Interim Michigan State University President John Engler has established a new Office of Enterprise Risk Management, Ethics and Compliance. Created at the request of the MSU Board of Trustees, the office is intended to ensure the university’s adherence to policies as well as legal and regulatory requirements.
“The lack of clear accountability for monitoring legal, ethical and regulatory requirements has certainly contributed to some of the university’s recent problems,” said Engler. “This new office will help maintain the university’s integrity in this crucial set of obligations and develop its culture of compliance.”
A Chief Compliance Officer, or CCO, who is yet to be named, will lead the office. The CCO is charged with overseeing development of a consistent ethics and compliance program and a framework for identifying, prioritizing and managing risk. Developing training and communication strategies is also a duty of the position. The CCO will report to the president but is intended to work independently with the Board of Trustees’ newly established Committee on Audit, Risk and Compliance.
The CCO is to compile and maintain a master record of all legal and regulatory requirements and the names of those on record charged with assuring compliance. Effective with the university’s new fiscal year July 1, any new assignment of compliance responsibility will require the approval of the CCO.
The CCO will also develop an MSU Policy Library which will serve as the repository for all MSU policies and other regulations or ordinances to ensure that all who are subject to university regulation understand their responsibilities.
As necessary, the CCO also will recommend changes to university ethics policies including codes of conduct, codes of ethics and conflicts of interest.