This ass-wipe has drained all of the money out one of our grants!! I sent a polite email to his secretary asking if there has been some sort of mistake. $10,000 seems like a lot of money to charge to the wrong account, but it could happen. This Bastard has been fucking around with us, its common knowledge that he has used other researchers’ grants to pay for his supplies, AND he has used our funds to pay for things before (the charges were not discovered until I started going over the books). I don’t feel like giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Sorry, maybe I wasn’t paying attention: isn’t there some oversight body that is, like, in charge of him? Is there anyone you can at least point out his theft to, if for no other reason than to make sure that your ass is covered?
Also, how sure are you that he’s using the money for research, and isn’t simply embezzling it pure and simple, to pay for his mistress’s apartment or something? People do, you know. I would think that for that reason alone, there ought to be some sort of official attention paid at a level higher-up, just to make sure the grant money isn’t going for Las Vegas weekends.
My co-workers and I are trying to make sure this isn’t some sort of mistake or miscommunication. Accusing the Head of Research of theft isn’t to be done lightly.
As far as I know, there is no real oversight for this sort of thing. Grants are to be managed by the researchers that receive them. Since we no longer have a trained, experienced administrative assistant (Damn! I miss her), some of us - me inclued - have taken a crash course in accounting.
I’m so fucking angry because these funds were for animal care and a tech salary. If the tech doesn’t get paid because of this dog-fucker, I’m goning to kill the Bastard. (Figuratively, of course.)
I’m trying to keep my boss from quitting research, or to at least finish the projects we have started. Just when we have settled down and trying to get some goals outlined, this happens. It’s infuriating.
Mouse_Maven, I’m not going to try condoning what Spineless Bastard is doing. But it sounds like you’re unable to get any support from your higher-ups. Without that support your hands are tied. (Well, I could say you’re fucked, but tying your hands seems less impolite.)
Unless things change, it really sounds like it’s time to bail out. This is not good for you, mentally, emotionally, nor physically. (If you have the chutzpah, you could consider telling the University that their unwillingness to support your department is making for a hostile work environment that’s degrading your health. That might be enough to get them off the toilet and do something. Then again, it might not.)
I’m with OtakuLoki on this one. You’ve been looking to get out of there for a while now; maybe this is the signal that it’s really, really, really time to go now.
one thing, though – make sure you’ve documented something about the ‘irregularities" you dont’ have to use the word ‘theft’, but I’d be worried that someone would be made the scapegoat.
Good God, yes! Document everything, by now, Mouse_Maven. Down to when you take breaks! Cover your ass. Please.
ETA: This is going to sound paranoid, but in an university setting I’m going to assume that the social hierarchy is Ph.D, Master’s, Bacchelor’s, and scum. In my experience with blame-finding within strict hierarchies, it’s the scum that gets it in the neck for any ahem irregularities, unless the scum in question has absolutely iron-clad documentation.
CYA, it’s not just a TLA*, it’s a damned fine idea.
I’d think that perhaps she should quietly talk to the campus attorney, and ask them what they think of some “worrying irregularities” she has discovered, asking advice on what she should do, or not do. (Thanks for the term, wring.)
And I thought grant managers around here were being paranoid when they guard their grant account numbers with their lives. :smack: :eek:
You’re in an academic setting, right? There should certainly be a grants and contracts office overseeing administration of all grants. Compliance is their bread and butter.
You know, the last time you complained about SB taking your research equipment, I suggested you take your documentation to the Dean of your college (or whatever the equivalent title is in your set up.) I know your boss moved but his boss still works there. It’s still good advice.
Your university has a whole higher administration and they have a legal department - it’s time to get them involved. If SB has stolen someone else’s grant money then this is a criminal matter. If you don’t discuss this with the powers that be, it’s going to look like you covered it up.
I’m not sure what to do. Technically, I work for another member of this department. The missing funds belonged to our collaborator and he has left for another job.
Could I be blamed for this? Maybe. We have a campus ombubsman and I have called to make an appointment with their office. I have also emailed Mouse_Spouse about me leaving my job. If we’re careful, we could live off of his salary.
I don’t want to leave. I actually like my work. Funding has been very hard to come by and the politics has become more ruthless. There are a lot of despondent researchers here. Its sad, frustrating, and exhusting.
No sweat. I’m going to check on my boss’ grants tomorrow morning. He’s lower on the food chain and doesn’t have much money, but I want to make sure that this Bastard hasn’t pulled this shit on Dr. Boss.
I WANT his balls to disappear! I want him to have a shriveled, empty nut sack and a painful priapism. I want him to go to an ER, have the doctors marvel over his atrophied testicles and swollen, painfully throbbing dick before it pops like an over-inflated balloon! Then I want the story of his ruined groin posted on fark.com and have every morning radio talk show host sharing this tale with the commuters.
MM I don’t work at a university, but I have dealt with them.
There are people in academia that make the robber barons of the 19th century look like alter boys.
Document everything. Get someone with some juice in your corner, either the ombudsman, or perhaps the controller.
The ball-less wonder knows damn well what he did, and he is going to be pissed when he gets caught. This why you need some juice in your corner.
The advice upthread is excellent. CYA. Do you have any Kevlar undies?
If they try to sweep it under the rug, ask what will happen if the people that gave the grant do an audit.
I know my boss plays switcheroo with his accounts, taking some out of this one to pay that one, etc. Sometimes because of delays in the PeopleSoft system, it takes awhile for things to reconcile. There are moments when he logs on to the system and goes “Oh FUCK! Where’s all my money!!??” Once that happened to the account that pays my salary (which, thankfully, I didn’t find out about until much later).
Not that I’m defending him. I’m only saying that he might be doing things, totally unbeknowst to you and that your boss may not see fit to tell you about, that are on the up-and-up. Or, even if they are questionable practices, they might not be as awful as they look. So tread cautiously with any accusation.
But I second the notion that you need to get to steppin’. I can’t see how this job is worth all the stress it brings.
I’m going to check on my boss’ grants tomorrow morning. He’s lower on the food chain and doesn’t have much money, but I want to make sure that this Bastard hasn’t pulled this shit on Dr. Boss.