Misuse of state P-Card credit cards by staff for inappropriate purchases - in one case, including condoms and sexual enhancement aids - continues to be a problem at Shepherd University, legislative auditors said Sunday.
Inappropriate transactions cited in Sunday's audit include $1,271 for non-work-related dress clothes purchased by campus police; over $1,000 for personal, apparently non-travel-related meals; $1,150 for rental of a car for six weeks; and $56 for condoms, K-Y Jelly and sexual enhancement products called "Vital Erotic Shots" purchased at a local drug store and billed to the RA (resident assistants) program.
The ongoing audit was prompted by the 2013 indictment of a former university employee accused of making more than $86,000 in personal purchases on her university P-Card.
"Shepherd University's P-Card program has multiple issues creating a high risk environment for the misuse of P-Cards potentially resulting in fraudulent expenditures and ultimately costing the state money," the audit concluded.
Alan Perdue, general counsel for the university, told legislators Sunday that the university is working to implement new P-Card and procurement practices set up by the state Auditor's office.
"We have not completed the execution of these appropriately, and we are determined to do that," Perdue said.
He said university administration is researching all the questionable purchases uncovered by the legislative audit.
For instance, administration has determined the purchases of what Perdue described as "personal hygiene items related to sexuality" were made by a residence hall director for distribution to dormitory residents.
"We don't believe those items were for the personal use of the purchaser," Perdue said.
However, he said the purchase of any sexual enhancement products by the residence hall director was inappropriate.
"Procuring, let alone distributing, those last items is unacceptable," he said.
Also during Sunday's legislative interim meetings:
n Montana State University research scientist Jay Otto said the perception that West Virginia has serious problems with drug abuse can be a detriment to recruiting new businesses.
"If people perceive West Virginia as, everybody's abusing substances, it creates workforce investment problems," Otto told the Legislative Oversight Commission on Workforce Investment.
However, Otto said statistics show that the perception of drug abuse in West Virginia is greater than the reality.
While West Virginia has serious problems with abuse of prescription painkillers and heroin, Otto noted that the percentage of state residents abusing drugs is small.
He cited a study showing that about 61,000 residents - about 4 percent of the total population - take prescription painkillers for non-medical use.
He also noted that a Workforce Investment Act training program in 2014 conducted drug testing of all 1,350 participants, and only 17 - or about 1 percent - tested positive.
Otto, who lives in Pocahontas County and telecommutes to Montana State's Center for Health and Safety Culture, said the workplace can play a critical role in drug abuse prevention.
Workplaces should enforce no-use policies, provide drug screenings and intervention, and coordinate with employee assistance programs, he said.
"Workplaces can be a critical force to influence the culture of the state," Otto said.
Reach Phil Kabler at philk@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1220, or follow @PhilKabler on Twitter.