by JJ Hermes
Chronicle of Higher Education
August 24, 2007
An estimated 2,000 recipients of grants from the U.S. Agency for International Development, apparently including colleges and universities, will face an expanded vetting process to ensure the money does not go to support terrorism, according to recent notices in the Federal Register.
Under the new system, agency officials will collect personal information that will be matched against Justice Department data to conduct background checks on individuals and organizations receiving funds from the independent federal agency. Since the agency estimates that about 2,000 recipients will face the new scrutiny annually, it appears that not all recipients will be subject to the vetting.
Although USAID will maintain the new records, the notices did not specify who will have the authority to deny grants, who will conduct the checks, and who will pay the added cost. In one of the notices, USAID did state that the program "would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities."
The effect on grants and contracts that USAID provides to institutions of higher education was not clear, and officials from USAID did not return repeated calls seeking clarification of the policy on Thursday. In an interview with The Washington Post, which reported on the new system on Thursday, Harry Edwards, a spokesman for USAID, said the agency would not comment on the program until the comment period has concluded.
The original notice outlining the new system, published on July 17, set a comment period that ends on Monday. Later notices, filed on July 20 and July 23, proposed additional rules for the system and set comment periods that end next month.
Several USAID partners contacted by The Chronicle were unaware of the potential screenings and could not say if the new process would affect their operations. One such partner, Irvin E. Widders, an associate professor of horticulture at Michigan State University, is director of the university's Bean/Cowpea Collaborative Research Support Program, which he said is supported entirely by USAID funds. "I'm not aware of any outside review of directors or contractors," he said, "but nothing would surprise me these days."
David Edelson, associate director for public affairs at the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, said it appeared that universities would be among those subjected to the system, and that "all indications are that this will be effective in the coming days."
Mr. Edelson said that he wais still unsure of how the system would function, and that "basically all we have is what's in the Federal Register." He added that universities would want any new system to meet three criteria: The system cannot be burdensome in terms of time or money, it must offer prompt feedback, and it must include strong privacy safeguards.
According to the July 17 notice, the new system will cover individuals who are directors or employees of nongovernmental organizations who apply for "USAID contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or other types of instruments." Individuals or organizations who "attempt to obtain other USAID assistance or benefits" will also be covered by the new vetting system.
Types of information to be collected include date and place of birth, country of origin, nationality, and organizational affiliations.
Khalid A. Al-Naif, director of development consulting services at the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan, said he expected the institute to be affected by the new vetting system because it has four projects financed by USAID grants. He welcomed the change. "We support a lot of U.S. knowledge going overseas," he said, "and it's in our interest to see that those who receive U.S. funds are held accountable."