Spotlight Story by PA State University's Wyatt Massey
This article first appeared in Talk of the Town, a weekly newsletter published by Spotlight Pennsylvania's State College local office that features the most important news and events in north central Pennsylvania. To sign up for free, Spotlightpa.org/newsletters/talkofthetown.
STATE UNIVERSITY — Penn State University is making internal data on misconduct complaints publicly available for the first time in six years, fulfilling the university's promise to improve transparency in its Office of Ethics and Compliance.
The data for the first two months of 2024 was presented at a public meeting held in March by the Pennsylvania Board of Regents' Legal and Compliance Committee. Prior to that, this type of data was shared with trustees in private meetings, a university spokesperson previously told Spotlight PA.
Penn State's Ethics Hotline received 117 reports in January and February, compared to 2023, according to data shared by Amber Grove, the university's new chief ethics and compliance officer. There were 64 complaints during this period.
Grove told Spotlight PA that the increase in hotline reports stems from efforts to redesign the reporting process and increase awareness about available resources and does not necessarily reflect an increase in allegations of misconduct at the university. He said he was not doing so.
The university's compliance department received 344 reports of suspected misconduct, 259 of which were resolved, according to data available on the office's website. Almost half of the reports related to bias and human resources issues. More than 70% of his total complaints were about the University Park campus.
According to Penn State, these data are based on reports received through the Ethics Hotline, as well as information collected from other departments such as the Department of Labor and Employment Relations, the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access, the Office of the Vice President for Educational Equity, and the Board of Education. It is said that it was obtained from. Ethics and Compliance Department.
But it's not perfect.
“This data does not cover all departments, particularly those in student affairs, and due to the wide range of issues covered and reporting systems that are still being strengthened, all investigations and reports are It is important to note that this may not be the case,” the university's website states.
The ethics official told Spotlight PA that he plans to present more data at the Law Commission's April and June meetings. Future reports will include relevant compliance information from the Division of Student Affairs, she said.
Penn State established an Office of Ethics and Compliance in 2013 in response to the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. This department oversees university-wide ethics training and manages a hotline for reporting misconduct.
Last year, Spotlight PA and Center Daily Times published an investigation into Pennsylvania's Office of Ethics and misconduct reporting infrastructure. In newsrooms, there is widespread distrust, fear of retribution for reporting potential wrongdoing, reports of allegations of retaliation by a former chief ethics officer, and limited insight into how the Office of Ethics functions. It turned out that
The investigation also found that Pennsylvania's network of compliance offices is largely decentralized, covering a variety of subject matter and geographic areas without following standardized procedures.
Grove told Spotlight PA that the Ethics Office meets regularly with other compliance departments, and some departments have begun using the same case management system.
President Neeri Bendapudi said Penn State aims to eventually track reports of alleged misconduct across all offices and campuses, an effort that is underway but has no established timeline.
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