Panel puts off UA hearing

Correction: A state auditors’ report released Sept. 10 said the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville Advancement Division showed a deficit of $4.19 million at the end of fiscal 2012 — a cumulative total that includes a $2.14 million deficit from fiscal 2011. Stories in editions of Nov. 6 incorrectly characterized the cumulative total as a one-year deficit.

The Arkansas Legislative Joint Auditing Committee has postponed until Dec. 13 a second round of hearings into overspending by the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville fundraising division.

Legislators expect to interview former division chief Brad Choate then.

“We want to give Choate and [his former budget officer Joy] Sharp a chance to respond,” said state Sen. Bryan King, a Republican from Green Forest and a committee co-chairman.

The December date worked better for Choate and for UA officials who plan to attend.

Choate said Tuesday he plans to accept the committee’s invitation to speak.

Sharp, who lives in the Fayetteville area, had not responded to auditors’ request as of recently, said Rep. Kim Hammer, another committee co-chairman and a Benton Republican.

Sharp could not be reached for comment late Tuesday.

University officials have said Choate and Sharp were responsible for $4.19 million in overspending by the Division of University Advancement in fiscal 2012.

Choate has criticized the university for lax accounting standards. A letter from Sharp acknowledged accounting errors related to work overload.

The legislative committee held its first hearing Sept. 13 into a report about the Advancement Division’s deficit spending from the Legislative Audit Division and the University of Arkansas System.

At that meeting, lawmakers heard testimony from Chancellor G. David Gearhart, top finance officials Don Pederson and Jean Schook, University System President Donald Bobbitt and former university spokesman John Diamond.