The Odessa College Board of Trustees approved its audited financial statements during a special meeting Thursday in the Zant Room of the Saulsbury Campus Center.
The college received a clean, unmodified opinion. The firm of Whitley Penn conducted the audit.
“The purpose of the audit really is to provide the users of the financial statements with reasonable assurance that they can rely on them. We do look at everything as of Aug. 31, 2022, in this case. Our goal as auditors is to obtain reasonable assurance, not absolute, that the financial statements are materially correct,” Roger Tovar, a partner at Whitley Penn, said.
Odessa Controller Kristi Gibbs said the college ended the year with an increase in current assets, a decrease in long-term debt and a surplus of $13.5 million .
Gibbs said OC gave $385,000 to the Vision 2030+ project and $154,000 to the Promise Program.
According to the OC website, the OC Promise is a last-dollar-in scholarship opportunity that covers the cost of tuition and fees for the eligible class of 2024 high school graduates.
Eligible students for the program will be high school seniors who live in the Odessa College Service area and who will graduate in the Class of 2024. GED and home school students must be between the ages of 17-19 years of age after 2024.
Eligible students also must be enrolled full-time in an associate degree or workforce certificate pathway, the site said.
President Gregory Williams said it’s important for the board to receive a clean audit.
“In addition, we have a surplus. We’re operating effectively. We’re getting better and better, not only in the classroom and with more students on board, more enrollments, more success, more graduations, more graduates but in addition to that we’re taking care of things financially at the same time. We’re doing it the right way in almost every way,” Williams said.
