D.C.’s inspector general has identified improper spending, poor oversight and an ineffective curriculum in a program within the University of the District of Columbia, according to a damning 51-page report.

Acting University President Stanley Jackson requested the audit as part of a schoolwide review following the abrupt termination of President William Pollard last summer. The report focuses on the Workforce Development Program, an initiative started in 2005 to teach skills needed in a modern working environment.

WDP classes are offered at public elementary and high schools in the District, mostly in the evenings, and are attended almost entirely by women. They include trade courses in carpentry and drywall, food sanitation and home health aide training.

The analysis of the program concluded that courses were not tailored to help students excel in the work force, administrators were unaware of their responsibilities and money was often spent on unused services and equipment.

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The report highlighted $300,000 spent on construction materials that sat under plastic for 18 months, $140,000 to pay for counselors who rarely met with students and $94,000 wasted on child care programs that were never implemented. The audit also examined a poorly run advertising campaign that included a radio spot that instructed people to call an inactive telephone number.

Another pitfall was that, despite the unwarranted expenses, more than $2 million of the program’s $4 million budget was never used, according to the report.

“We agree with the audit,” university spokeswoman Juanita Britton said. “We don’t like to agree with things that don’t go right, but the facts are the facts.”

Britton said the dean in charge of the WDP during the examined time frame left the school about a year ago, and was replaced by Gloria Wyche-Moore. She added that it will be completely reorganize the program in the coming months.