"With the support of the Regents and President Yudof, this new program provides a comprehensive structure for an effective ethics and compliance program throughout the university," said Sheryl Vacca, systemwide senior vice president-chief compliance and audit officer (since October 2007). "A robust ethics and compliance program is essential for the validation that compliance systems and controls are in place around university activities, maintaining both the public's trust and institution and individual accountability."
The program also incorporates performance metrics and focuses on accountability -- a key theme of President Mark G. Yudof's goals for UC. "Performance metrics will be developed to assess and evaluate identification of risks and the performance of related compliance systems to ensure rules, regulations, Regental and UC policies and other compliance requirements are met," Vacca said.
To provide valuable advisory services to the Board of Regents, a new advisory role was also established to support the Regents' compliance and audit committee in compliance-related topics. Odell Guyton, a former U.S. attorney and former corporate compliance officer for the University of Pennsylvania, will serve as the Regents' compliance advisor. He is currently the director of compliance for Microsoft Corp. He has also served as president of the Health Care Compliance Association and Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics, and brings a wealth of experience to assist the Regents in proactively identifying industry risks and operational concerns, as well as valuable insights on evaluating compliance program effectiveness.
The program has been developed in consultation with UC's 10 campuses and includes the leveraging of current campus compliance activities into a compliance model that formally reports activities through the campus ethics and compliance risk committee, through the systemwide ethics and compliance risk council to the Board of Regents. The goal of the new program is to encourage and codify an education and reporting mechanism that spans a campus's operational divisions and eliminates the fragmentation of compliance information and the ability to mitigate risk at the campus level. The program includes a timeline for development and implementation of the program's core elements:
1. Written standards of conduct as well as appropriate policies and procedures.
2. Oversight by the Regents' Committee on Compliance and Audit and the senior vice president -- UC Office of Ethics, Compliance and Audit Services with the primary responsibility for campus ethics and compliance activities delegated to the campus ethics and compliance officer. Advice on compliance matters and risk mitigation activities will be provided from the Campus Ethics and Compliance Risk Committee and the UC Ethics and Compliance Risk Council.
3. Development and implementation of regular, effective education and training programs, and mandated education such as sexual harassment prevention, conflicts of interest and ethics and compliance.
4. Effective communications and processes maintained for reports of potential and/or perceived compliance matters or improper governmental activities with timely responses that provide the ability for a complainant to remain anonymous and free from retaliation.
5. Development and maintenance of compliance systems and controls that can be objectively assessed, monitored and audited for effectiveness.
6. Assurance that management is enforcing appropriate disciplinary action for those who have violated university policies, procedures or applicable legal requirements.
7. Assurance that management is taking appropriate corrective action and remedial measures when problems are identified to resolve and prevent recurrence of those problems.
The program covers areas of conduct including but not limited to policies, procedures and internal controls that help to reduce compliance risks in UC operations which encompass all aspects of the university's services, including student financial aid services, human resources, accounting and payroll, records retention and disposition, information technology, intellectual property, health care services, research practices, and environmental health and safety.
Because UC is a recipient of significant federal, state and private research dollars, it was determined that federal guidelines would provide a useful starting point for laying out UC's new program and structure. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other federal funding agencies have outlined guidance on the structure of an effective ethics and compliance program based on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which list the seven elements contained in UC's new program.
The UC Office of Ethics, Compliance and Audit Services provides guidance and resource assistance to the campuses and other UC locations on how to optimize ethical and compliant behavior through an effective program. It also provides relevant, timely, independent and objective assurances and advisory services to the UC community and the Board of Regents.
For more details about the new program: www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/july08/a1attach.pdf
For more information about the University of California: www.universityofcalifornia.edu