Contact: Maridith Geuder
STARKVILLE, Miss.--With the Monday [Aug. 17] start of the fall semester, Mississippi State unveils a new training program, reporting system and policy changes to better promote ethics and integrity at the university.
"At Mississippi State, we take seriously our commitment to being responsible and ethical, and I believe each member of our community is a part of that effort," said President Mark Keenum.
MSU's departments of internal audit and human resources management, along with the general counsel's office, recently conferred with an authority in the field to develop content for broad-based training related to ethical situations that might be encountered and how they relate to applicable laws, regulations and policies.
Beginning Sept. 15 for non-academic administrators, human resources staff members will begin online training and, later, class discussions of case studies.
In addition to training, a new ethics reporting system officially approved by Keenum is providing an anonymous way to address potential issues of waste, fraud or unethical actions. The new Web-based MSU Ethics Line is the first independently operated reporting service at a Mississippi public university.
In announcing the service, Keenum emphasized that unethical actions do not characterize the MSU family. Rather, the goal is "to ensure MSU has effective ways of reporting activities that strike us as inappropriate," he added
The reporting Web site, www.msstate.ethicspoint.com, is independently operated by EthicsPoint of Lake Oswego, Ore., a company serving more than 2,000 clients nationwide, including more than 300 colleges and universities. Anonymous reports also may be made by telephoning toll-free 877-310-0424.
Keenum said current university procedures for reporting issues to the appropriate immediate supervisor will remain "the first line of defense" against improper activities.
"I elected to provide the Ethics Line as an additional means of good-faith reporting, especially when maintaining the reporter's anonymity and confidentiality is important," he explained.
In conjunction with the training and MSU Ethics Line, the institution has developed a "whistleblower" policy.
"This new policy is designed to inform the university community about protections against retaliation that already are in place and what our individual responsibilities are in reporting wrongful conduct," Keenum said.
Available at www.msstate.edu/dept/audit/0107.html, the policy also helps ensure compliance with federal regulations related to American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. Actions university employees may report, among others, include:
--Violations of state or federal laws and/or regulations;
--Serious violation of university policies;
--Use of university property, resources or authority for personal gain or non university-related purposes except as provided under campus policies;
--Abuses of authority related to the implementation or use of recovery funds; and
--Violations of a law, rule, or regulation related to an agency contract or grant connected to recovery funds.
"I am committed to promoting an ethical environment in which everything we do is above-board and transparent, and I ask each member of the MSU community to join me in that pledge," Keenum said.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.