Celebrate with the Office of Ethics, Compliance and Audit Services
April 26, 2011 •
“It takes less time to do a thing right than it does to explain why you did it wrong.”
Longfellow’s famous words are a fitting motto for UCOP’s Office of Ethics, Compliance and Audit Services (ECAS), which helps ensure that UC earns the public trust by maintaining an ethical environment and complying with state and federal laws and regulations.
ECAS will be celebrating National Compliance and Ethics Week, May 2 through 6, with a weeklong fair that features tabling in the Franklin Building and a brown bag talk. The goal is to raise awareness throughout UCOP and the UC community about the importance of ethics and compliance.
“Education is a critical aspect of our program,” says Sheryl Vacca, senior vice president and chief compliance and audit officer. “All UC employees should know that we have a systemwide ethics and compliance program that allows everyone to raise potential issues or concerns related to non-compliance.”
Vacca is referring to the UC Whistleblower Hotline, one of many vehicles that UC employees can use to report improper activities without fear of retaliation. She is enthusiastic about using National Compliance and Ethics Week as an opportunity to promote this and other aspects of UC’s ethics and compliance program.
All 10 UC campuses and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have campus ethics and compliance officers (CECOs) to implement the compliance program at each UC location. Lynda Hilliard was recently designated the CECO for UCOP, and EVP Nathan Brostrom serves as chair of the UCOP Ethics and Compliance Risk Committee.
To answer questions about their program, ECAS will staff an information table in the Franklin Building lobby, 12 to 1 p.m. Monday through Thursday, May 2 through 5, and 8 to 9 a.m. on Friday, May 6 (during the First Friday Breakfast).
On Wednesday, May 4, 12:15 to 1 p.m. in 5320 Franklin, Director of Ethics and Compliance Mark Meaney (newbies might recognize him from new employee orientation) will speak about the origins of business ethics and corporate compliance in his talk, “Humble Beginnings in Community Values: A Brief History of the Ethics and Compliance Movement.”
Go online to take a quiz to test your knowledge of compliance at UC. Respondents who answer all questions correctly by the end of business on May 6 will be entered into a drawing for a special prize. (One entry per person only, please.) Access the quiz on the ECAS SharePoint site.
For more information about UC’s compliance program, go to http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/compaudit/.
