M E M O R A N D U M
TO: Campus Community
FROM: Robert N. Shelton, President
SUBJECT: UA Ethics and Compliance Hotline
DATE: October 17, 2007
Because of the absences of many faculty, staff and students during the summer months, I am resending to the Campus Community an updated version of my memorandum of May 2007 subject, UA Ethics and Compliance Hotline. It reads as follows:
I am pleased to announce the establishment of a 24-hour-a-day University of Arizona Ethics and Compliance Hotline program beginning July 1, 2007. The "Hotline" telephone number is (866) 364-1908.
Establishing the UA Ethics and Compliance Hotline program provides a new reporting mechanism and enhances existing programs on campus. The new program assures that employees, guests, students or members of the general public having concerns about perceived ethics and compliance violations can express their concerns to a non-University party anonymously and have those concerns addressed by the appropriate University officer or unit.
The hotline telephone number may be used to report many perceived illicit or undesirable activities such as:
• Fraud
• Waste
• Abuse
• Hate crimes/bias-related incidents
• Non-compliance with regulatory requirements
However, the hotline should not be used to report emergencies, crimes or situations placing the caller or someone else in imminent danger. These activities should be reported immediately to The University of Arizona Police Department (UAPD) by dialing 911 on campus.
The University has retained a commercial vendor, The Network Inc., to operate the new hotline 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. After receiving a call, and establishing as many facts as possible, The New Network will submit a written report directly to the UA Case Manager or to UAPD. Reports of crime will be forwarded to UAPD. All other reports will be forwarded to the UA Case Manager. The UA Case Manager will review the report and forward it to the appropriate University unit or designated representative for inquiry and any necessary response.
To facilitate response, the UA units are divided into four Hotline Report Inquiry and Response Areas of Responsibility. They are: Academic/Provost; Business Affairs; President's Office; and UAPD. The UA Case Manager will forward allegations received to a designated representative in the appropriate Area of Responsibility for review, fact-finding and response. When responsibility is not specifically assigned, the fact-finding process and response will be performed by a knowledgeable individual from one of the Hotline Response Areas of Responsibility. To avoid any conflict of interest, the individual conducting the inquiry shall be selected by a senior representative from the affected Hotline Response Area of Responsibility.
Any disciplinary action that may arise as a result of a hotline report will be handled under existing University policies and procedures including compliance with due process of law requirements.
The UA Case Manager will communicate directly with my office regarding reports/allegations that appear to be of University-wide concern or extraordinary significance.
The new hotline program is not meant to replace existing mechanisms for filing reports or addressing allegations. Instead, it will complement the existing UA processes or units already established to deal with specific issues. Some of these units that handle reports of this nature are:
• Bias Response Team
• Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure
• Dean of Students Office
• Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Office
• Financial Aid Office
• Human Resources Department
• Human Subjects Protection Program Office
• Intercollegiate Athletics Department
• Internal Audit Office
• Office of the General Counsel
• Office of the Provost
• Ombuds Office
• Procurement and Contracting Department
• Radiation Control Office
• Research Integrity Office
• Risk Management and Safety Department
• University of Arizona Police Department
In addition to the above units, several phone numbers currently exist for reporting inappropriate behavior or complaints. They are:
• UAPD Tips and Information Line (telephone number 626-0066)
• Hazing Hotline (telephone number 626-4293)
• Risk Management and Safety Department for reporting campus safety hazards and unsafe driving of University vehicles (telephone number 621-1790)
Posters and brochures are being distributed which describe the program as part of our campuswide effort to make the UA Community aware of this new initiative. We hope to gain the support of every UA program, college, department, office and employee to assure that information regarding this service is universally available and understood.
