U.S. Begins Inquiry Into the Handling of Research Grants at Yale
"Federal agencies are investigating how Yale University manages and accounts for millions of dollars in federal research grants, the university said in a statement yesterday.
Three federal agencies issued subpoenas to Yale late last week, the university said, seeking documents on the allocation of research expenses, the way faculty members report their work on research grants and other issues relating to the oversight of grants.
The agencies requested information on 47 grants and contracts worth about $45 million that were awarded to the university over the last decade, said Tom Conroy, a Yale spokesman.
The university has received about $2 billion in federal research grants in that time, Mr. Conroy said.
Spokesmen for the three federal agencies -- the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense -- either declined to comment on the subpoenas yesterday or did not respond to messages seeking comment. Such investigations could lead to accounting changes, administrative sanctions or criminal charges.
In a report released in February on a $508,000 grant for research involving genes in stem cells, some of Yale's practices were criticized by the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services. The report said that Yale did not comply with its own procedures or with federal rules, and that it had used money from one grant for a different research project.
The inspector general's office also said Yale had disclosed to the federal auditors that some documents had been altered. The university considered the alteration a serious matter and began an investigation, the report said.
Yale said in the statement yesterday that it had been working to improve its accounting procedures on research grants. In a letter sent last Friday to faculty and staff members, the university president, Richard C. Levin, said employees should give top priority to any government requests for information or documents.
''Yale has a clear obligation to comply with all regulations pertaining to the administration of federal grants, and we will spare no effort to remedy any deficiencies in our practices,'' Mr. Levin said in the statement yesterday.
Yale said it had hired a consultant to help the university to improve its accounting procedures and to ensure that it complies with federal regulations.
''Regardless of the outcome of the current investigation, we must get all our processes right and make sure that we are good stewards of the funds entrusted to us by the federal government,'' Mr. Levin said. ''We know that we have more work to do.''"