-control policies, collecting medical release forms from all participants, conducting periodic reviews of the financial operations of camps, and analyzing revenues and expenses.

• Partially implemented (CU pledged to fully implement the recommendations by January 2008).

• Report to the NCAA and Big 12 Conference violations that occurred when some football staff members failed to list supplemental income from camps held from 2002 through 2004.

• Implemented

• Bring administration of the men's basketball camps in-house.

• Implemented

• Improve oversight and management of contracts and agreements with companies that provide services to the athletic department.

• Implemented

• Report to the NCAA and Big 12 Conference that some football staffers failed to report outside income they earned at sports camps held at CU.

• Implemented

• Improve the reporting of "athletically related" income from outside sources by athletic department employees.

• Implemented.

• Develop and implement a policy requiring criminal background checks on individuals who work at sports camps held by the university.

• Not implemented (CU pledged to have the policy in place by March 2008).

• Improve compliance requirements for university officers and regents to file financial disclosure statements.

• Implemented.

• Finalize and implement a cell phone policy that determines which employees should be issued cell phones, provides guidance on reviewing and selecting cell phone plans, establishes a process for monitoring cell phone use, and addresses personal use of cell phones.

• In progress (a new policy that went into effect in June came too late for auditors to check).

• Improve procurement controls by expanding policies on documentation, enforcing compliance, reviewing practices, and providing training and technical assistance.

• In progress (CU pledged to have the policies fully implemented by March 2008).

vaughank@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5019

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