OFFICIALS at the University of the District of Columbia misspent more than $1.2 million and couldn’t account for millions more in grant funds provided by the D.C. Council for several training courses in satellite centers in communities hardest hit by high unemployment. They also didn’t spend nearly $3 million of the $7.3 million appropriated for fiscal years 2006 and 2007, according to a scathing report released this week by the Office of the Inspector General.

TBR wrote last October that large sums of money had been misspent at the university during former President William Pollard’s tenure. Stanley Jackson, interim president, requested an audit of the Workforce Development Program (WDP) soon after he took the helm and installed with the help of District’s Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi a new finance team. Jackson had discovered signs of the misappropriation but did not know the full extent of the problem, he told TBR.

The IG found that officials paid staff out of the WDP grants, although those individuals had not performed any work for the program. In some instances, payments were made for duplicative services. Materials and supplies went unused and there were “questionable” contract payments. 

For example: The university spent $306,903 for construction materials to build out workstations for training programs. During their visits, IG auditors found “the items had not been used, were covered in plastic and stacked in a common area. Further, we identified that the courses for which these items were procured had not yet been established.”

Officials paid $168,000 for a media campaign and “received minimal benefit.” A telecommunications firm was paid $28,700 to monitor one telephone line; but the line was never connected. And, a church received a contract of $128,500 to provide childcare at the WDP satellite at the Patricia R. Harris Center in Ward 8.  The contract was based on a budget that included salaries for eight people; a sign language interpreter; a comic book project; T-shirts; and transportation for field trips.

The IG found that only two persons performed the services under the contract. None of the services identified were ever provided to the children.

The WDP also did not meet its academic goals: A large number of students either dropped out or failed. Training programs that were supposed to provide certificates upon completion didn’t. And worse, courses offered under the program did not align with the job market in the region. In other words, a program the council thought would prepare residents for jobs that employers were desperate to fill did not offer training in those areas

“UDC officials did not implement an effective management structure and corresponding internal controls to administer the WDP properly, “the IG report in his report. “There weren’t proper lines of authority; governing policies were either ineffective or nonexistent; and “meaningful monitoring or reporting of WDP finances were not performed.”

 The extent of the misspending could not be fully discovered, however. During fiscal year 2006, WDP money was “co-mingled” with the entire Community Outreach and Extension Services budget. There was evidence, however, that university officials spent WDP money for unrelated expenditures.

Jackson admitted that funds had been misspent. He also accepted many of the IG’s recommendations.

The real question is why didn’t the council conduct oversight hearings into the use of more than $7 million of taxpayers money, and will it continue to provide this grant to the university?

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