The state audit, which has not been made public, reportedly revealed problems in policies and management of funds at Mountainland ATC, which has several campuses in Utah County. On Wednesday, the State Board of Regents placed Utah College of Applied Technology president Robert Brems on paid leave while the audit's findings are investigated. Mountainland ATC is one of nine colleges that make up UCAT.

Jared Haines, serving as acting president of UCAT in Brems' absence, on Friday placed MATC campus President Clay Christensen on paid leave pending the investigation into the findings of the audit, which will be made public next week.

The action was taken in consultation with chairs of the MATC Board of Directors and Trustees. MATC Vice President Fred Keetch will be acting campus president during the interim period.

"Everything will continue on and President Keetch will continue in driving us forward," said MATC spokesman Mark Middlebrook. "We'll get through this, we'll keep the status quo until President Christensen returns."

Middlebrook had no details as to why Christensen was suspended. He said the current audit's findings are based on previous problems that the school has already addressed, and questioned why the suspension was necessary.

Though the draft audit is not yet public, State Auditor Auston Johnson said one finding assesses "violations and circumventions" of controls at MATC while two others focus on "interactions with President Robert Brems." The fourth finding, he said, was of lesser concern.

The Regents suspended Brems in order to maintain "objectivity and fairness" in their investigation, Regent chair Jed Pitcher said in a statement.

He could not comment on Christensen's suspension as the Board of Regents does not oversee individual ATC campuses.

The final audit is expected to be released next week after MATC officials respond to the audit's findings. The deadline for their response is Tuesday.

smcfarland@sltrib.com