Auditors explore U of M athletics

revealed some said they hadn’t had an annual review in years, despite a policy in place that specified just that.

The review also made one last finding that it hoped to correct: that “large amount of cash are used for meals and incidentals during team travel.”

Bowen’s arrival has brought movement toward the review’s recommendations: Stacy Martin was hired from Kansas State in September to be senior associate athletic director for finance and business administration. The position will dually report to Bowen and the university’s vice president for business and finance, which was one of the audit’s recommendations.

And then there was this: The U of M’s auditors conducted what was termed an “investigation” into unspecified allegations within the athletic department recently but found nothing wrong. “The recent allegations involving Athletics were investigated, but no evidence was found to substantiate the reports,” Bonnin wrote. “That investigation has been closed by Internal Audit, given the lack of proof.”

University attorney Sheri Lipman said there is a document that confirms the lack of findings, but that document is considered to be part of audit work papers that are not subject to release under Tennessee’s open records law. The school would not release the document and would not answer questions about the topic of the investigation.