State Auditor’s Office Recognizes Universities, Community Colleges, and State Agencies with Award of Excellence

The North Carolina Office of the State Auditor (OSA) has established a new Award of Excellence for state entities that meet strict eligibility criteria in preparing financial statement and federal compliance audits.

"As our team conducts audits, there are some entities that go above and beyond in preparing their financial statements. These entities deserve recognition, and I'm proud to honor them with this Award of Excellence," said State Auditor Dave Boliek. "High quality audits contribute greatly to the overall financial health of our state, and help our economy and the many businesses that work with government."

The award is the first of its kind for North Carolina and honors outstanding financial management among state entities. Winners for Fiscal Year 2024 include:

Financial Statement Audits

• Isothermal Community College
• Lenoir Community College
• Sampson Community College
• Wilkes Community College
• North Carolina Department of Revenue
• North Carolina Ports Authority
• UNC School of the Arts
• UNC - Chapel Hill
• NC State University
• UNC - Greensboro
• UNC - Charlotte
• UNC - Asheville
• East Carolina University
• Western Carolina University
• Appalachian State University

Single Audits

• NC State University - Student Financial Assistance Cluster
• Fayetteville State University - Student Financial Assistance Cluster and Higher Education Institutional Aid
• Isothermal Community College - Student Financial Assistance Cluster
• Wilkes Community College - Student Financial Assistance Cluster
• North Carolina Community College System - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds
• North Carolina Office of State and Budget Management - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds
• North Carolina Department of Public Instruction - Child Nutrition Cluster and Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program
• North Carolina Department of Agriculture - Food Distribution Cluster and Child Nutrition Cluster
• North Carolina Department of Information Technology - Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund

Winners will be announced annually. Criteria for meeting eligibility requirements of the State Auditor's Award of Excellence include:

• OSA must receive the entity's unaudited financial statement package by the deadline established by the State of North Carolina Office of the State Controller (OSC).
• Upon completion of OSA's financial statement audit of the entity, there must be no record of any significant audit adjustments made.
• Upon completion of OSA's financial statement audit, there must be no record of any audit findings (significant deficiencies, material weaknesses, or other findings required by auditing standards).
• Throughout OSA's audit, there must be no record of any audit delays.
• The entity also must not be under any investigation, and there must be no record of any noncompliance with laws. Furthermore, the entity must not be under any financial/going concern issues.<_o3a_p>