http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-872023.mp3
Kansas City, MO – Compensation for Kansas State University football coach Bill Snyder accounted for most of $845,599 in questionable payments cited by a state audit. The university's president said Thursday that none of them were improper.
President Kirk Schulz told the Kansas Board of Regents, which oversees the state's higher education system, that Snyder did nothing improper - something the coach himself has said repeatedly. Schulz later said the same is true for a former athletic director and former university vice president.
But a new report released Thursday by Schulz did criticize Kansas State's past management. Schulz also said the university is changing some business practices to prevent future questions about its management and its dealing with groups affiliated with the university, including the athletics department.
The latest report is a response to a state audit released by the regents in June, when Schulz became president. That audit was an exit review of retiring President Jon Wefald's tenure.
The June audit questioned 13 expenditures by the athletic department from May 2003 through June 2006. They included payments to Snyder; former Athletic Director Tim Weiser, and Bob Krause, a former vice president who'd also served as athletic director.
But Schulz said the payments seemed questionable only because the department didn't have adequate documentation. The follow-up report, compiled by a committee Schulz appointed, included a list of the transactions, the dates, amounts and recipients.
