UA Advancement Division deficit timeline
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville officials await the completion of a legislative audit into a $3.37 million Advancement Division deficit discovered shortly after the end of the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2012. Here is a timeline of events related to the deficit:
2012
JULY 6 UA discovers the Division of University Advancement has depleted foundation accounts meant to pay for Chancellor G. David Gearhart's annual deferred income after the foundation delays a cash transfer “due to a lack of availability of funds.”
JULY 20 Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Don Pederson tells Gearhart that the Advancement Division is overbudget by millions; Pederson asks UA's treasurer, Jean Schook, to investigate the budget deficit.
SEPT. 4 Vice Chancellor for Advancement Brad Choate demotes his budget officer, Joy Sharp.
OCT. 17 Pederson delivers Gearhart the treasurer’s office findings, which are not made public.
NOV. 6 Gearhart relieves Choate of administrative duties in the Advancement Division and agrees to allow him to work through June 30.
NOV. 15 Sharp is reassigned to the Human Resources Department and allowed to work through June 30.
DEC. 3 After an article about the deficit publishes, Gearhart issues a statement saying an internal review “determined flaws in the division’s budget management process at the senior level.” He explains that the division hired staff despite lacking financial resources to support them in preparation for a capital campaign.
2013
JAN. 10 Gearhart says in an email to deans the Advancement Division deficit won’t result in layoffs.
FEB. 5 Gearhart requests an audit by auditors of the Arkansas General Assembly and UA System.
FEB. 11 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette sues the university over its refusal to release certain documents about the deficit, including the treasurer's report.
FEB. 13 Gearhart announces he has hired Razorback Foundation Executive Director Chris Wyrick to head the Advancement Division; Choate is to assist him in the transition.
FEB. 15 UA obtains releases from Sharp and Choate authorizing the release of their personnel records; UA also releases the treasurer’s report, which is critical of Choate, saying he provided “essentially no oversight“of the division’s finances. In a response, Choate blames Sharp for the deficit, saying she was “overwhelmed” by her duties and gave him misleading information; in Sharp's response, she says she made mistakes, fell behind due to her workload and failed to accurately project the division's revenues
JUNE 28 Legislative auditor Roger Norman says that the audit’s field work is finished and he anticipates it being released in late July or August.
JUNE 30 End of fiscal 2013; Choate and Sharp’s last official day.
JULY 10 Wyrick announces a restructuring of the Advancement Division that, among numerous changes, employs two people to handle duties Sharp formerly handled.
JULY 17 UA releases additional personnel records of Choate and Sharp saying the university “located two files” that were “maintained by University Advancement” in response to a July 12 Freedom of Information Act request; UA releases a settlement agreement between UA and Choate “although not covered by your request and in an effort to furnish all records.”