Waste of the Day: Utah University Trustees Don’t Know Their Job

Topline: At each of the eight public universities in Utah, a volunteer Board of Trustees is responsible for evaluating the school’s president, among other things. But according to a state audit released Jan. 30, multiple trustees are “confused” by the evaluation process. In fact, only 26% of trustees are aware that it’s their job to evaluate the president.

Utah university trustees don’t understand their authority

Key facts: The trustees must create Key Performance Indicator criteria every year to review their school’s president. Yet when surveyed by the state auditor, 37% of trustees said the Utah System of Higher Education is responsible for creating the criteria; 13% said it’s the president’s job; and 24% simply answered, “I don’t know.”

Regardless, the Key Performance Indicator review is limited in scope. University presidents are only required to undergo an “in-depth review” after four years on the job, even though the average president’s tenure is less than four years, according to the audit. 

That means Elizabeth Cantwell — who resigned as president of Utah State University last March — never went through a proper evaluation. She was only president for 18 months.

It was later discovered that Cantwell wasted $662,000 of taxpayer funds on absurd purchases like a $246,000 office makeover, a $750 bidet and more. The Salt Lake Tribune first reported the potential violations of state law, which were confirmed by the new audit. 

The audit says the flawed system could leave other schools vulnerable to similar mismanagement. 

Our review of system oversight for university presidents and trustees was mostly limited to Utah State University. However, our review of overall processes leads us to conclude that process improvements are needed throughout [Utah colleges].

Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com. 

Worse this year than last

Background: Open the Books highlighted Utah State University last year after Cantwell’s spending habits were revealed, but the latest audit revealed even deeper issues. There is no “formal accountability system for university purchases” at Utah State University, and auditors believe the school’s overall leadership is “defective and insufficient.”

Utah State University also ignored past audits that could have helped stop Cantwell’s spending spree. 

For example, the school made no changes after a 2024 audit recommended the school set a limit on employee work trips. Cantwell had spent $80,000 on 48 work trips, including $11,400 to attend a seminar at Harvard. Cantwell spent 141 days traveling, which was 23% of the time she was in office, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

The work trip policy was eventually updated last year.

Summary: Even minimum wage employees are expected to know the basics of their own job description. The same standards should absolutely apply to officials overseeing millions of dollars of taxpayer money. 

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com

This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.