A recent survey of Rice employees found that 99% of respondents were comfortable reporting ethical concerns to at least one resource on campus.
"The vast majority of people who responded to the survey said they would feel comfortable reporting a matter involving actual or suspected unethical conduct or a compliance issue to their department or division head," said Janet Covington, director of internal audit.
She noted that 87% of faculty supervisors, 80% of staff supervisors and 77% of faculty and staff who are not supervisors gave that response. A large majority of employees also indicated they would be willing to report a concern to other resources on campus. Only 1% of respondents said they would not talk to anyone about an issue.
The survey also showed that more than 90% of Rice faculty and staff respondents are aware of both the university's Standards of Ethical Conduct and Non-Retaliation Policy that offer protection for employees who report misconduct. But the survey also found that only 53% of faculty and 65% of staff know about the university's toll-free hotline for anonymous reporting of unethical behavior.
The survey was conducted from Feb. 22 to March 5 to assess awareness of Rice's Ethics and Compliance Program and the reporting resources available on campus. The voluntary survey was emailed to 4,446 employees; laptops were provided in the Housing and Dining and Facilities, Engineering and Planning departments so employees whose jobs do not require access to computers could take the survey.
Over 700 employees -- 553 staff members and 154 faculty members -- responded to the survey. The results were presented to the Audit Committee of the Rice Board of Trustees in May.
The Standards of Ethical Conduct are a combination of established Rice policies, procedures and programs organized around the values of responsibility, integrity, community and excellence (RICE). All members of the Rice community are responsible for acting with high ethical standards and for being aware of and complying with policies, laws and regulations.
In addition to abiding by these standards, Rice employees have a responsibility to speak up when they have a legal or ethical concern. The Non-Retaliation Policy (policy No. 813) prohibits any retaliatory action against a faculty member, staff member or student for reporting in good faith suspected or actual wrongful conduct.
Covington said the survey showed that awareness of the Standards of Ethical Conduct increased the longer an employee worked at Rice. Of those responding, 93% of faculty members and 97% of staff members who have been at Rice over 10 years were aware of the standards; among those who have worked at Rice for fewer than two years, awareness was 92% for faculty and 81% for staff.
Awareness of the Non-Retaliation Policy was not affected as significantly over time; 87% of faculty members and 93% of staff members who have worked at Rice for more than 10 years said they knew about the policy, compared with 75% of faculty and 80% of staff who have worked at Rice fewer than two years.
Awareness of the hotline for anonymous reporting of misconduct was expressed by 57% of faculty and 72% of staff who have worked at Rice for more than 10 years; only 50% of faculty and 40% of staff who have been at Rice fewer than two years knew about the hotline.
"Awareness of the hotline was notably low, compared with the relatively high awareness for the standards and the Non-Retaliation Policy," Covington said. "This suggests we may need to increase promotion of the hotline to all faculty and staff, regardless of their length of service."
The hotline allows Rice employees to anonymously express concerns about financial misconduct, inappropriate employment practices or actions, research misconduct, sexual harassment and other sexual misconduct, workplace violence, unsafe work conditions, possible violations of law, accounting/auditing/internal control processes and many other issues.
The hotline is also one of the many resources available to report sexual assault, dating violence and stalking, even anonymously, as required of faculty and staff by Texas law (unless they are confidential employees). More information is available at https://safe.rice.edu/.
The hotline number is 866-294-4633 and is available 24/7. The vendor, EthicsPoint, has operators who can take reports in English or Spanish. Arrangements can be made to take reports in other languages. EthicsPoint can also be contacted online at www.rice.edu/ethics. The external system allows an employee to communicate back and forth via e-messaging or via a live chat feature to provide additional information anonymously.
Faculty and staff are encouraged to communicate their concerns directly through personal meetings with a supervisor or other administrator whenever possible and appropriate, Covington said.
“That is usually the best way to resolve an issue, but we recognize there may be circumstances when you are not comfortable reporting the issue in this manner,” she said. “We would rather you report anonymously than keep the information to yourself.”
The Rice community strives to infuse a culture of care, and the hotline is an important part of fostering an ethical environment, said Richard Anthony Baker, Rice’s Title IX coordinator and executive director for institutional equity.
“We want to make sure our community is free of discrimination of any kind. By having multiple reporting options we are allowing people to use the system that works best for them,” he said. “As a vital part of our compliance program, EthicsPoint provides an anonymous reporting option for those that prefer not revealing their identity but still want to inform the appropriate administrator of possible misconduct.”
"The important thing is that if you see something that seems wrong, you should say something -- and if someone says something to you, you should either say something or do something to address the issue," Covington said. "If you're not comfortable talking to your supervisor, you can talk to Human Resources, the Office of Access, Equity and Equal Employment, the General Counsel’s Office or any of the other resources on campus, including me, and you can always call the hotline.”
Rice Whistleblower Protection:
| Director of Internal Audit | Janet Covington | X6312 | jcov@rice.edu |
| University Controller | Brad Fralic | X4927 | bradley.w.fralic@rice.edu |
| Information Security | Marc Scarborough | X5735 | marc.a.scarborough@rice.edu |
| Athletics Compliance | Taurian Houston | X6919 | thouston@rice.edu |
| Environmental Health & Safety | Kathryn Cavender | X8800 | cavender@rice.edu |
| Access, Equity and Equal Opportunity /Title IX | Richard Baker | X4350 | richard.a.baker@rice.edu |
| General Counsel | Richard Zansitis | X5327 | zansitis@rice.edu |
| Human Resources | Joan Nelson | X4070 | joan.m.nelson@rice.edu |
| Risk Management | Eno Oregbesan | X4751 | eno.oregbesan@rice.edu |
| Research Compliance | Krystal Toups | X6200 | krystal.toups@rice.edu |
| Rice University Police Department | Staff on duty | X6000 |