The Office of Public Auditor has recommended SHEFA’s transfer after disclosing that the program has misused funds and made illegal payments to contractors.
SHEFA disputes OPA’s findings, but a House bill transferring the program to scholarship office has already been drafted.
“If they decide to transfer it here, we’re more than willing to work with them,” Rasa said. “We just hope that they will give us additional staff to run it because they have more programs in SHEFA than we do.”
She said the scholarship office has two staffers doing all the collections, reviews and filing of documents.
But Rasa also believes that will be more convenient for students to go to one place when filing and processing their scholarship applications.
Rasa,the office administrator, is reviewing approximately all 1,200 applications each term while another staffer handle the collections and filing of documents.
She said her office will need three additional staffers once SHEFA is transferred to their administration.
Rasa said the Legislature should also consider compensating the members of the scholarship board.
“Our board has been working free since the beginning and because SHEFA will be an additional task for them, I think it’s the best time to consider giving them the compensation other boards receive,” she said.
