Compliance
Federal Sentencing Guidelines
The system wide compliance program was established to support the University’s commitment to the highest standards of ethics, honesty and integrity and to promote a culture of ethics and compliance in daily University activities. The Office of Compliance and Ethics seeks to better enable the University to organize its compliance activities and to monitor its compliance with existing and new laws, regulations and internal policies by providing the necessary tools, guidance and oversight.
Key Elements of an Effective Compliance and Ethics Program
The Federal Sentencing Guidelines (FSG) outline seven basic compliance elements of a compliance and ethics program. According to the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) Complete Compliance and Ethics Manual, these basic elements have been affected by additional legislation and regulation, and have been massaged by the compliance and ethics industry. After being worked through compliance and ethics program models, the industry has now defined the seven key elements of an “effective” compliance and ethics program, which provide the structure for the SIU system wide compliance program. The italicized description of each of these seven elements is from the SCCE Compliance and Ethics Manual.
1. Standards of Conduct, Policies and Procedures (including a Code of Conduct)
An organization should have an established set of compliance standards and procedures. These standards should not be a “paper only” document, but a living document that promotes organizational culture that encourages “ethical conduct” and a commitment to compliance with applicable regulations and laws.
2. Oversight and Accountability
An organization should have the appropriate high-level personnel overseeing the compliance and ethics function, with a specific executive given overall responsibility. These compliance personnel should have accountability as to the success or failure of the compliance and ethics program. Adequate resources must be dedicated to implementing the program. The organization’s governing structure, in many cases the board of directors, must exercise reasonable oversight of the implementation and effectiveness of the program.
3. Education, communication and awareness
A continuation of the “living” standards of conduct is found in this element. An organization should include periodic education, communication and awareness of its compliance and ethics program in its everyday organizational structure.
4. Delegation of authority
An organization should have assurances that discretionary authority is not delegated to personnel who are likely to act illegally.
5. Enforcement, discipline and incentives
An organization should have policies and procedures in place to effectively enforce the organization’s compliance and ethics program and incentivize its employees to perform in accordance with the compliance and ethics program, including the obligation to report potential problems.
6. Monitoring and auditing and risk assessment
An organization should have in place a system and schedule for routine monitoring and auditing of organization transactions, business risks, controls and behaviors. The organization’s system should use a consistent process and generate consistent data. Audits should include a review of the response and resolutions applied during the period, both proactive and reactive.
7. Ongoing program improvements
Appropriate compliance and ethics program improvements should be designed to reduce any identified risks or compliance violations.
University Mandate Listing
A University-Wide mandate listing has been developed for use across all campuses. The purpose of the listing is an effort to identify the numerous compliance requirements to which the University is subject. While the intent is to create the most comprehensive listing possible, required mandates are always changing. Therefore, if you are reviewing this document and identify additional mandates needing to be added or removed, please report those revisions to ethics1@siu.edu.
