For one disgruntled donor, however, the email presented an opportunity to air some grievances about the department’s leader.

“Kim Tobin uses University Funds for private expenditures,” Caleb Ochs replied to the automated message. “You will never receive a dime from me until she is no longer employed at the university.”

Two hours later, Ochs submitted an identical message to the university’s misconduct hotline.

The report was one of four tips alleging financial misconduct by Tobin that CSU received between Sept. 5 and Nov. 16, 2018, which sparked an internal investigation into spending within advancement that concluded in February 2019. The contents of the investigation and relevant evidence, totaling 188 pages, were obtained by The State News through a public records request.

Other tips alleged similar financial misconduct and questioned Tobin’s leadership skills, with one stating that “frustration is growing out of not only misuse of funds, but also bullying, favoritism and fear of retaliation.”

Some tips sent into the hotline alleged Tobin had used university funds to throw “graduation celebrations” for herself after earning her Ph.D., while the investigation identified thousands in expenses for retirement and going-away parties for other advancement employees.  

While the internal investigation ultimately found “no evidence of anyone attempting to obtain an unauthorized financial benefit from any UA transactions,” it did find that the department was “not always in compliance with CSU Financial Rule.” Furthermore, the investigators determined that advancement management often failed to justify increased expenses, something they said contributed to “a perception that UA spending is high.”

Investigators zeroed in on a limited set of purchases expensed during fiscal years 2018 and 2019, interviewed relevant personnel, “data mined” financial transactions, and evaluated documentation. The resulting report gave six recommendations to improve internal controls within UA, including eliminating university-provided alcohol at staff meetings, reining in spending, and requiring Tobin to request expenses from a superior, rather than her subordinates.

Some of these discrepancies mirror practices described by former and current fundraising staffers at Michigan State University, where Tobin has led advancement since 2022. Those practices, which included indulging in meals with other top officials on the university’s dime and fostering a workplace culture described by some employees as punishing dissent, were the subject of a State News report published in December 2025.

CSU’s investigation did not look into the accusations of Tobin’s harsh leadership style.

Tobin did not respond to a request for comment. 

A CSU spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment prior to publication.

In response to a question about whether MSU knew about the investigation when Tobin was hired, university spokesperson Amber McCann noted that materials related to her hiring would be contained in her personnel file — which makes no mention of the probe.

Circumventing spending limits

Among other rules meant to rein in spending, Colorado State University employees are prohibited from making purchases of more than $3,000 with their university-provided Procurement Card, according to an employee handbook. 

However, documents contained in the investigation suggest that Tobin at times attempted to circumvent those spending limits, either by splitting up large purchases into more acceptable transactions or by having lower-level employees make those purchases on her behalf.

After completing her doctoral program in Higher Education Administration from CSU in May 2018, Tobin called on advancement to celebrate. Her commencement celebration cost the university $5,562 across nine purchases.

A $525 rental fee for a charter bus to transport guests to Tobin’s degree ceremony was initiated by Senior Advancement Coordinator Natalie LaRose — who would later follow Tobin to MSU — and approved by Tobin.

Two other staffers made purchases of their own, spending $812 and $73, respectively, to procure floral arrangements for the celebration, which were approved by other employees. Other purchases were smaller, like $44 at Jo-Ann Fabrics and $91 for decorations from Hobby Lobby.

The highlight of the day was a $3,418 dinner for more than 100 guests, which included CSU donors, at Rio Grande, an upscale Mexican restaurant in Fort Collins. Here, rather than swiping her procurement card once for the meal, Tobin broke the purchase into two bills, one for $2,000 and another for $1,418.

Tobin was issued a warning by the university for attempting to circumvent the spending limit, according to a note in the university’s financial system.

One of the anonymous tips, which references the graduation dinner, claims that “We had several colleagues graduating this semester,” but “none were celebrated formally and certainly not to this extent.”

Other pricey parties

Investigators also scrutinized spending on two retirement parties and one going-away party.

The three celebrations, which took place within three months of each other, cost a total of $6,664.

The most expensive was a $2,009 going away party for Alexis Kanda Olmstead, an advancement staffer who left CSU in 2018. The “reception” was held in a ballroom on campus. Olmstead, who now directs fundraising at Dartmouth College, remains professionally close with Tobin and accompanied her on a trip to Michigan in 2024.

The charges ranged from $35 for a trash service to $2,143 for catering. 

CSU limits departments to spending less than $50 per employee when organizing so-called “recognition events,” or less than $100 per employee for all events held in a given year, unless given prior approval from the university president. 

Despite the appearance of the charges in the investigation, spending on the parties was not mentioned in the council’s final report.

Approving expenses

One of the investigators’ recommendations was to “consider routing” all expenses made by the Vice President to a higher-level official for approval, something investigators determined would improve transparency and ensure responsible spending.

In the report’s conclusion, the university responded to that recommendation by insisting that sending expense requests to higher-ups is already the standard within advancement.

“Expense approval for the VPUA expenses have, and will continue to, follow the protocol for approving expenses set by the President’s Office, consistent with the process for other vice presidents,” the university wrote in its response.

The expenses related to Tobin’s commencement celebration, which were made by three employees, including Tobin, complicate that claim. Furthermore, one former CSU advancement employee said Tobin outsourced expenses to lower-level employees on other occasions. 

The former employee, who said they regularly initiated purchases on behalf of Tobin, insisted on speaking anonymously to protect their future employment in the fundraising field. 

Expenses made by lower-level employees would have never gone to Tobin’s superior, the employee said.

Old habits

In response to the investigators’ recommendation that Tobin ensure all advancement employees understand CSU’s financial rules, the university wrote that Tobin “has taken the information gleaned from this review very seriously.”

Since Tobin arrived at MSU in 2022, however, advancement staffers have repeatedly conveyed to MSU concerns over Tobin’s leadership, with one heavily redacted misconduct report alleging questionable spending connected to a company hired by advancement.

The bulk of complaints has centered on the culture within advancement under Tobin. 

A recent assessment of Tobin’s leadership style at MSU described it as "authoritarian or fear-based,” and staffers told The State News that Tobin demands loyalty and harshly punishes dissent.

To Tyler Drum, a former CSU advancement employee who worked under Tobin for two years, the complaints from MSU staffers sound like nothing new.  

“I've never had a boss that you were scared to your bone to even say anything to,” Drum said. 

After multiple people between Tobin and Drum left advancement, meaning he was put in a position more visible to Tobin, he “left right away.”  

The whole advancement department under Tobin had a “culture of fear,” Drum said. The State News spoke to seven other CSU employees who worked for or alongside Tobin during her time at CSU, all of whom echoed this statement.

Two of the CSU misconduct hotline tips also questioned her leadership skills. 

“I would have stayed in fundraising much longer,” Drum said, speculating on his career trajectory had Tobin not risen to VP at CSU.

Some upset staffers sent in misconduct reports to CSU’s hotline — the same steps MSU advancement staffers have taken to voice their concerns about Tobin. From March 2022 to November 2025, Tobin was the subject of six complaints to MSU’s misconduct hotline.

McCann, the MSU spokesperson, wrote in an email to The State News that the information submitted through the hotline is “under review.”