Cash Hungry Agencies Try Fundraising Quotas For Scientists
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has announced that it is ending a system that based performance evaluations for its scientists in part on how much money the scientists raise to support their research.
Under the system, put in place only this past March, scientists were tasked with finding private, state and other federal sponsors to buy their time. Fundraising quotas increased with the scientist’s pay grade.
So, a scientist at the GS-11 pay level or higher had to solicit a minimum of $110,000 to avoid an “unsatisfactory” rating and a minimum of more than $500,000 to earn an “exceptional” performance rating.
The sudden turnaround came in response to media inquiries following the revelation last week of explicit agency fundraising quotas as part of scientist ratings used for promotions and raises. The quota system was revealed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a national organization representing government employees in natural resource professions.
“This fee-for-science scheme obviously could not withstand the slightest bit of public scrutiny,” said PEER Program Director Rebecca Roose. “It remains to be seen whether scientist fundraising quotas are renounced in name only or whether these federal scientists will be allowed to concentrate on doing their jobs.”
But another Department of Interior agency, the U.S. Geological Survey, is moving ahead with plans to have its scientists raise 20 percent of their salaries, PEER says.
Starved for funding, these Interior agencies hope to get interested parties to underwrite or share the cost of research projects. While, in many cases, potential research partners are other federal bureaus, state agencies or universities, in some instances, scientists are being asked to solicit oil companies, irrigators and other development interests.
“Turning scientists into fundraisers has conflict of interest written all over it,” Roose warned.
By contrast, the National Institutes of Health, after adverse publicity about financial arrangements that its scientists had with drug companies, has banned all financial and much non-financial interaction between its staff and outside interests. The research fundraising system at Interior would be prohibited if subject to the new rules at the National Institutes of Health.
Provided by the Environmental News Service.