> oversight
In the defense acquisition world, we see a lot of that. The government folks are stretched too thin both in numbers and qualifications do keep track of all the goofy stuff we contractors do, so they hire other folks off of yet other contracts to do oversight functions. The oversight contractors are called "SETAs", for the type of contract they're procured under - a rather thankless job, sometimes.
For EDA, the arrangement probably makes even more sense, as they're seeding money into a variety of things for which they'd be hard pressed to maintain expertise on staff full-time. The concern on the part of the shop staff is if their oversight-er felt he or she had to take charge, 'specially in a shop that has proven their ability and expertise. THAT would be counterproductive.
IMHO, "oversight" means observing progress and reporting back to the grantor, who then can address any concerns they might have with management.