Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1916 [PAGE 853]

EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:

1915]

PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES.

USE OF A R M O R Y FOR P H Y S I C A L TRAINING.

853

(16) A request from Mr. George A. Huff, Director of Physical Training, for permission to use a portion of the New Armory for basketball games and practise: October 11, 1915. President Edmund J. James, University of Illinois. MY DEAR SIR: I respectfully ask for permission for the use of a portion of the New Armory for basketball games and practise. If this permission is granted, some changes in the building would be required. It would be necessary to have a wood floor across one end of the Armory extending eighty feet from the end wall. A portion of the permanent balcony, which is designed for the Armory, should be built on each side of the Armory extending from between eighty and one hundred feet from the end of the Armory. The remainder of the seating would be taken c'are of by movable bleacher seats. This permanent balcony would really be a great help at Commencement time and as a reviewing stand for military functions, or similar affairs. It would also be necessary to make some changes in the concrete floors which are now in the Armory in order that we could still have the sixth of a mile running track. Enclosed please find a plan showing the Armory as it is now and one showing it as it would be if these changes are made. It would be necessary for us to have the use of this 80-foot strip each afternoon in the week during the drill hour for four months of the year, viz., December, January, February, and March. There would be nothing, however, to interfere with the use of the entire building on special occasions, as all stands could be removed, if necessary. Yours very truly, GEO. A. HUFF, Director of Physical Training.

This matter was fully discussed in its various aspects but no action was taken.

STORES F U N D .

(17) A letter from the Comptroller asking for the creation of a stores fund of twenty-five thousand dollars in the hands of the University Treasurer: October 12, 1915. President Edmund J. James, University of Illinois. DEAR S I R : I wish hereby to respectfully request board action creating out of general funds in the hands of the University Treasurer a stores fund of $25,000. The business office now buys supplies in large quantities at wholesale prices and keeps these on hand subject to departmental requisitions. The present arrangements of funds at Springfield makes it impossible to pay the original purchase bill out of State appropriations, because we cannot 'know in advance what departments will use the supplies, in what amounts they will be used or for what purpose. Consequently, the original purchase bills cannot be certified to the Auditor of Public Accounts against any of the State funds. And again, even if such certification were possible, it would not be desirable because the delay on the part of the State in paying such bills would deny us the right of earning the cash discounts. We have, however, made arrangements with the State Auditor whereby he has agreed to reimburse the University out of State funds for withdrawals out of funds in the hands of the University Treasurer. These reimbursements are made as the departmental requisitions for stores are submitted to the State Auditor. Only under such conditions, can he charge the proper State funds. Under present conditions, our books present the inventory of all supplies in the extremely ridiculous status of an overdraft. This status is induced by the following entries that must now be made. All purchases^ are charged as disbursements to the various supply accounts, for which there are no appropriations. As the supplies are furnished to the departments, the stores requisitions are sent to Springfield and a warrant is made out there for the amount of departmental stores withdrawn. These warrants when received by the business office, are then credited in the nature of an appropriation account to the stores account. The result is, naturally, an overdraft, since the volume of purchases exceeds the amounts received from Springfield for departmental purchases. This whole defect can be solved by the creation of a stores fund to be set up in the accounts of the University Treasurer. This stores fund should be approximately equal to the amount of stock on hand. In other words, we are requesting the creation of a trust fund for supply purposes. This amount, which should be $25,000 will, of course, be inflexible and will be ample to meet at all times the needs of the University. for its purchases of storeroom supplies. The fund would be operated practically like a petty cash fund on the imprest system. By this I mean that either the entire amount of the fund would have to be on hand or the sum of the cash in the fund plus any un-reimbursed items would equal the total of the fund. Out of this fund, all purchases would be made and the warrants from the State Auditor for the supplies as used would be the reimbursing agencies. The present duplication' in records would be eliminated by the adoption of the above outlined method. There is now, of course, a double showing of disbursements ; first, the purchase of the material for the stores room; and second, the disbursement charged to the department for the stores used. We also must show the reimbursements for stores used under receipts. The entire present plan runs counter to every approved idea in accounting procedure. It makes impossible the carrying on our general ledger of a perpetual inventory account, which is extremely desirable as a means of control over the actual inventories in the various supply" rooms. If a fund of this kind is created, we can run the inventory and stores system in a logical manner, setting up the inventory as a regular asset in our general ledger and charging departments on the basis of the stores requisitions monthly, crediting, of course, the inventory