September 20, 2002 UNT Inhouse publication: UNT is staying on top of compliance issues

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UNT is staying on top of compliance issues

Compliance is an issue you will be hearing more about in the future, and I would like to take this opportunity to describe UNT's compliance program and its goals.

What is compliance? The federal government enables individual citizens to sue on its behalf if they have evidence that federal funds are being spent inappropriately. To avoid the costs of trials, the Federal Sentencing Commission and the Department of Health and Human Services created a set of guidelines for hospitals, corporations and universities to use to assess their own compliance with federal laws that relate to fiscal management. These guidelines have evolved into compliance programs, and these programs also have come to assess how well an organization enforces all federal and state laws.

Compliance programs are more than a way of policing federal laws at the institutional level. Instead, they incorporate guidance from federal and state agencies into daily operations of the university. The UNT System Board of Regents initiated a compliance program for UNT in 1999.

Our compliance program has three goals: identifying the laws that apply to all departments at UNT; ensuring that the laws are known to the campus community and followed; and developing "best practices" that make the enforcement of laws and regulations inconspicuous to students, faculty and staff, while still enforcing the laws.

To help all UNT departments focus on achieving positive goals — and, in so doing, prevent violations – summaries of federal guidance and various training opportunities will be made available to faculty and staff.

Compliance programs also have mechanical components. Risk assessments are conducted to determine the university's greatest legal exposures and audits are conducted to determine if laws are being followed. The Board of Regents established a Compliance Coordinating Committee and four subcommittees to see to some of those needs.

You will be provided with updates as new guidance materials are developed and laws that affect the university are changed. If you are aware of violations of laws, you are encouraged and expected to report them. You can do this totally confidentially through a report on the compliance web site, www.unt.edu/compliance. You can also leave a message on the compliance hot line, 565-4351, or visit me in my office, 210A in the Hurley Administration Building.

Paul Dworak is director of compliance in the president's office and a member of the College of Music faculty.