Report Type
Report Category
Submitting Agency
- (-) National Science Foundation OIG (11)
- (-) Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (2)
- (-) Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (3)
- Department of Agriculture OIG (1)
- Department of Commerce OIG (3)
- Department of Education OIG (13)
- Department of Health & Human Services OIG (2)
- Department of Housing and Urban Development OIG (7)
- Department of Justice OIG (2)
- Department of Labor OIG (21)
- Department of State OIG (1)
- Department of the Interior OIG (3)
- Department of the Treasury OIG (56)
- Department of Transportation OIG (2)
- Department of Veterans Affairs OIG (1)
- Election Assistance Commission OIG (8)
- Environmental Protection Agency OIG (3)
- Federal Reserve Board & CFPB OIG (2)
- Peace Corps OIG (1)
- Small Business Administration OIG (14)
- Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery (4)
- Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (2)
State/Local Agency
State (State and Local Reports)
Fraud Type
Related Organizations
Management Challenges
Any Recommendations
Any Open Recommendations
Reports
Implementation of Economic Impact Payments
The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should initiate a multipronged public awareness campaign to inform the public about the availability of the Recovery Rebate Credit related to individuals deceased in Calendar Year 2020. This campaign should clarify information previously provided about the advance payments as well as actions that need to be taken to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit for a Calendar Year 2020 decedent.
The Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, should ensure that prior to issuing future EIPs, processes are developed to cross-check return filings to identify and prevent payments to individuals who are not eligible based on applicable dependency requirements.
Performance Audit of the Implementation of OMB COVID-19 Flexibilities – Florida International University
Resolve the $1,252 in questioned Award Cash Management $ervice drawdowns for which FIU has not agreed to reimburse NSF and direct FIU to repay or otherwise remove the sustained questioned costs from its NSF awards.
Direct FIU to provide documentation supporting that it has repaid or otherwise credited the $14,167 of questioned costs for which it has agreed to reimburse NSF.
Direct FIU to update its administrative and management processes and internal control procedures surrounding the Award Cash Management $ervice for awards with expiring appropriations. Updated processes should ensure FIU appropriately documents how it calculates the final draw amounts for awards with expiring appropriations, to ensure it only uses the draws to cover costs incurred before the appropriation expired.
Direct FIU to strengthen its award set-up processes and procedures to ensure it cannot charge costs to an active award if the Federal appropriations for the award have expired.
Resolve the $791 in questioned fringe benefit costs for which FIU has not agreed to reimburse NSF and direct FIU to repay or otherwise remove the sustained questioned costs from its NSF awards.
Direct FIU to provide documentation supporting that it has repaid or otherwise credited the $5,934 of questioned promotional and salary costs for which it has agreed to reimburse NSF.
Direct FIU to establish clear guidance regarding the <span class="tx-tooltip" tabindex="0">
allowable uses
<span class="tx-tooltip-text">
<span class="cf0">An allowable use is any expenditure on which an entity can spend funding.</span>
</span>
</span>
of participant support cost funding. This guidance should address: a. Allowable uses of participant support cost funding. b. How to verify personnel did not apply fringe benefit rates to participant stipends or other non-salary expenses.
Direct FIU to strengthen its monitoring procedures surrounding costs charged to its NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates programs. Updated procedures should ensure FIU charges costs associated with promotional and/or other unallowable items to nonFederal funding sources.
Direct FIU to update its current practices to ensure it only applies fringe benefits using fringe benefit rates that have been approved by its cognizant audit agency.
Performance Audit of the Implementation of OMB COVID-19 Flexibilities – State University of New York at Stony Brook
Direct Stony Brook to provide documentation supporting that it has repaid or otherwise credited the $20,530 of questioned Award Cash Management $ervice drawdowns associated with unspent funds.
Direct Stony Brook to update its administrative and management processes and internal control procedures surrounding the Award Cash Management $ervice for awards with expiring appropriations. Updated processes could include validating that Stony Brook only draws down funding based on immediate cash needs and/or adequately documents that any Award Cash Management $ervice draws in excess of its actual expenses support immediate cash needs.
Direct Stony Brook to provide documentation supporting that it has repaid or otherwise credited the $6,913 in questioned travel costs for which it has agreed to reimburse NSF.
Direct Stony Brook to provide additional guidance to ensure personnel reimburse NSF timely for cash drawn down for unused travel advances.
Direct Stony Brook to provide documentation supporting that it has repaid or otherwise credited the $3,898 in questioned travel costs for which it has agreed to reimburse NSF.
Direct Stony Brook to strengthen its monitoring procedures and internal controls surrounding the allocation of travel expenses to sponsored projects. Processes could include reviewing and assessing the allocation of all travel expenses charged to NSF awards.
Direct Stony Brook to separately track its on-campus and off-campus activities so that it can appropriately apply the approved on-campus and off-campus indirect cost rates.
Direct Stony Brook to update its current budget proposal process to eliminate the use of blended indirect cost rates.
