KNOXVILLE - A state office tasked with investigating allegations of fraud, waste and abuse in government and publicly funded entities has released three reports in the past five weeks involving the University of Tennessee athletic department.
The latest investigation, released Wednesday by the state comptroller's office, details how athletic department staff members violated university policy by accepting golf trips from prospective or current business partners.
The investigation concluded university officials failed to require training for employees on the university's gift acceptance policy and that officials "did not adequately supervise or oversee some trips by university employees traveling on university time."
All three of the recently released investigation reports came after the comptroller's office was alerted from within the university of the issues in question. The incidents that led to the investigations occurred mostly during the tenure of former athletic director Dave Hart. Phillip Fulmer has been Tennessee's athletic director since early December.
The report released Wednesday explains that two current athletic department employees accepted tickets to the 2014 Masters from a company marketing its product to the university. The potential vendor also provided access to Berckmans Place, the report said.
Berckmans Place is a VIP hospitality venue near the fifth fairway of Augusta National Golf Club that has been set up during the Masters each year since 2013. A Golf Magazine article surmised the cost of admission to Berckmans is $6,000 for a weekly badge.
The university's gift acceptance policy prohibits its employees from accepting entertainment or any other gift exceeding $75 in value. University officials indicated to the comptroller's office they have corrected the problems identified by the investigation, according to the report. The university did not purchase from the vendor.
The investigation also found another athletic department staff member accepted two golf trips in 2016 from a vendor that had recently been awarded a $764,000 equipment lease with the university.
A statement released Wednesday by Tennessee athletics spokesman Tom Satkowiak reiterated it was the university's internal audit team that requested the investigation made public Wednesday.
"Two staff members are referenced in the report," the statement read. "The director of sports surface management received a written warning and a letter of admonishment in his personnel file relating to the issues described in the investigative report. The other staff member accurately reported his monthly leave for all trips, but he has been counseled about the university's policy on acceptance of gifts. Dating to the spring of 2017, we have been deliberate about educating our staff on the university's gift and conflict of interest policies and the importance of avoiding even the appearance of impropriety, and continuing education is planned."
Wednesday's developments followed the release of a report last week regarding an athletic department photographer accused of abusing university work time and equipment for personal benefit. An investigation found the photographer earned at least $9,240 from other universities and organizations while performing his duties as a photographer for Tennessee.
A recommendation from the comptroller's office in that case suggested university officials determine whether the photographer violated school policy.
"State employees should use state property, technology, time, and other resources for legitimate business purposes on behalf of the State of Tennessee," the recommendation read.
The first of the three investigative reports was made public Dec. 18 and is the only one of the three to involve criminal charges. That report detailed how former Tennessee director of football operations Chris Spognardi altered documentation associated with cash advances from the university, accounting for at least $14,085 between September 2015 and January 2016. Spognardi pleaded guilty in December to a charge of official misconduct in Knox County Criminal Court.
The fact that three investigations involving the athletic department have been released in such a short time frame is a coincidence, according to the comptroller's office.
"Investigations can take many months (or even longer than a year) to complete," comptroller's office spokesman John Dunn said in an email. "It just so happened that all of these reports were ready to be released around the same time."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.