2 days ago
State auditor releases full report on Mesalands Community College
Jul. 14—A state auditor's report into Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari dating back several years found the school's spending at one point put it in danger of shutting down.
The report found the college submitted inaccurate fiscal reports and increased salaries for certain high-level staff members, among other examples of financial mismanagement. It also scrutinized the school's contracting process on at least two occasions and that the president had hired family members.
The New Mexico Office of the State Auditor intervened in 2023 and plans to assist the college until 2028. The auditor predicts that by next year, the college could be financially stable. However, the auditor's office said the situation at Mesalands could have been caught earlier and pointed the finger at the state's Higher Education Department (NMHED) for not recognizing the issues at the school sooner.
"While inaccurate reporting was provided to NMHED over many years, NMHED did not take action or begin to request the necessary corrective measures from the college until November 2022," State Auditor Joseph Maestas said in an interview last week. "This delay in oversight allowed the college to continue operating without the required financial transparency and independent oversight for a significant period."
In a letter obtained by the Journal sent to NMHED Secretary Stephanie Rodriguez, Maestas said the "audit determined that the statutory authority of NMHED was significantly undermined" and also that he "strongly urge(s) the implementation of robust review and verification protocols to independently confirm the accuracy of financial reports submitted by higher education institutions across the state."
"Who's to blame here? I think it's a draw, and that's the way that this is posed, but our letter to NMHED is we're telling them, 'Hey, this happened on your watch, and you guys really need to double-check the breath and the substance of your oversight of higher education institutions across the state,'" Maestas said.
He also thinks it's possible the agency dropped the ball in Silver City, failing to provide adequate oversight to Western New Mexico University, where its former president, Joseph Shepard, was hit with an investigation in 2024 by the auditor's office — and a subsequent lawsuit from the state's ethics commission — for "lavish" spending.
NMHED acknowledged the letter Monday and said that it "provided governance and financial oversight for the college to address the concerns."
"The New Mexico Higher Education Department fully supports the concerns outlined in the audit and in the letter from the Office of the State Auditor, as we have been collaborating on this effort for some time now," NMHED spokesperson Auriella Ortiz said in a statement.
The repot found that the college awarded a contract to a company owned by someone employed by the school, and another contract was awarded to a company owned by the spouse of someone who was a high level employee of the college's, both raising concerns about conflict of interest. Additionally, the report said that then-President Gregg Busch hired his wife and son to positions at the university — raising the question of nepotism — and that he also took multiple trips of "questionable value" to the college.
The report also states that at one point, the school's financial health reached the point of "insolvency," and conversations took place about Eastern New Mexico University taking over the community college, which Eastern New Mexico confirmed on Monday.
The state auditor said that the sale likely would have happened and would've "sent a chill" in the community had his office and NMHED not gotten involved.
"Mesalands offers a very unique kind of careers, I think nursing and renewable energy, they have that niche," Maestas said. "I think that would be thrown into this period of great uncertainty, and it could have had negative economic consequences on the city."
The college, which serves just under 1,000 students in the city of roughly 5,000, increased its reserve fund to around $2.1 million by the end of 2024 fiscal year, a sizable improvement, according to David Peña, director of policy for the auditor's office.
The college's leadership also feels it's turning a corner.
"I feel like we're in a really great position right now where we can actually start expanding the programs that we can offer our community," Mesalands President Allen Moss said in a phone interview on Monday.
Moss joined the college in 2022, leaving his job as superintendent of a rural southern Missouri school district to become the director of Mesalands' small business development center and was eventually promoted to interim, then full-time president of the school. While he said he was not surprised by the auditors' report findings and appreciates the office's assistance to the college, he takes issue with the report's tone.
"It's difficult not to take those things personally because even though a lot of my staff and I weren't a part of that, you're still talking about the college," Moss said.
