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The Office of
Inspector General will issue this newsletter periodically to report
the results of recent audits, investigations, and other work related
to NSF's programs. Our intent is to help members of the research
community become more aware of the types of problems that may be
found during an audit or investigation, as well as measures that may
be taken to prevent them. |
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In
This Issue |
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:: NSF
Clarifies Policy On Extra Compensation Payments Above Base Salary
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Prompted by an OIG
audit recommendation, NSF clarified its policies pertaining to extra
compensation (i.e., compensation above their normal base salaries
paid to university researchers for NSF funded research). Although
NSF's policy manual requires that extra compensation be provided for
in the program solicitation and approved by NSF, the award letter
omits these conditions. During a recent audit OIG found that one
campus in a major university system had improperly charged NSF
$189,114 in excess compensation. Four other campuses in the same
system also claimed excess compensation resulting in a total of
$484,000 in charges to NSF. Moreover, during a five-year period,
these five campuses may have charged as much as $2.4 million in
extra compensation to NSF grants. OIG recommended that NSF make the
policies in its grant policy manual consistent with the grant
general conditions that appear in the award letter. As a result, NSF
decided to adopt OMB Circular A-21 cost principles pertaining to
extra compensation as policy. The circular requires agency approval
of extra compensation payments and sets parameters for specific
situations that qualify.
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::
Evaluation of Math and Science Partnership Projects Can Be Improved
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OIG auditors
reviewed the evaluation plans for nine Math and Science Partnership
projects to determine whether the individual awardees had effective
processes in place to evaluate their results. The auditors found
that five of the nine partnerships had effective evaluation plans,
and for the four that were missing key evaluation elements, steps
could be taken to address these issues. NSF also indicated it
planned to evaluate the overall MSP program, although the auditors
found that NSF had not yet formalized its plans. The agency has now
issued a request for proposals for an evaluation of the overall MSP
program. The OIG believes NSF's proposed actions will address the
issues identified in the audit. In fiscal years 2002 and
2003, the MSP program awarded a total of $436.6 million for 35
comprehensive and targeted MSP awards that will extend over a
five-year period, and it expects to fund an additional $91 million
for 12 new projects in FY 2004. |
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:: NSF Improves Monitoring of Human Subjects Research
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NSF changed its
Grant Proposal Guide to strengthen its monitoring of compliance with
regulations for the protection of human subjects after OIG
investigations uncovered several weaknesses. NSF has revised the
Guide to state: All projects involving human subjects must either
(1) have approval from the organization's Institutional Review
Board (IRB) before issuance of an NSF award or, (2) must affirm that
the IRB or an appropriate knowledgeable authority previously
designated by the organization (not the Principal Investigator) has
declared the research exempt from IRB review. The new language
presents the requirements more clearly and emphasizes the need for
someone other than the Principal Investigator to declare the
relevant exemptions. In addition, two directorates have taken steps
to improve NSF's internal review of human subjects compliance in
response to specific OIG investigations.
Before NSF can make an
award for a project involving human subjects, an institution must
either have approval from its institutional review board (IRB) or
declare an exemption from the government-wide regulation. Although
NSF currently relies on grant applicants to identify the involvement
of human subjects in proposals, past investigations have shown that
this does not always occur. Moreover OIG found that some NSF
divisions neglect to indicate on agency forms that a project
involves a human subject. As a result, NSF's ability to monitor the
involvement of human subjects was compromised in many instances.
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To report a possible
instance of fraud, waste, or abuse pertaining to NSF programs or
awards, please call our hotline at 1-800-428-2189 or contact us at
oig@nsf.gov. For more
information about OIG activities, visit our website: oig.nsf.gov
If you would like to
continue receiving the NSF OIG Newsletter but would prefer to
receive the plain text version or if you do not want to continue
receiving the newsletter, email your request to nsf-oig-newsletter@nsf.gov |
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