Six months ago, lawmakers ordered an audit of Utah State University’s governance, leadership, and culture. Today, that audit was made public.
The audit was brought on by concerns about former USU President Elizabeth Cantwell spending $660,000 of university funds on personal projects and benefits.
USU has been awaiting the legislative audit since mid August, but it was delayed while they hired and situated their new president, Brad Mortensen.
Mortensen’s hiring also delayed implementing millions of dollars in funds that were withheld by the Legislature in 2025 but restored after the university made required cuts.
Mortensen explained that when he started at USU in November, he made adjustments to the reinvestment plan and resubmitted it in December. The Legislature then restored 30% of the university’s cut funds and informed Mortensen that they’d be holding onto the other 70% until the audit was made public.
Several days before the audit was publicized, Mortensen said he was confident the Legislature would approve the remaining funds in the near future.
“We'll continue to make sure that … legislators know that we're taking this seriously, and want to adjust the tone and the culture that allowed some of these issues of concern to arise in the past,” Mortensen said.
The university and the Commissioner of Higher Education received a total of 26 recommendations from the Legislative Audit Subcommittee.
It identified problems in the university’s financial controls and systems, budget and incentive structure, and leadership and governance system.
That includes renewing contracts with a vendor for years without a documented competitive process, university personnel staying at high-cost accommodations while traveling, and spending over $200,000 on purchases with a company that hadn't been financially vetted.
Specific recommendations included using a proactive approach to addressing financial security risks and improving leadership involvement and oversight with statewide campuses.
The audit concluded by highlighting negative decisions made by university leadership, urging the president and board to better leverage the university’s internal audits system to assess risks.
The university concurred with each recommendation.
“When we let things occur that are outside of policy or … state law requirements, it just creates a lot of controversy and it distracts us from focusing on our main mission around serving students,” Mortensen said. “We want to reestablish that culture and rebuild the trust.”
