REPORT DIGEST

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY

FINANCIAL AUDIT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2025

Release Date:  March 24, 2026

FINDINGS THIS AUDIT: 1

CATEGORY:  NEW -- REPEAT – TOTAL
Category 1:  1 -- 0 -- 1
Category 2:  0 -- 0 -- 0
Category 3:  0 -- 0 -- 0
TOTAL:  1 -- 0 – 1

FINDINGS LAST AUDIT: 1

State of Illinois, Office of the Auditor General
FRANK J. MAUTINO, AUDITOR GENERAL

To obtain a copy of the Report contact:
Office of the Auditor General, 400 West Monroe, Suite 306, Springfield, IL 62704-9849
(217) 782-6046 or TTY (888) 261-2887

This Report Digest and Full Report are also available on the worldwide web at www.auditor.illinois.gov

INTRODUCTION

This digest covers Southern Illinois University’s (University) Financial Audit as of and for the year ended June 30, 2025. Digests covering the University’s Single Audit and State Compliance Examination will be released at a later date.

SYNOPSIS

• (25-1) The University did not have adequate internal control over reporting its census data.

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

INADEQUATE INTERNAL CONTROLS OVER CENSUS DATA

The University did not have adequate internal control over reporting its census data to provide assurance the census data submitted to the State Universities Retirement System (System) and State Employees’ Group Insurance Program (Plan) was complete and accurate.
The auditors noted the following:

• The University had not developed a University-wide process to annually obtain from the System the incremental changes recorded by the System in the census data records and reconcile these changes back to the University’s internal supporting records.

• During completeness testing of University faculty data, auditors identified eight instructors not reported as eligible to participate in the System and the Plan by the University.

• During cut-off testing of data transmitted by the University to the System, auditors noted the following events were reported to the System after the close of the fiscal year in which the event occurred, resulting in improper exclusion or inaccurate member status (active or inactive) as of fiscal year-end. 
-- Three new employee hires
-- Four employees on a leave of absence
-- One hundred sixty-five employee terminations. 

The result of the errors above led to contributions due to the plan being understated and inaccurate census data being utilized by the System and the State in the performance of the annual pension and OPEB actuarial valuation processes. (Finding 1, pages 5-7)  

We recommended the University strengthen controls to establish a University-wide process of annually obtaining from the System the incremental changes recorded in the census data records and reconcile these changes back to the University’s internal supporting records. If differences are noted between the University’s data and the System’s data, these differences should be communicated timely and rectified to ensure the actuarial valuations are using accurate data.

Further, we recommended the University strengthen controls to ensure all eligible employees are reported to the System and State, along with any required employee and employer contributions.

Finally, we recommended the University strengthen controls to ensure all events occurring within the census data accumulation year are reported timely to the System so these events can be incorporated into the census data utilized in the annual actuarial valuation process.

University officials agreed and stated it complies with and has processes for the reporting, documentation, eligibility, and contribution requirements as soon as administratively possible. University officials stated they will continue strengthening efforts and controls to reconcile System data to University data and differences will be reported promptly and rectified.

AUDITOR’S OPINIONS

The auditors stated the financial statements of the University as of and for the year ended June 30, 2025 are fairly stated in all material respects.

This financial audit was conducted by Plante & Moran, PLLC.

COURTNEY DZIERWA
Division Director

This report is transmitted in accordance with Section 3-14 of the Illinois State Auditing Act.

FRANK J. MAUTINO
Auditor General

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