Direct Stony Brook to update its current award set-up practices to require that, when setting up accounts established for NSF awards, personnel ensure that the accounts apply indirect costs using the rates that were established in the Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement in effect as of the date of the NSF grant award, rather than using the rates included within the original grant proposal.
Direct Stony Brook to update its current award set-up practices to remove the establishment of indirect cost budget caps.
Performance Audit of the Implementation of OMB COVID-19 Flexibilities – University of New Mexico
Resolve the $17,269 in questioned unreasonable per diem, airfare, and ground transportation costs for which UNM has not agreed to reimburse NSF and direct UNM to repay or otherwise remove the sustained questioned costs from its NSF awards.
Direct UNM to strengthen its administrative and management procedures for reviewing travel expenses incurred on sponsored projects. Updated procedures could include periodic training for Principal Investigators to ensure they understand when NSF Grant Officer approval should be requested and how to appropriately document that only reasonable costs were charged to NSF awards.
Direct UNM to strengthen its policies and procedures regarding the reasonableness of per diem expenses incurred when employees are temporarily relocated for a period longer than 30 days.
Resolve the $3,613 in questioned tuition costs for which UNM has not agreed to reimburse NSF and direct UNM to repay or otherwise remove the sustained questioned costs from its NSF awards.
Direct UNM to provide documentation supporting that it has repaid or otherwise credited the $83 of questioned travel costs for which it has agreed to reimburse NSF.
Direct UNM to strengthen its controls surrounding the approval of expense reimbursements to ensure approvers appropriately verify that travelers are reimbursed at the appropriate U.S. General Services Administration per diem rate(s).
Direct UNM to strengthen its policies and procedures surrounding the use of participant support cost funding to cover tuition remission expenses. Specifically, UNM should update its current tuition remission policies and procedures to ensure that it does not use participant support costs to cover costs associated with credit hours that do not benefit student participants.
Direct UNM to update its award set-up practices to require that, when setting up accounts established for NSF awards, personnel ensure that the accounts apply indirect costs using the rates that were established in the Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement in effect as of the date of the NSF grant award, rather than using the rates included within the original grant proposal.
Direct UNM to require subawardees to apply indirect costs using the rates that were established in the Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement in effect as of the date of the subaward agreement, rather than using the rates included within the subaward budget and proposal.
Performance Audit of the Implementation of OMB COVID-19 Flexibilities – University of Kentucky Research Foundation
Direct UKRF to provide documentation supporting that it has repaid or otherwise credited the $33,151 of questioned materials and supplies costs for which it has agreed to reimburse NSF.
Direct UKRF to implement additional NSF grant close-out procedures that require the Principal Investigator to evaluate whether they should remove any expenses associated with unused materials and supplies from the NSF award.
Performance Audit of the Implementation of OMB COVID-19 Flexibilities – University of Alaska Fairbanks
Direct UAF to provide documentation supporting that it has repaid or otherwise credited the $14,964 of questioned Award Cash Management $ervice drawdowns associated with unreturned credits.
Direct UAF to provide additional training to the individual(s) responsible for making draws within NSF’s Award Cash Management $ervice system to ensure that UAF appropriately incorporates credits when calculating the total amount to draw down from, or return to, NSF.
Direct UAF to provide documentation supporting that it has repaid or otherwise credited the $10,704 of questioned indirect costs for which it has agreed to reimburse NSF.
Direct UAF to strengthen its administrative and management processes and training procedures for ensuring that it appropriately applies indirect costs to costs charged to Federal awards. Updated processes could include: a. Requiring an annual review of sponsored award accounts that UAF established to track participant support costs to ensure that the accounts do not apply indirect costs. b. Requiring that personnel manually review purchase card transactions that exceed $5,000 to evaluate whether UAF should account for the purchase(s) as equipment.
Direct UAF to provide documentation supporting that it has repaid or otherwise credited the $2,938 of questioned travel and other direct costs for which it has agreed to reimburse NSF.
Direct UAF to strengthen its policies and procedures related to creating and retaining documentation, including introducing additional controls to help ensure that UAF appropriately creates and maintains all documentation necessary to support the allowability of expenses charged to sponsored programs.
Direct UAF to provide additional training regarding the types of travel expenses that are allowable and unallowable under Federal and NSF regulation and UAF policy. This training should specifically address how to account for expenses claimed by non-UAF employees for which UAF has received a travel credit.
Direct UAF to establish clear guidance regarding the allowability of credit card convenience fees.
Direct UAF to strengthen its administrative and management processes and procedures surrounding the approval of travel expense reports. Updated procedures could include: a. Conducting annual training for those individuals responsible for reviewing and approving expense reports within each department. b. Requiring personnel to perform additional procedures when a traveler diverts from their original travel itinerary.
Direct UAF to update its current practices for establishing indirect cost rates to ensure that UAF applies indirect costs to NSF awards using the rate(s) established in the appropriate Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement.