The Government Accountability Office (GAO) this week issued a report evaluating the reforms instituted by the Smithsonian Institution’s Board of Regents in response to the series of well-publicized scandals that rocked the organization over the past few years. In general, the GAO felt the Regents had successfully implemented some reforms, but still needed to develop policies and internal controls for issues such as travel, event expenses and contracting.
The GAO gave the Regents credit for the reforms that had been instituted with regard to executive compensation and benefits, improving access to information, and transparency. However, the report said the Regents still needed to do more to improve relationships with stakeholders.
The GAO also stressed the need to develop a plan to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of its reforms once they have been implemented.
