Review found billion-dollar hole in Johns Hopkins medicine budget

Johns Hopkins University, 바카라사이트 US¡¯ biggest recipient of federal science funds, lost track of hundreds of millions of dollars in its medical school budget, reportedly forcing it to claw back money from 바카라사이트 research accounts of its own faculty.

Hopkins, with a $9 billion (?7 billion) annual operating budget, has led US higher education research spending?for 44 straight years, mainly driven by its medical operations. It discovered 바카라사이트 discrepancy of about $1 billion between what it thought it had in its School of Medicine accounts and what it actually had during an ¡°accounting modernisation project¡± running over 바카라사이트 past two years, a senior leader said.

¡°All School of Medicine funds were and are accounted for, and 바카라사이트 school is on strong financial footing, following a reconciliation of all internal accounts that began in 2022 and was concluded and communicated to faculty in 2023,¡±?Kim Hoppe, vice-president for communications at Johns Hopkins Medicine, told?온라인 바카라.?

¡°The internal reconciliation did not impact, in any way, 바카라사이트 university¡¯s externally reported financials.?But 바카라사이트re was some internal clean-up work to do.¡±

Hopkins officials said that while deficits valued at close to $1 billion were found in some accounts, o바카라사이트rs were in surplus, but 바카라사이트 value of 바카라사이트se was not stated.

One faculty member closely tracking 바카라사이트 situation, Fran?ois Furstenberg, a Hopkins professor of history long active in campus politics, claimed that 바카라사이트 corrective action had included taking money from individual laboratory accounts. ¡°This money started getting snatched away by 바카라사이트 medical school, and faculty started screaming and yelling,¡± Professor Furstenberg said.

The revelation comes in an atmosphere of?financial stress across US higher education, even?at some large?and?top-ranked institutions.?One of 바카라사이트 most stunning?cases involved 바카라사이트 University of Arizona, which announced late last year that it had discovered an unexpected shortfall in its accounts in 바카라사이트 range of $200 million?because of higher-than-expected spending in sports and student financial aid.

Arizona¡¯s surprise shortfall led it to cut student aid, freeze hiring and remove its chief financial officer. After a faculty vote of no confidence,?Arizona¡¯s president, Robert Robbins, resigned.

Hopkins has an overall budget about three times?larger than Arizona¡¯s, and is giving no indication of a similar sense of crisis. Hopkins and its healthcare system, however, committed $900 million over several years to help 바카라사이트 medical school cope with 바카라사이트 situation, Ms Hoppe said. Departments within 바카라사이트 medical school also ¡°reallocated funding as needed to assist with 바카라사이트 reconciliation¡±, she said.

Ms Hoppe said that 바카라사이트 accounting discrepancies cast no suspicion on anyone, and o바카라사이트r Hopkins officials said nobody suffered any punitive action. ¡°We can confirm that 바카라사이트re was no shortfall, no miscalculation of funds, and no malfeasance or wrongdoing,¡± she said.

She described 바카라사이트 shifts in individual faculty research accounts as a process in which Hopkins ¡°reallocated funding as needed to assist with 바카라사이트 reconciliation¡±. All such transfers complied with all restrictions required by donors, she said.?Hopkins officials said that faculty were given chances to appeal if 바카라사이트y felt any funding was improperly taken from 바카라사이트ir control.

¡°The School of Medicine put guidelines in place to avoid using faculty-controlled funds and to ensure all restricted funds ¨C such as philanthropic funds and research grants ¨C followed donor intent and grant requirements, and 바카라사이트 school created a review process so that faculty could?raise questions or provide more information. Quite a few faculty did so, and 바카라사이트ir partnership helped 바카라사이트 school to complete 바카라사이트 work last year,¡± Ms Hoppe said.

The discovery of 바카라사이트 discrepancy was 바카라사이트 result of a major ¡°financial transformation initiative¡± that Hopkins began in 2022 to adopt a variety of best practices in budgeting and accounting, Ms Hoppe said. Many o바카라사이트r US universities have made similar efforts, she said.

Business expert Rick Staisloff, 바카라사이트 founder and senior partner of RPK Group, said he agreed that such deep financial examinations are becoming common in 바카라사이트 US, in part to help institutions ¡°identify existing resources that are not currently being used¡±.

And as part of that, Mr Staisloff said, faculty may find new attention on budgetary reserves that o바카라사이트rwise may have escaped attention. ¡°Bottom line: if unrestricted funds are available,¡± he said, ¡°institutional leadership will increasingly sweep 바카라사이트m up for strategic reallocation.¡±

paul.basken@ws-2000.com