Rice faculty, staff have new anonymous reporting method

Rice faculty, staff have new anonymous reporting method

As part of Rice University’s commitment to maintaining an environment of ethical behavior and compliance with law and university policies, Rice is offering a new way for employees and others to voice their concerns about behavior in the workplace that may be unethical or improper.

Any member of the Rice community can now use a confidential reporting tool to express their concerns about errors or irregularities in accounting/auditing/internal control processes, financial misconduct, potentially illegal employment practices or actions, research misconduct, sexual harassment, workplace violence, unsafe work conditions and other issues.

Of course, faculty and staff members are still welcome and encouraged to communicate any concerns to the university through personal meetings with the offices of Human Resources, Internal Audit, General Counsel, Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action, Risk Management or the deans. The new tool is only meant to supplement Rice’s existing communications channels for those employees who would otherwise not feel comfortable reporting their concerns in person.

After evaluating various options — including internal and external options — for a confidential, anonymous reporting mechanism, Rice has selected an outside vendor, EthicsPoint, to provide this service. EthicsPoint’s Web- and phone-based service allows people to safely communicate openly and honestly with the university’s administration or board of trustees. Both EthicsPoint and the university know this type of communication is more likely to occur if the reporting party understands that the investigation of any report will be treated as confidentially as possible.

The new site (www.rice.edu/ethics) includes frequently asked questions and a link to Rice policies. A toll-free number (866-294-4633) has been established at which an employee may speak with an intake person from EthicsPoint who will lead them through the process of making a report. Reports may be made in English or Spanish using the toll-free number.