[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 225 (Thursday, November 21, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64309-64313]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-25231]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Notice of Investigation and Record Requests

AGENCY: Office of the General Counsel, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department publishes letters, dated September 26, 2019, 
notifying the University of Maryland and the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology of investigations related to the universities' reports of 
defined gifts and contracts, including restricted and conditional gifts 
or contracts, from or with a statutorily defined foreign source.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patrick Shaheen, U.S. Department of 
Education, Office of the General Counsel, 400 Maryland Ave. SW, Room 
6E300, Washington, DC 20202. Telephone: (202) 453-6339. Email: 
[email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service, toll free, at 1-800-
877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department publishes letters, dated 
September 26, 2019, notifying the University of Maryland and the 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology of investigations related to the 
universities' reports of defined gifts and contracts, including 
restricted and conditional gifts or contracts, from or with a 
statutorily defined foreign source. The letter to the University of 
Maryland is in Appendix A of this notice. The letter to the 
Massachusetts

[[Page 64310]]

Institute of Technology is in Appendix B of this notice.
    Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this 
document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, 
audiotape, or compact disc) on request to the person listed under FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this 
document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may 
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of 
Federal Regulations at www.govinfo.gov. At this site you can view this 
document, as well as all other documents of this Department published 
in the Federal Register, in text or Portable Document Format (PDF). To 
use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at 
the site.
    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at 
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.
    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1011f.

Reed D. Rubinstein,
Acting General Counsel.

Appendix A--Letter to University of Maryland

September 26, 2019

Wallace D. Loh, President
University of Maryland
1101 Main Administration Building
7901 Regents Dr.
College Park, MD 20742-6105

    Re: Notice of 20 U.S.C. Sec.  1011f Investigation and Record 
Request/University of Maryland

Dear President Loh:

    Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, codified at 20 
U.S.C. Sec.  1011f, requires the University of Maryland to report 
statutorily defined gifts from and contracts with a foreign source to 
the U.S. Department of Education. These reports are posted at https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/about/data-center/school/foreign-gifts.
    The Department is concerned that your reporting may not fully 
capture all gifts, contracts, and/or restricted and conditional gifts 
or contracts from or with all foreign sources to the University of 
Maryland and/or its affiliated entities operating substantially under 
the auspices of your institution or for its benefit (e.g., 
laboratories, schools, centers, foundations, and non-profit 
organizations such as the ``University of Maryland Foundation'', the 
``Maryland Catalyst Fund'', or the ``Maryland International 
Incubator'', and their employees, faculty, lecturers, researchers, and 
fellows) (collectively ``UMD'') as required by law. See, e.g., https://president.umd.edu/communications/statements/umds-commitment-international-collaborations-and-international-community.
    Section 117(f), 20 U.S.C. Sec.  1011f(f), provides that whenever it 
appears an institution has failed to comply with the law, the Secretary 
of Education may request the Attorney General commence an enforcement 
action to compel compliance and to recover the full costs to the United 
States of obtaining compliance, including all associated costs of 
investigation and enforcement. To meet our statutory duty, the 
Department has opened an administrative investigation and now requests 
UMD produce the following records within thirty days:
    1. All records of, regarding, or referencing gifts, contracts, and/
or restricted or conditional gifts or contracts from or with a foreign 
source to your Institution. The time frame for this request is January 
1, 2014, to the present.
    2. All records of, regarding, or referencing gifts, contracts, and/
or restricted or conditional gifts or contracts from or with (i) the 
government of the People's Republic of China, the Central Committee of 
the Communist Party of China, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., Huawei 
Technologies USA, Inc., ZTE Corp, Peking University, China University 
of Petroleum, Beijing Kaiwen Educational Technology Co. and their 
agents; (ii) the government of Qatar (including those persons known as 
the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development 
aka the Qatar Foundation aka the Qatar National Research Fund), and its 
agents; and (iii) the government of Russia, the Skolkovo Foundation, 
Kaspersky Lab and Kaspersky Lab US, and their agents to your 
Institution. The time frame for this request is January 1, 2012, to the 
present.
    3. All records of, regarding, or referencing ``Hanban'' or the 
Office of Chinese Language Council International and its agents to your 
Institution. The time frame for this request is January 1, 2014, to the 
present.
    4. All records of, regarding, or referencing gifts, contracts, and/
or restricted or conditional gifts or contracts from or with the 
Confucius Institute and its agents to your Institution. The time frame 
for this request is January 1, 2010, to the present.
    5. All records of, regarding, or referencing the audit and 
accounting practices and/or other institutional controls used to 
capture, track, report, and verify gifts, contracts, and/or restricted 
or conditional gifts or contracts from or with a foreign source to your 
Institution. The time frame for this request is January 1, 2014, to the 
present.
    6. A list of all gifts, contracts, and/or restricted or conditional 
gifts or contracts from or with a foreign source to your Institution 
that were not properly reported to the Department of Education. For 
each such gift, contract, and/or restricted or conditional gift or 
contract from or with a foreign source to your Institution, please 
explain your Institution's failure to report. The time frame for this 
request is January 1, 2014, to the present.
    7. All records of, regarding, or referencing solicitation by your 
Institution of gifts, contracts, and/or restricted or conditional gifts 
or contracts with or from a foreign source. The time frame for this 
request is January 1, 2014, to the present.
    8. All records of, regarding, or referencing compliance by your 
Institution with 20 U.S.C. Sec. Sec.  1011f(a), (b), (c), and (e). The 
time frame for this request is January 1, 2014, to the present.
    9. All communications between your Institution and a foreign source 
listed as or a resident of a country requiring cooperation with an 
international boycott pursuant to 26 U.S.C. Sec.  999(a)(3). The time 
frame for this request is January 1, 2014, to the present.
    10. All records of, regarding, or referencing actions taken and 
institutional controls created by your Institution to confirm (a) each 
foreign source has not violated 18 U.S.C. Sec. Sec.  2339, 2339A, 
2339B, 2339C, and 2339D; and (b) each gift, contract, and/or restricted 
or conditional gift or contract from or with a foreign source complies 
with Executive Order 13224. The time frame for this request is January 
1, 2014, to the present.
    11. Your Institution's IRS Form 990s and schedules, including 
Schedules F and R, for tax years 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.
    12. A list of all persons at your Institution supported by a gift, 
contract, and/or restricted or conditional gift or contract with or 
from a foreign source (e.g., a research scientist working on a project 
developing artificial intelligence or engineering systems funded in 
whole or in part by a foreign source, a foreign graduate student 
studying physics under a scholarship or other contractual

[[Page 64311]]

arrangement with a foreign government, a fellow in a cultural studies 
program created by endowment or other gift from a foreign source). The 
relevant foreign source should be specified for each such person. The 
time frame for this request is January 1, 2014, to the present.
    13. A list of all persons responsible for 20 U.S.C. Sec.  1011f 
compliance. The time frame for this request is January 1, 2014, to the 
present.
    14. All certifications and related documentation required under the 
International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), 22 CFR Subchapter M, 
the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 (Title II of Pub.L. 94-329), 90 
Stat. 729, 22 U.S.C. Chapter 39, the Export Administration Regulations 
(EAR), 15 CFR Sec.  730 et seq., or any other related authority with 
respect to programs and activities sponsored by your Institution. The 
time frame for this request is January 1, 2014, to the present.
    As used in this Notice of Investigation and Information Request:
    ``Agent'' means any person who acts for or on behalf of a foreign 
source and includes a subsidiary or affiliate of a foreign legal 
entity.
    ``Contract'' has the meaning given at 20 U.S.C. Sec.  1011f(h)(1).
    ``Foreign source'' has the meaning given at 20 U.S.C. Sec.  
1011f(h)(2).
    ``Gift'' has the meaning given at 20 U.S.C. Sec.  1011f(h)(3).
    ``Institution'' has the meaning given at 20 U.S.C. Sec.  
1011f(h)(4) and for purposes of this investigation and record request 
includes UMD and all affiliated entities (e.g., centers, schools, 
boards, foundations, laboratories, research facilities, branches, and/
or non-profit organizations, their employees, faculty, lecturers, 
researchers, and fellows) operating substantially under UMD's auspices 
or for its benefit.
    ``Record'' means all recorded information, regardless of form or 
characteristics, made or received by you, and including metadata, such 
as email and other electronic communication, word processing documents, 
PDF documents, animations (including PowerPoint TMtrade; and 
other similar programs) spreadsheets, databases, calendars, telephone 
logs, contact manager information, Internet usage files, network access 
information, writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, sound 
recordings, images, financial statements, checks, wire transfers, 
accounts, ledgers, facsimiles, texts, animations, voicemail files, data 
generated by calendaring, task management and personal information 
management (PIM) software (such as Microsoft Outlook), data created 
with the use of personal data assistants (PDAs), data created with the 
use of document management software, data created with the use of paper 
and electronic mail logging and routing software, and other data or 
data compilations, stored in any medium from which information can be 
obtained either directly or, if necessary, after translation by the 
responding party into a reasonably usable form. The term ``recorded 
information'' also includes all traditional forms of records, 
regardless of physical form or characteristics.
    ``Restricted or conditional gift or contract'' has the meaning 
given at 20 U.S.C. Sec.  1011f(h)(5).
    If you claim attorney-client or attorney-work product privilege for 
a given record, then you must prepare and submit a privilege log 
expressly identifying each such record and describing it so the 
Department may assess the validity of your claim. Please note no other 
privileges apply here.
    Your record and data preservation obligations are outlined at 
Exhibit A.
    This investigation will be directed by the Department's Office of 
the General Counsel with support from Federal Student Aid. Please 
contact Mr. Patrick Shaheen at [email protected] regarding 
production of the requested information.
    Sincerely yours,

