Central State University Opens Its Financial Books for All to See
Filed in HBCUs on May 31, 2017
Earlier this month, JBHE reported that Central State University, the historically Black educational institution in Ohio, had made significant progress in steadying its financial position. Now the university has announced that it is one of two public universities in the state to post all of its expenditures online in an effort to boost fiscal responsibility. Bowling Green State University is the other institution that posts all of its expenditures online.
Using the OhioCheckBook.com website set up by Josh Mandel, treasurer for the state of Ohio, Central State University lists an itemized account of all its expenditures. The university’s online checkbook shows 7,700 individual transactions involving more than $17 million in expenditures for the university’s 2015 fiscal year.
Curtis Pettis, chief financial officer and vice president for administration and finance at Central State University, stated that the university is “committed to transparency” and that the university is pleased to make “our spending information easily accessible, searchable, and user friendly.”
I think this is awesome, but I am curious as to how spending transparency boosts fiscal responsibility.