TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – The Florida Board of Governors discussed a recent Florida A&M University audit during their meeting on Wednesday, and now the university is under pressure to take action.

The BOG says FAMU violated state law by failing to pay some vendors on time.

The audit also showed a lack of accounting control and significant staffing issues, which Audit and Compliance Committee Chair Aubrey Edge addressed in the Wednesday meeting.

“This is serious. It’s systemic, and that’s a word I don’t think they were tossing around lightly, and this time around it’s pretty systemic in the accounting side,” Edge said.

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BOG members like Eric Silagy directed blame at FAMU CFO Rebecca Brown, who has been in the role since January 2023.

“In the private sector, for a chief financial officer to have this systemic breakdown and this loss of risk control, they would be shown the door so fast it would make your head spin,” Silagy said.

FAMU Interim President Timothy Beard told the board that he is confident in Brown.

He also said the university is working to hire more accounting staff and is installing a $25 million business management system.

Beard said that it should be ready in the next few months.

Board of Trustees chair Kristin Harper says the board is also working to solve the financial problems.

The BOG asked FAMU for progress updates at every meeting until the issues are fixed.

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