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Ethics Report Line Procedures

Report Received

Each report received is automatically dispatched to the review committee, which is a three-person committee created to ensure accountability and control.  The review committee consists of: the Executive Director, Audit & Advisory Services; the VP, Human Resources; and the Director, Insurance & Risk Management. The review committee logs the initial response to the reporter to confirm receipt of report and makes every effort to respond within 48 hours.

Determine if Actionable

The review committee will determine if the content of a report concern an ethical issue and, if so, whether the report contains enough information to proceed. They will notify reporter if the report is not deemed to be an ethical issue, and will attempt to obtain additional information from the reporter, if necessary, via Ethics Report Line’s two-way communication feature. This functionality allows for two-way communication for anonymous reports via the “report key” feature.

Assign to Primary Case Manager

Based on the actual content of case, the review committee will determine the appropriate primary case manager. Because the Ethics Report Line is one of several intake methods, each case is handled consistently with similar cases that are received regardless of method, following existing college policies/procedures.

General Investigation Steps

The primary case manager will review the case and assign investigators if necessary. The subject will be notified per the governing policy or at the discretion of the case manager. Legal counsel will be consulted as appropriate. Case will be reviewed or investigated as necessary to determine the appropriate action to be taken.

Communications to Reporter

The review committee or primary case manager will make the appropriate communications to the reporter to convey case status. It is important to note that personnel actions will be kept confidential. The amount of information that can be disclosed to the reporter depends on the facts and circumstances of the case, and is at the discretion of review committee or primary case manager.

Audit Committee Reporting

The JCCC Board Audit Committee receives summary reporting on the activities of the Ethics Report Line including statistics on the number of cases received and general information about their disposition. This information is shown in the Board minutes as part of the quarterly Audit Committee report.

Special Circumstances (Redirects)

Certain special redirect circumstances apply. They are as follows:

  • If a member of Review Committee is implicated, the report will not go to that member.
  • If President is implicated, report only goes to Exec. Dir. Audit & Advisory Services and the Board Audit Committee. President will be apprised of report to provide response. The Audit Committee will share report with full Board as deemed necessary and appropriate.
  • If Exec. Dir. Audit & Advisory Services is implicated; report only goes to President and Board Audit Committee. Exec. Dir. Audit & Advisory Services will be apprised of report to provide response. The Audit Committee will share report with full Board as deemed necessary and appropriate.
  • If a Trustee is implicated, report only goes to Exec. Dir. Audit & Advisory Services, President and Board Audit Committee (unless one is implicated). The Audit Committee will share report with full Board as deemed necessary and appropriate.