5. a. The governing board of a public research university or a State college shall retain an independent outside auditor who is a certified public accountant to conduct an annual audit of the institution’s financial accounts in accordance with nationally recognized auditing and accounting standards adopted by the commission. The independent auditor shall be selected by a majority vote of the members of the board present upon the recommendation of the audit committee.

The governing board of the institution shall not retain an independent auditor that employed the president, chief financial officer, controller, chief accounting officer, or any person holding an equivalent position at the institution during the one-year period preceding the audit or that fails to meet any other limitations or restrictions established by the commission. The governing board shall ensure the independence of the auditor.

b. The independent outside auditor shall report his findings to the audit committee. The audit committee shall review the problems identified through the audit with the institution’s president, chief financial officer, and other senior members of the institution’s administrative staff who shall evaluate the independent auditor’s findings and file comments in response to those findings with the audit committee.

c. The audit committee shall report the findings of the independent auditor and the evaluation of those findings by the institution’s senior staff to the governing board of the institution. The audit committee shall recommend actions it deems necessary to rectify any identified deficiencies in internal controls.

L.2009, c.308, s.5.