The Star Ledger
April 28, 2005
JOSH MARGOLIN AND KELLY HEYBOER
With questions mounting about the financial practices of the
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, the State
Commission of Investigation has broadened its investigation
to include spending at public colleges and universities around
the state, officials from several campuses said yesterday.
The SCI, a bipartisan arm of the state Legislature, sent letters
last week requesting financial information from schools including
Rutgers University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rowan
University and Ramapo College, school officials said.
Investigators asked each school for records related to charitable
donations, contracts, consultants, lobbyists and grants dating
back to 2001.
SCI spokesman Lee Seglem declined to comment on any state
probe, citing state confidentiality laws. But two state officials
familiar with the inquiry said the commission has broadened
its investigation of UMDNJ to determine whether there are
problems in the state's entire higher-education system.
The SCI also wants to determine whether the elimination of
the state Department of Higher Education and the autonomy
given to the state's colleges over the last 20 years has led
to political interference or financial mismanagement at the
schools, according to those familiar with the probe.
"We want to see if giving them independence created (opportunities
for) mistakes, bad judgments and wrong decisions," said
one state official with direct knowledge of the probe. "This
is a good opportunity to see."
Rowan University President Donald Farish said his university
will provide the documents requested by the May 6 due date
though he does not know why his school and the other state
colleges received letters.
"It was, I'm guessing, sort of a reality check,"
Farish said. "As far as we know we've done nothing inappropriate."
The SCI's queries were prompted by allegations of financial
irregularities at UMDNJ over the last few weeks. The Newark-based
health care university has come under fire for awarding millions
of dollars in contracts without competitive bidding and for
donating $10,000 to an unregistered charity run by a Newark
politician.
FBI investigators also have begun questioning UMDNJ administrators,
as part of a separate inquiry into the financial management
at the school, two law enforcement sources and two higher-education
sources said yesterday.
Within the last two weeks, current and former UMDNJ administrators
were asked about university bank accounts, charitable donations
and no-bid contracts awarded to firms with political ties,
according to those close to the inquiry.
An FBI spokesman declined to confirm or deny agents are looking
into UMDNJ's financial practices.
The interim chairwoman of the UMDNJ board of trustees, Sonia
Delgado, said, "I can't comment on it because I don't
know about it."
UMDNJ's board, which oversees the 5,000-student university
and its five campuses, has promised to review the management
of the school's $1.6 million budget. The university also has
asked former state Supreme Court Justice James Coleman to
conduct an independent audit of the school's no-bid contracts.
UMDNJ officials released synopses of the 2003 contracts yesterday
to the media, honoring requests made through the state's Open
Public Record Act.
The documents show the board of trustees approved $150.8 million
in contracts in 2003 without competitive bidding. That included
more than $105 million in "blanket waiver" contracts
for advertising, chemicals, books, food, animals for scientific
research, and other items, in which the names of the vendors
were not disclosed.
Similar documents released last week showed UMDNJ awarded
$126 million in no-bid contracts in 2002.
In a prepared statement, UMDNJ spokeswoman Susan Preston said
the school uses no-bid contracts because they allow university's
employees to get "the necessary supplies and services
they need in a timely and cost-effective way."
Questions about UMDNJ's finances began last month after court
documents revealed the university awarded a $75,000 no-bid
contract to a top fund-raiser for James E. McGreevey. An internal
investigation found no evidence the fund-raiser, Philadelphia
lawyer Ronald White, ever did any work for the cash.
UMDNJ officials also were questioned about a $95,000 grant
for a program for the elderly run by Newark power broker Stephen
Adubato and a $10,000 donation to a unregistered breast cancer
charity run by Newark City Councilwoman Gayle Chaneyfield-Jenkins.
