Published to Newsletter on Feb 28, 2024
Over the years, and again in 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued guidance on how institutions can best comply with applicable federal and state law, and promote an ethical and compliant culture both academically and professionally.
One best practice contained in DOJ guidance is that institutions provide ways for individuals to report fraud, misconduct, or abuse (including an ability to report anonymously), and that reports are addressed by the institution and investigated when necessary.
In 2014, UNM began using the EthicsPoint hotline system as its official enterprise report and case management tool. EthicsPoint is a third-party system managed by NAVEX. EthicsPoint is used world-wide by corporations and institutions, including higher education, and allows the UNM community and the public to report concerns. The system employs logic that automatically assigns cases to relevant areas for review, including Compliance Ethics & Equal Opportunity, the Health Sciences Center, as well as Health Systems Compliance, Human Resources, Academic Affairs, Risk and Safety, Patient care and Privacy, IT, and Internal Audit. Issues are tracked, benchmarked, and assigned to the appropriate area for response and review. This process allows UNM to identify and resolve concerns, benchmark and identify trends, and mitigate or remediate concerning practices or behaviors.
In late 2023, UNM and NAVEX began revamping the reporting and case management system to improve use and functionality. The new enhanced system has since been launched.
For the reporter, the new EthicsPoint system is branded for UNM and has been reworked to ensure that users can easily report online and toll-free by phone 24 hours a day. The system is also being translated to Spanish and Vietnamese, and is accessible to speakers of virtually any language by dialing the toll-free phone number. Issue types and UNM locations have also been streamlined for clarity for the reporter.
These changes enhance the information available to those addressing the report, which improves University response and data collection. For example, relevant reporting areas can now share reports within the system to ensure that multi-faceted complaints are holistically addressed (i.e., when a complaint contains human resource, financial, and civil rights issues), and more data points have been added for trend analysis and data reporting.
UNM is excited to launch the newly revamped site. Take a look at unm.ethicspoint.com.
Remember – “If you see something, say something.” It takes all of us to promote and preserve our mission and vision as an R-1 University, and the culture of the University for New Mexico.
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