First Nations University of Canada has its main campus in Regina and satellite campuses in Saskatoon and Prince Albert. (CBC)

Responding to reports of alleged misspending, Saskatchewan's First Nations University of Canada says its finances are solid but that it is investigating areas of concern raised by a former financial officer.

"We simply ask that the media, all stakeholders, including the government, to be patient," said Clarence Bellegarde, the chair of the FNUC's board of governors.

The main campus of FNUC is in Regina, with satellite campuses in Saskatoon and Prince Albert, Sask.

Bellegarde's comments to reporters came a day after Advanced Education Minister Rob Norris said that within days, he would be making a decision about whether or not the province will continue to fund FNUC.

The memo released by the university's board of governors Friday said FNUC expects to submit a balanced budget this year and earlier this month received $1.2 million from the federal government.

However, the province has withheld $675,000 of funding and says future payments — $250,000 a month — are in jeopardy.

Norris said he was upset that FNUC will be late submitting a report on governance reform. The report addresses longstanding concerns that there are too many chiefs and other politicians on the university's board of governors.

Norris was also concerned about recent allegations of irresponsible spending by senior staff at the university.

Financial officer Murray Westerlund left his post late last year after writing a report to the university's audit committee. (There is disagreement over whether his departure was a dismissal or a mutual parting of ways.)

Westerlund's report said $265,000 had been paid out as unclaimed vacation pay over the last four years, much of it to senior staff. He said there were questionable staff trips to Las Vegas, Hawaii and Montreal. His report said it was "imprudent" that during a time of tight finances, $216,000 was paid to First Nations war veterans and others to consult on the construction of a massive teepee veterans' memorial at the school.

FNUC on Friday said it has taken Westerlund's allegations into account and has hired an outside firm to look at possible "gaps within university policy."

Westerlund has filed a wrongful dismissal lawsuit against FNUC, although FNUC's memo says he was a consultant and not the senior financial officer he claims he was.

One FNUC academic, English department head Randy Lundy, said the issuing of the memo was "far too little, far too late."

In a letter, Lundy described the FNUC statement as "nothing more than a cynical attempt at damage control" that's outdated now that the province has said its continued financial support is in question.

FNUC students, some who earlier this week expressed outrage at the spending allegations, were meeting with Bellegarde on Friday.

The dispute over spending is the latest in a series of controversies at First Nations University going back to 2005. The school has been accused of financial irregularities, a suspiciously high number of dismissals and departures of key executives, a budget deficit and threats to academic freedom.