Audit: UConn paid $902K in unnecessary licensing fees

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UConn paid more than $900,000 in licensing fees to a purchasing-software company even though the school did not actually use the software for several years, according to the state auditor.

An audit of UConn’s fiscal years 2010 and 2011 found that the university paid $902,000 to procurement software provider SciQuest in three annual installments starting at the end of 2009.

The SciQuest system is affiliated with Kuali financial software, which UConn did not start using until July of 2012, the audit said.

“This software should not have been licensed before the university was ready to use it,” according to the audit, which was released Wednesday.

In addition, UConn administrators never received formal approval from the board of trustees to hire a consultant to help implement the new system, and did not adequately document why they selected Kuali software over other products.

Though the new system was successfully implemented, auditors noted that a comparable effort to switch over to a new human resources system was abandoned in fiscal year 2012 after delays and cost overruns. Auditors recommended that UConn develop a structured methodology for major software projects, and that all such projects be formally approved by the board of trustees.

UConn said in the audit that it agreed with the recommendation and will communicate it to trustees.