From Staff Reports 

RALEIGH,  N.C. — A state audit released on Oct. 21 flagged UNC Asheville employees for making nearly $48,000 in improperly authorized purchases using university-issued procurement and travel cards. 

The review, conducted by North Carolina State Auditor Dave Boliek’s office, covered transactions between July 2025 and February 2026.

The audit divided the problematic spending into two main categories: completely prohibited items and poorly documented travel expenses.

In a breakdown of prohibited apending ($23,044), auditors flagged 18 transactions that violated university policies as follows:

• $10,602 for Verizon cell phone service (9 transactions)

• $5,299 for unapproved legal fees (3 transactions)

• $4,450 for alcohol at university events (4 transactions)

• $2,693 for technology — specifically six iPhones and an iPad (2 transactions)

As for deficient travel documentation ($24,922), an additional 24 transactions compeletely lacked proper administrative oversight as follows:

• Missing pre-approvals: The majority consisted of travel expenses made without required prior authorization.

• Airbnb metrics: Three transactions lacked the mandatory cost-savings documentation showing that renting an Airbnb was cheaper than booking standard lodging.

• Widespread card access: During the audit period, roughly 300 employees held school-issued cards, representing roughly 42 percent of UNCA’s total full-time workforce.

The context and university response was as follows:

• The state auditor’s office attributed the issues to inadequate monitoring, insufficient staff training and inconsistent policy enforcement. Specifically, State Auditor Dave Boliek noted these gaps increase the risks of “fraud, waste, abuse and misuse of school resources.”

The review of UNCA was not an isolated incident; it was part of a rolling, system-wide crackdown by the State Auditor’s office into payment card usage across the UNC System.

Compared to sister institutions reviewed during the same period — such as North Carolina Central University, which flagged $236,000 in problematic spending — UNCA had the smallest total amount of flagged transactions.

In response to the report, UNCA officials emphasized that the purchases were made for legitimate business purposes. 

However, the administration acknowledged that the official procurement manual failed to clearly outline who had the authority to grant spending exceptions. 

UNCA reported that it is currently updating its policies and cardholder manuals to tighten documentation controls and explicitly establish approval chains.