Closeout for M98120042 0n#?tober 1998, a program manager1informed us that he had received an electromc mail message from a The complainant alleged that the department chairman3was abusing authority created by his submission of an NSF proposal4that requested graduate student training funds. Allegedly he was forcing the department to change the way its faculty members were teaching courses and using the possibility of a large NSF award to ensure these changes. The complainant also alleged that the subject was proposing to pay students to participate in an undergraduate research seminar series. In agreement with OIG, the program manager assessed the problems in a site visit conducted in connection with NSF considerations about whether to fund the proposal. The site visit occurred shortly after OIG had been informed of the allegations. He reported that the complainant's issues about changing the department's teaching methods did not appear to be related to the NSF proposal. The subject's suggestion to pay students for attending a seminar series had its roots in a misreading of the NSF solicitation. Since no funds had been expended (the proposal had not been funded), the program officer was able to resolve the misunderstanding. We considered the complainant's allegations to be primarily management issues that were satisfactorily resolved during the site visit. The complainant expressed satisfaction that any additional problems could be brought to NSF's attention and would be addressed in a timely way. We closed our inquiry and will take no further action in this case. Cc: Integrity, IG f a c u l t y member in the Department of l t the University of p *; 15-yearrequest for funds to support a mathematics training program.
Grant Fraud Impeding Research Progress
Published by the National Science Foundation, Office of Inspector General on 1998-12-01.
Below is a raw (and likely hideous) rendition of the original report. (PDF)