DOWAGIAC — Southwestern Michigan College President David Mathews is looking to clarify a number of questions raised about an audit against the college released in February.

SMC has been under fire in recent months after an Auditor General report found the college guilty of wrongdoing by excluding part-time student workers from contributing to the Michigan Public School Employees’ Retirement System.

The audit alleges that from July 1, 2010, through April 28, 2017, SMC intentionally excluded approximately 500 part-time student employees from enrollment into MPSERS, a retirement fund for public school employees in the state of Michigan. The audit also alleged that the college could owe between $388,600 and $10.4 million in fees and interest for not including part-time student workers into MPSERS.

Mathews has maintained that SMC is not guilty of wrongdoing or illegal activities, has never changed its practice regarding part-time student worker contributions and was advised by the Office of Retirement Services that SMC was in compliance with state law. He has also continually pointed to the fact that 16 out of Michigan’s 28 community colleges also do not include part-time student workers in MPSERS and that full-time student workers are explicitly excluded from MPSERS.

Recently, he released a memo to employees answering questions that he has heard from employees, community members and others on social media.

In the memo, Mathews clarified that the college was doing as advised by the ORS when excluding student workers from MPSERS. In fact, in the most recent payroll audit, the ORS did not identify any errors relevant to student workers.

Further, Mathews said that he does not believe SMC will have to pay any of the financial penalties indicated in the Auditor General’s report. 

“We have looked at this and think there is, functionally, a 0-percent chance we will have to pay these costs,” Mathews said. “The [Auditor General] does not have the authority to impose fines. … They are basically a report writing agency.”

Mathews also addressed concerns that the MPSERS issue could affect Federal Financial Aid. He disputed this, saying that the opposite was true because including part-time student workers into MPSERS would both treat part-time students differently than full-time students and that using any portion of work study funding to pay the employee share of retirement costs would be illegal, both of which are in violation of Federal Financial Aid directives.

However, not everyone was convinced by Mathews’ answers.

Tom Buszek, a former SMC dean and the spokesperson for the Facebook page Citizens Concerned about Southwestern Michigan College said that the memo did not answer the questions he has about the issue, and that he would like to know whether trustees were aware of the actions alleged in the Auditor General’s report. He also called for SMC to host a full question and answer session by the board with the public, in order to answer any questions that come up.

“I don’t think we should be taking David Mathews’ word at face value,” Buszek said. “I think there needs to be an independent investigation performed. … I think we need our questions answered.”

Mathews said that he is working with various state agencies to resolve the issue. Currently, there is legislation pending in both the Michigan Senate and the Michigan House of Representatives to clarify that part-time student workers should be excluded from MPSERS. SMC also has litigation pending in the Michigan Court of Appeals against the Auditor General’s Office over whether the agency has the authority to audit community colleges.

“This is the number one priority to the college,” Mathews said. “We continue to believe that is wrong for part-time student workers to pay into a system they will never see benefits from.”