Policy Summary
Employees are encouraged to report concerns about possible financial misconduct or violations of law, with assurances that they will be protected from retaliation for doing so. Examples of financial misconduct include, but are not limited to, fraud or questionable accounting and internal controls, accounting misrepresentations, misappropriation of grant funds, kickbacks, theft of University assets or use of such assets for personal benefit, falsification of timecards and other illegal, unethical or inappropriate business practices.
Retaliation against Whistleblowers is strictly prohibited.
This Policy Applies to:
- Faculty
- Staff
- Students
Policy Contact(s)
Responsible Office: Risk Management
Email: riskmanagement@c178.net
Phone: 570-372-4315
Definitions/Glossary
None
Policy
Susquehanna University is committed to the highest standards of financial and professional conduct. This policy is designed to encourage the University’s employees and students to report concerns about possible financial misconduct or violations of laws with assurances that they will be protected from retaliation for making such reports in good faith.
How to Make a Report
To facilitate the reporting of misconduct where individuals would prefer to remain anonymous, the University has contracted with an outside reporting service through its insurance consortium, EIIA (Educational and Institutional Insurance Administrators, Inc.). Using this service will give the reporter the option of including their personal contact information or reporting anonymously. Reports may be submitted to the Campus Conduct Hotline by accessing a website here, sending an email to susqu@CampusConductHotline.com , or calling 1-866-943-5787.
All methods are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The report should contain as much detailed information about the incident(s) as possible in order to facilitate an efficient and thorough investigation. This detail should include, at a minimum, the names of the parties involved, the location of the incident(s) and the nature of the possible financial or illegal misconduct.
Reporting: Periodic summaries of complaints will be provided to the Audit Committee of the Board of Trustees for their review. As appropriate, reports regarding the status of specific complaints may be reported on a more frequent basis.
Procedure: All reports of suspected misconduct by Susquehanna University employees should follow the management reporting structure. However, an employee may report the suspected misconduct of a supervisor to the next higher supervisory level.
Questions: Any questions regarding this policy should be directed to the Office of Risk Management.
Whistleblower Retaliation Prohibited
Susquehanna University will not tolerate any form of retaliation against an employee or student reporting suspected financial misconduct or violation of law. When made in good faith, such reports are a service to the University and will in no way jeopardize one’s employment or enrollment at Susquehanna University. The University will exercise objectivity and independence in addressing reports under this policy, and will maintain confidentiality to the extent possible while still appropriately responding to any misconduct. For reporters who wish to remain anonymous, the University offers an anonymous reporting option as discussed below. Any employee found to have engaged in financial misconduct or other illegal activity is subject to disciplinary action by the University, which may include dismissal as well as prosecution by appropriate law enforcement authorities. It is a violation of this policy to knowingly provide false information in support of or in response to such a report. Intentional provision of false information may subject an employee to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.