06/20/2009

By DOUG TUCKER  / Associated Press

There'll be no more bombshell revelations of questionable financial decisions coming out of Kansas State, Jon Wefald, the school's beleaguered outgoing president said Saturday.

"None that I know of," Wefald told the Associated Press from his home in Manhattan, Kan.

Kansas State has been rocked in recent weeks by disclosures of what appear to be questionable financial decisions, beginning with what the university contends was a secret deal to funnel more than $3 million in deferred compensation to former football coach Ron Prince.

Then on Friday, the results of an audit were released that raise even more questions about the athletic department and how it was run under Wefald and his longtime assistant, Bob Krause.

Released by the Kansas State Board of Regents, the audit details conflicts of interest in the operation of a business incubator at the school and calls into question the way employees in the athletics department were paid.

It suggested that documents detailing newly rehired iconic football coach Bill Snyder's contract be "put through a financial as well as legal review to make sure that the Athletic Department is in compliance with all appropriate accounting and tax laws ..."

The audit showed 13 payments totaling $845,000 to Snyder, former athletic director Tim Weiser and Krause, a former vice president for institutional advancement and former athletic director. The audit said those payments had no supporting documents.

Wefald, who was president for more than 23 years, retires this month. Krause, a central figure in the Prince contract as well as the other questionable dealings, resigned the day the university announced it would legally challenge the Prince compensation contract.

The outgoing president, who has been credited with many achievements during his long tenure, said he delegated too much authority to Krause. "We've had some great people here. Even the one person who's been mentioned most, Bob Krause, did a good job until he just got involved in too many things," said Wefald.

Wefald and Krause were together since 1977 but have not spoken since Krause was asked to resign last month, Wefald said.

"I really chewed him out for that Ron Prince deal. That was so ridiculous. Ridiculous and absurd," Wefald said.

Prince and his attorney maintain the deal was not done in secret and that they intend to collect the entire amount.

"Well, that's up to them," Wefald said. "We'll sure try to make sure they don't."

Nevertheless, Wefald said he was indeed troubled by an audit showing $845,000 in undocumented payments to current and former employees.

"I think we should do everything we can to uncover that," he said. "They'll come up with some new guidelines. The whole point of this, an exit analysis is what they're calling it, is to help the new president. If there are problem areas, he can come up with recommendations based on their recommendations to change some things."

The audit said Tim Weiser received a $500,000 loan just before he resigned as Kansas State athletic director and became an official in the Big 12 Conference office.

Wefald said Weiser repaid the load "with, I think, $25,000 interest." But Wefald said the loan was still a mistake.

"That won't be done again. Believe me," he said.

Weiser said Saturday evening that he had yet to read the audit and couldn't comment until after he had.

Wefald took over in the mid-80s when enrollment was declining, funding was insufficient and the football program was the worst in major college football history. Kansas State was the only major university with 500 losses and many thought the school should drop the sport, as Wichita State had done shortly after beating the Wildcats in 1986. But Wefald hired Snyder, an assistant at Iowa, and gambled his presidency by providing enough money to hire topflight assistant coaches such as Bob Stoops and Mark Mangino.

Under Snyder, the program made a remarkable turnaround and beat Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game. The stadium has been enlarged and renamed Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

Enrollment rose from 15,000 in 1986 to about 23,000. More than 2 million square feet of new buildings have been constructed during Wefald's tenure.

But the audit said Wefald delegated many responsibilities to Krause, which led to a "blurring of the lines" between the many entities Krause oversaw.

Krause could not be reached Saturday.

Other highlights of the report include that the National Institute for Strategic Technology Acquisition and Commercialization, an incubator for new businesses, allowed its directors and officers to own stock in and serve on the boards of companies the incubator launched. The audit said Kansas State should closely monitor the practice for "duality of interest."

The regents have requested that Kansas State's new president, Kirk Schulz, report in October on what corrective actions are being taken in response to the report. The board initially had refused to release the report, claiming an exemption to the state's open-records law.

"An audit that brings up these kinds of issues is a very sensitive document," Regent Gary Sherrer of Overland Park told The Kansas City Star Friday.

Wefald said he did not think the recent revelations would forever stain his legacy.

"We'll get through these things. They're all very solvable," he said.

"I think things will pass. I think they will remember all of the great things we've done here, all the good things we've done. We changed Kansas State around in every way, shape and form."