NEW HAVEN, Conn. --Federal authorities are investigating Yale's accounting practices covering millions of dollars in government research grants, school officials said Monday. Authorities also have been interviewing university employees about accounting issues."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," Yale President Richard Levin said in a statement issued Monday. "We know that we have more work to do." In an e-mail to faculty and staff on Friday, Levin urged employees to cooperate with investigators.
Like most large research universities, Yale relies heavily on government grants to pay for scientific research. A report by the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services noted in February that university procedures were not always followed or were inadequate. The school has acknowledged it must improve its accounting process and has hired a consulting group to speed up accounting improvements.