That office received a $6 million dollar grant through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief fund, established through the U.S. Department of Education, to provide emergency educational assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was meant to establish eight Apple computer labs statewide, in an effort to provide access to rural communities.
According to a critical report by the state’s Legislative Audit Council, $4,589 of that grant money was used to purchase Apple watches for 11 staff members at USC’s Palmetto College, an arm of the university’s system encompassing two-year regional campuses and online degree offerings.
It was one of a number of “questionable” transactions identified in the audit, which amounted to $1.7 million.
Palmetto College leadership said the watches were purchased for IT directors and computer lab coordinators, according to the LAC report, because “it is important for employees to be knowledgeable of Apple Watches product [sic] as it relates to the Apple ecosystem that operates across all Apple products in the labs.”
However, two of the watches were originally assigned to personnel with job titles other than IT director or lab coordinator.
The Legislative Audit Council said it discerned “no need” for such devices for personnel, “even if the gadgets are affiliated with the computer labs.” If the watches had been used for computer lab patrons to learn more about Apple’s products, according to the report, the purchase may have seemed reasonable.
The Legislative Audit Council report recommended that the university collect the Apple watches and either use them in the computer labs or resell them and return the money to the U.S. Department of Education.
USC collected the devices, university spokesman Jeff Stensland said, and gave them to the State Surplus Property Office. It was in accordance with applicable law, according to the audit report.
But in a six-page letter dated Dec. 4, USC President Michael Amiridis wrote that while the university welcomes reviews of its practices to identify potential waste or abuse of taxpayer resources, the university disagreed with some of the audit’s findings. The university argued that the grant expenditures questioned in the audit were “permissible and appropriate,” including that of the Apple watches.
“USC maintains the purchase and intended use of Apple Watches was consistent with and allowable under the terms of the grant,” Amiridis wrote.
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