Accounting in academia, version 1.2
Version 1.1 was Stevens Institute. Now we got version 1.2, UMDNJ, which has its UMDNJ surgery program in peril: Accreditation panel urges axing cardio-thoracic unit:

News about possible termination of the residency program comes at a time when UMDNJ is battling questions about its financial management. In addition, two more of the 49 residency and fellowship programs at UMDNJ's medical school are on probation or have been threatened with probation. Baker identified them as dermatologic pathology and allergy and immunology.

The financial management questions concern all NJ residents because UMDNJ is state-funded. The Star Ledger yesterday was saying, Executive bonuses top $3M at UMDNJ. Ex-president received $130,000 after he resigned,

Though New Jersey's other public research universities have instituted similar bonus programs in recent years, UMDNJ's program remains the largest, by far.

At Rutgers, the state's largest university, campus officials said the bonuses for all 21 of their top executives totaled $89,000 last year -- about the same as a bonus for a single senior vice president at UMDNJ.

But it's not only bonuses that are questioned:

UMDNJ has been under scrutiny in recent weeks for its financial practices, including the awarding of no-bid contracts and charitable donations. The sprawling 5,000-student university, which includes eight schools on five campuses, is run by a Newark-based president and board of trustees.

Over the past few weeks, school leaders have come under fire for awarding millions of dollars in no-bid contracts and donating $10,000 to an unregistered charity run by a local politician.

Last week, UMDNJ officials admitted the school needed tighter control on its spending, vowing to review the management of the school's $1.6 billion budget. The school's trustees also asked former State Supreme Court Justice James Coleman to do an independent audit of no-bid contracts awarded by the university.

While the state-funded school is spending money, people are asking why they school's making donations to charities, and spending freely on lobbyists, lawyers, and consultants:

Among other things, the 2002 records show: more than $1.1 million was spent on lobbyists and government affairs consultants even though the university has its own government-affairs office; more than $3.3 million was spent for collection agencies that were hired without competition; and $3.5 million was spent on outside attorneys whose names were not specified when the administration sought approval from the university's board.

One of the articles quotes Bernie Gerard, vice president of UMDNJ's nurses union: "The university is trying to come around and build more accountability".

That would be a good idea.