Regents receive results of financial audit, approve tobacco-free campus policy

Northwest Missouri State University's Board of Regents during its regular session on Thursday accepted the results of the institution's FY24 financial audit, which generated an unmodified opinion of the University's financial statements with no misstatements.

RubinBrown LLP completed the annual audit of the University's financial statements for the fiscal year ending June 30. The audit included examining amounts and disclosures in financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation.

Additionally, RubinBrown completed an audit of the major federal awards, which also resulted in an unmodified opinion with no misstatements.

In other business, Regents:

• Approved the appointments of one full-time faculty and 20 adjunct faculty to teach coursework at Northwest during the spring 2025 semester.
• Approved the renewal of a 12-month lease agreement with Bolder Industries Maryville LLC to occupy laboratory and office space in the Dean L. Hubbard Center for Innovation.
• Approved the replacement of Northwest's Smoke-Free Campus Policy with a Tobacco-Free Campus Policy, effective July 1, 2025, that prohibits the use, sale, distribution, sampling and advertising of tobacco products, including smoke-generating, vapor-generating and smokeless products, on University property.

Regents also approved the conferral of degrees at the conclusion of the fall semester, which ends Dec. 13. Northwest will celebrate its fall graduates during two commencement ceremonies.

Additionally, Thursday's session included a recognition of Hunter Weakley, a recent Northwest graduate who received the O.R. Grawe Award from the Association of Missouri Geologists, an honor presented to the state's top junior or senior geology major and making him the University's 11th recipient in 25 years.

The Board of Regents is responsible for sound resource management of the University and for determining general, educational and financial policies.