Kentucky: Weaknesses seen in U of L grant monitoring system; review in response to federal criminal investigation into potential misappropriation of grant funds by Robert Felner

by E Wayne Ross on September 22, 2008

Courier-Journal: Weaknesses seen in U of L grant monitoring system
Officials admit rigor of the system varies

Last year, the University of Louisville received $77 million in federal grants — just a small chunk of taxpayer awards that flow to universities each year for research in fields ranging from medicine to education.
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At most universities, including U of L, a mix of federal regulations, financial accounting and administrative monitoring provides oversight for those grants and is typically sufficient to deter misuse, experts and grant administrators say.

But a federal criminal investigation into the potential misappropriation of a $694,000 federal education grant has raised questions about whether gaps exist at U of L — at a time when grant funding at the university has risen sharply.