Reed D. Rubinstein
Principal Deputy General Counsel
delegated the authority and duties of the General Counsel

Appendix B--Letter to Massachusetts Institute of Technology

September 26, 2019

L. Rafael Reif, President
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Room 3-208
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307

    Re: Notice of 20 U.S.C. Sec.  1011f Investigation and Record 
Request/Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Dear President Reif:

    Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, codified at 20 
U.S.C. Sec.  1011f, requires the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
to report statutorily defined gifts from and contracts with a foreign 
source to the U.S. Department of Education. These reports are posted at 
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/about/data-center/school/foreign-gifts.
    The Department is concerned that your reporting may not fully 
capture all gifts, contracts, and/or restricted and conditional gifts 
or contracts from or with all foreign sources to the Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology and/or its affiliated entities operating 
substantially under the auspices of your institution or for its benefit 
(e.g., laboratories, schools, centers, foundations, global 
``collaborations'' and/or non-profit organizations such as the 
``Industrial Liaison Program'', ``Masdar Institute'', the ``Skolkovo 
Institute of Science and Technology'', or the ``MIT Campus, China'', 
their employees, faculty, lecturers, researchers, and fellows) 
(collectively ``MIT'') as required by law. See, e.g. http://news.mit.edu/2019/remarks-president-reif-institute-faculty-meeting-0918 
(reporting flaws in donor and gift agreement ``process and 
practices''); https://www.pogo.org/investigation/2019/02/universities-on-the-foreign-payroll/ (``Lester's report stated that, `over the last 
three years, sponsored research projects funded by Saudi organizations 
accounted for 52% of all Saudi-funded expenditures at MIT.' Yet most of 
the research sponsors listed in the report are not included as sources 
of monetary gifts or contracts in the federal data reviewed by POGO'') 
(emphasis added).
    Section 117(f), 20 U.S.C. Sec.  1011f(f), provides that whenever it 
appears an institution has failed to comply with the law, the Secretary 
of Education may request the Attorney General commence an enforcement 
action to compel compliance and to recover the full costs to the United 
States of obtaining compliance, including all associated costs of 
investigation and enforcement. To meet our statutory duty, the 
Department has opened an administrative investigation of MIT and now 
requests that you produce the following records within thirty days:
    1. All records of, regarding, or referencing gifts, contracts, and/
or restricted or conditional gifts or contracts from or with a foreign 
source to your Institution. The time frame for this request is January 
1, 2014, to the present.
    2. All records of, regarding, or referencing gifts, contracts, and/
or restricted or conditional gifts or contracts from or with (i) the 
government of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel, Saudi Aramco, 
the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, SABIC, the King 
Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, the MiSK Foundation, the 
Olayan Financing Group, other Saudi nationals, and their agents; (ii) 
the government of People's Republic of China, the Central Committee of 
the Communist Party of China, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., Huawei 
Technologies USA, Inc., ZTE Corp, Peking University, China University 
of

[[Page 64312]]

