The University of California’s systemwide Ethics & Compliance Program provides a foundation for UC to proactively demonstrate adherence to its mission and its commitment to ensure good stewardship of federal, state, and private resources.
The mission of the program is to:
Enhance the University’s duty to perform its public responsibilities in an ethics and compliance-based environment where applicable legal, regulatory, Regental and UC policy, and other compliance requirements are followed and in which the public trust is maintained.
The UC Merced Ethics & Compliance Program seeks to prevent misconduct by partnering with campus offices to:
- Establish clear expectations and standards of conduct,
- Bring awareness about applicable laws, regulations, and policies, and
- Establish and maintain internal controls that mitigate compliance risks.
Our Ethics & Compliance Program is designed to detect problems that occur by having mechanisms to identify and report non-compliance and misconduct. Our Program remedies violations, system failures, and internal control weaknesses through corrective action, policy improvements, and training and awareness.
The Ethics & Compliance Office has independent authority to objectively review and evaluate compliance issues throughout the campus. One way we achieve this is to convene and facilitate compliance committees, including:
- Executive Committee – Provides executive-level oversight of the Ethics & Compliance Program and decision-making on risk mitigation strategies.
- Management Council – Compliance workgroup responsible for identifying and assessing campus risks, coordinating on the development and implementation of appropriate risk mitigation responses, and monitoring progress on risk mitigation activities occurring within the division/unit and across the campus.
- Sub-Committees – Smaller workgroups that focus on developing risk mitigation responses to specific compliance risks and monitoring progress on related activities.
Each year, the Ethics & Compliance Office works with campus leadership and compliance partners to facilitate the compliance risk assessment process. The process involves discussions about risks and strategies to address them, and informs the campus Compliance Plan, which focuses on the highest priority risks for the coming year. The Plan is shared with UCOP Ethics, Compliance & Audit Services for incorporation into the systemwide Compliance Plan that is presented to the Regents each July.
Learn more on the Ethics & Compliance Program page.
We hope you check back tomorrow for the next article, a deeper dive into the UC Statement of Ethical Values and how these values contribute to our mission.
