Georgia State closing center amid state probe on missing funds

ATLANTA - Georgia State University officials said Thursday that it will close its Applied Research Center but the action doesn&#39;t stem from a state probe into missing funds. <br> <br> One employee has been fired and others are being investigated in the investigation of money taken from the center, which is a part of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. The research center will close June 30. <br> <br> ``There is a possibility, a likelihood, that money was stolen from the institution by employees or former employees,&#39;&#39; University attorney John Marshall said Thursday. But, the decision to close the center was not related to the investigation, GSU spokeswoman DeAnna Hines said. <br> <br> Last fall, GSU called in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation after an internal audit indicated money was missing from the center, which measures the performance of programs in education, transportation, health, environment, and information systems. <br> <br> Projects have included studies on the effects of the HOPE scholarship and an evaluation of the state&#39;s early childhood education initiatives. In fiscal year 2001, the center received nearly $4.7 million in grants. <br> <br> Marshall did not identify the employees fired but said there was no indication center director Gary Henry was involved. Henry, who launched the center in 1991, is on leave from GSU this year and working in Calif. <br> <br> Officials would not disclose the amount of money missing. <br> <br> The center employs about 40 full- and part-time staff, faculty members and students. Two permanent staff positions will be eliminated. <br> <br> Hines said the center was closing because research conducted there overlapped with work in other areas of the Andrew Young school. Also, she said Henry had expressed a desire to focus on teaching rather than running the center when he returns to GSU this fall. <br> <br> ``The projects and activities will continue and will be distributed among other areas of the Andrew Young school,&#39;&#39; Hines said. ``I don&#39;t think that will be compromised in any way.&#39;&#39;