EXCEPTIONS

The online training program is required of all UC employees who do not receive at least $1 in research funding from external sources. If you fall into this category, and you work in the School of Medicine or the UC Davis Health System, you will take the course as part of your annual compliance training.

Researchers take a different course — and they have already received notice of their training requirement.

Andrei and Ingrid are back in UC’s every-other-year training on ethical values and conduct. The fictitious employees appear in fictitious scenarios in the course for all employees who do not receive research funding from external sources.

Next week, most of these employees (see box for exceptions) are due to receive an email announcement about the requirement to complete the online training course — and to do so by Dec. 31.

“The purpose of the general compliance and ethics briefing is to reinforce the UC Statement of Ethical Values and Standards of Ethical Conduct, as well as to provide information about reporting suspected instances of misconduct,” said Wendi Delmendo, chief compliance officer for UC Davis.

The course for nonresearchers should take 20 to 30 minutes to complete. Next week's email announcement will include, for each recipient, a personalized link to the training module (or you can access it now with this link).

The course is in the Learning Management System — and, if you search for it, enter "2012 Compliance Briefing: Ethical Values and Conduct"). The system will automatically record your "attendance" and completion.

For units in which significant numbers of employees do not have regular access to workplace computers, UC Davis administrators will work with unit managers to arrange for group training, perhaps during staff meetings.

“This training exists to remind each of us that the University of California acts from the values of honesty and integrity in all we do,” UC President Mark G. Yudof declares in the introduction to the online course.

The course as revised for 2012 brings back Andrei the manager in a new scenario, “Andrei’s Printer Problem,” in which he is responsible for buying all the office equipment for a new unit. A vendor offers a free printer for a bulk purchase — and Andrei considers taking the printer for his home office.

In “Ingrid’s Interest,” Ingrid is a budget officer who would like to serve on a committee that will select a company to provide consulting services to her school. Her husband works for one of the companies bidding for the work.

Other scenarios include “Favor for Frank” (about filling a job), “Cliff’s Consulting” (about a junior faculty member with a second job that is detracting from his teaching) and “Grant Shell Games” (about using the grant for one project to pay expenses for a different project).

Beyond integrity and accountability, the university expects its employees to act in a respectful manner in all dealings with co-workers and the public. This gives rise to the scenario titled “Surly Sue,” in which Sue yells at a co-worker, who goes to her supervisor, only to be brushed off.

Each scenario asks your opinion of what is going on, or asks what you should do if you believe a co-worker is acting unethically or with disrespect for others. There is no scoring; instead, the course discusses each answer, explaining why Andrei, for example, should not take the free printer.

Not all answers are so clear-cut. And for those, the training course suggests “The Wall Street Journal Test.”

“That is, if what you are doing were to appear on the front page of the newspaper, would you feel proud of your actions?”

How to report

As for reporting alleged improper activities, the course suggests going to your supervisor, or, if you are hesitant about doing that, to Human Resources, campus counsel, the “locally designated official,” or the campus ethics and compliance officer.

At UC Davis, Delmendo serves as the locally designated official and the chief compliance officer. Contact her at (530) 752-9466 or wjdelmendo@ucdavis.edu.

If you are hesitant to report locally, you may contact:

• Sheryl Vacca, chief compliance and audit officer for the UC system — (510) 987-9090 or sheryl.vacca@ucop.edu.

• UC Whistleblower Hot Line (anonymous and confidential) — (800) 403-4744 or universityofcalifornia.edu/hotline.

UC Davis also maintains a whistleblower hot line: (877) 384-4272.

Questions, technical assistance

Questions regarding the training content can be directed to Delmendo, (530) 752-9466 or wjdelmendo@ucdavis.edu.

For technical assistance with the training, contact Staff Development and Professional Services, (530) 752-1766 or sdps@ucdavis.edu.

Follow Dateline UC Davis on Twitter.