Petroleum, Beijing Kaiwen Educational Technology Co. and their agents; 
(iii) the government of Qatar (including those persons known as the 
Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development aka 
the Qatar Foundation aka the Qatar National Research Fund), and its 
agents; and (iv) the government of Russia, the Skolkovo Foundation, 
Kaspersky Lab and Kaspersky Lab US, and their agents, to your 
Institution. The time frame for this request is January 1, 2012, to the 
present.
    3. All records of, regarding, or referencing ``Hanban'' or the 
Office of Chinese Language Council International and its agents to your 
Institution. The time frame for this request is January 1, 2014, to the 
present.
    4. All records of, regarding, or referencing gifts, contracts, and/
or restricted or conditional gifts or contracts from or with the 
Confucius Institute and its agents to your Institution. The time frame 
for this request is January 1, 2010, to the present.
    5. All records of, regarding, or referencing the audit and 
accounting practices and/or other institutional controls used to 
capture, track, report, and verify gifts, contracts, and/or restricted 
or conditional gifts or contracts from or with a foreign source to your 
Institution. The time frame for this request is January 1, 2014, to the 
present.
    6. A list of all gifts, contracts, and/or restricted or conditional 
gifts or contracts from or with a foreign source to your Institution 
that were not properly reported to the Department of Education. For 
each such gift, contract, and/or restricted or conditional gift or 
contract from or with a foreign source to your Institution, please 
explain your Institution's failure to report. The time frame for this 
request is January 1, 2014, to the present.
    7. All records of, regarding, or referencing solicitation by your 
Institution of gifts, contracts, and/or restricted or conditional gifts 
or contracts with or from a foreign source. The time frame for this 
request is January 1, 2014, to the present.
    8. All records of, regarding, or referencing compliance by your 
Institution with 20 U.S.C. Sec. Sec.  1011f(a), (b), (c), and (e). The 
time frame for this request is January 1, 2014, to the present.
    9. All communications between your Institution and a foreign source 
listed as or a resident of a country requiring cooperation with an 
international boycott pursuant to 26 U.S.C. Sec.  999(a)(3). The time 
frame for this request is January 1, 2014, to the present.
    10. All records of, regarding, or referencing actions taken and 
institutional controls created by your Institution to confirm (a) each 
foreign source has not violated 18 U.S.C. Sec. Sec.  2339, 2339A, 
2339B, 2339C, and 2339D; and (b) each gift, contract, and/or restricted 
or conditional gift or contract from or with a foreign source complies 
with Executive Order 13224. The time frame for this request is January 
1, 2014, to the present.
    11. Your Institution's IRS Form 990s and schedules, including 
Schedules F and R, for tax years 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.
    12. A list of all persons at your Institution supported by a gift, 
contract, and/or restricted or conditional gift or contract with or 
from a foreign source (e.g., a research scientist working on a project 
testing artificial intelligence or other engineering systems funded in 
whole or in part by a foreign source, a foreign graduate student 
studying physics under a scholarship or other contractual arrangement 
with a foreign government, a fellow in a cultural studies program 
created by endowment or other gift from a foreign source). The relevant 
foreign source should be specified for each such person. The time frame 
for this request is January 1, 2014, to the present.
    13. A list of the persons responsible for 20 U.S.C. Sec.  1011f 
compliance for your Institution. The time frame for this request is 
January 1, 2014, to the present.
    14. All certifications and related documentation required under the 
International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), 22 CFR Subchapter M, 
the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 (Title II of Pub. L. 94-329), 90 
Stat. 729, 22 U.S.C. Chapter 39, the Export Administration Regulations 
(EAR), 15 CFR 730 et seq., or any other related authority with respect 
to programs and activities sponsored by your Institution. The time 
frame for this request is January 1, 2014, to the present.
    As used in this Notice of Investigation and Information Request:
    ``Agent'' means any person who acts for or on behalf of a foreign 
source and includes a subsidiary or affiliate of a foreign legal 
entity.
    ``Contract'' has the meaning given at 20 U.S.C. Sec.  1011f(h)(1).
    ``Foreign source'' has the meaning given at 20 U.S.C. Sec.  
1011f(h)(2).
    ``Gift'' has the meaning given at 20 U.S.C. Sec.  1011f(h)(3).
    ``Institution'' has the meaning given at 20 U.S.C. Sec.  
1011f(h)(4) and for the purposes of this investigation and record 
request includes MIT and all affiliated entities (e.g., centers, 
schools, boards, foundations, laboratories, research facilities, 
branches, and/or non-profit organizations, their employees, faculty, 
lecturers, researchers, and fellows) operating substantially under 
MIT's auspices or for its benefit.
    ``Record'' means all recorded information, regardless of form or 
characteristics, made or received by you, and including metadata, such 
as email and other electronic communication, word processing documents, 
PDF documents, animations (including PowerPoint TM and other 
similar programs) spreadsheets, databases, calendars, telephone logs, 
contact manager information, Internet usage files, network access 
information, writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, sound 
recordings, images, financial statements, checks, wire transfers, 
accounts, ledgers, facsimiles, texts, animations, voicemail files, data 
generated by calendaring, task management and personal information 
management (PIM) software (such as Microsoft Outlook), data created 
with the use of personal data assistants (PDAs), data created with the 
use of document management software, data created with the use of paper 
and electronic mail logging and routing software, and other data or 
data compilations, stored in any medium from which information can be 
obtained either directly or, if necessary, after translation by the 
responding party into a reasonably usable form. The term ``recorded 
information'' also includes all traditional forms of records, 
regardless of physical form or characteristics.
    ``Restricted or conditional gift or contract'' has the meaning 
given at 20 U.S.C. Sec.  1011f(h)(5).
    If you claim attorney-client or attorney-work product privilege for 
a given record, then you must prepare and submit a privilege log 
expressly identifying each such record and describing it so the 
Department may assess the validity of your claim. Please note no other 
privileges apply here.
    Your record and data preservation obligations are outlined at 
Exhibit A.
    This investigation will be directed by the Department's Office of 
the General Counsel with support from Federal Student Aid. Please 
contact Patrick Shaheen at [email protected] with any questions 
you might have regarding production of the requested information.
    Sincerely yours,

Reed D. Rubinstein
Principal Deputy General Counsel

[[Page 64313]]

delegated the authority and duties of the General Counsel

[FR Doc. 2019-25231 Filed 11-20-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P