This office is designed to support the various compliance efforts throughout the University community and its resources. It strives to ensure ethical, professional and compliant standards of behavior.

The elements of an effective Compliance and Ethics Program are:

• Policies and procedures to outline expectations for compliance;
• Governance, organization and reporting;
• Proactive efforts to facilitate and promote ethical and compliant behavior;
• Training and education on compliance requirements;
• Program monitoring and auditing, evaluating program effectiveness, and systems for reporting suspected wrongdoing;
• Consistent enforcement and appropriate discipline;
• Responding to noncompliance and modifying the program as necessary.

The purpose of this office is to protect the University community members and its resources. It promotes the values of respect, integrity, honesty and fairness and strives to integrate these values into its daily and long-term decisions and actions related to teaching, research service, and business practices.

Compliance functions at UA are integrated into the activities that take place across our campus every day. Compliance officers work within many units, either individually or as part of multi-person teams. The Office of Compliance, Ethics, and Regulatory Affairs coordinates these activities, working with leaders throughout the university to identify and fulfill legal and policy responsibilities. Ultimately therefore, the success of the compliance program depends on the individual commitment of every university community member.

A university compliance, ethics, and regulatory affairs office:

• Fosters a university culture that does not tolerate illegal or unethical behavior and prompts faculty and staff to consider the potentially adverse consequences of unethical conduct;
• Solves problems by improving collaboration, and communication;
• Reduces the risks of non-compliance, while increasing the likelihood of early detection and correction;
• Provides a source of best practices and assistance for the entire university community.

The University of Alabama operates in an increasingly complex regulatory environment, which requires us to sharpen our focus on accountability and ensure compliance with our legal and ethical responsibilities. Outside regulators and funding sources increasingly require that the university have an embedded system in place to ensure that UA understands its requirements and works to meet them. The creation of the Office of Compliance, Ethics, and Regulatory Affairs demonstrates the university’s commitment to meeting our legal and regulatory responsibilities, and fostering a culture that promotes ethical conduct. CERA seeks to apply a forward-thinking, proactive approach to assessing and mitigating institutional compliance risks.

Compliance means abiding by applicable laws, regulations, and policies. In a university setting, compliance is less about regulating individual behavior than it is about understanding applicable regulatory requirements that apply to university activities as an institution and ensuring that we meet them. Because The University of Alabama engages in such a broad range of activities, the number and scope of applicable requirements is vast. That makes understanding them and complying with them a challenging, university-wide endeavor.

All faculty, staff, students, members of the Board of Trustees, University Officers, and affiliates, consultants, vendors, contractors, volunteers and others who associate with the University are members of the UA community.

Please use the guiding questions below to help you identify compliance or ethics issues. If the answer to any of these questions is NO, then there is probably a compliance or ethics issue:

• Are these actions legal?
• Do these actions comply with university policy?
• Do these actions seem fair and honest?

Compliance issues can be related to activities, situations, and transactions that could potentially violate federal, state, or local laws and regulations, or violate The University of Alabama’s policies, procedures, and rules. Examples include violations of regulations associated with research, conflicts of interest, environmental concerns, information security, fire safety, etc.

• Athletic Compliance
• Emergency Managment
• Environmental Health and Safety
• Equal Opportunity Programs
• Facilities and Grounds
• Business Information & Technology Resources 
• HIPAA
• Human Resources
• Office of Counsel
• Office of Information Technology
• Research Compliance
• Risk Management
• Title IX
• University of Alabama Police Department

The first step in resolving a compliance or ethics concern is to make a report. The following channels are available for reporting:

1. Discuss your concern with your supervisor. Contact your supervisor, department chairperson, Dean’s office, or other unit leadership for guidance about your concern.
2. Discuss your concern with the policy owner. Each University policy lists a policy owner who is responsible for enforcing the policy. If a policy is being violated, concerns may be reported to the individual listed at the top of the policy.
3. Discuss your concern with HR, Legal, or Compliance. Report your concern directly to the Office of Compliance, Ethics, and Regulatory Affairs, the Office of Human Resources, the Office of the Provost, or the Office of Counsel. This is a good option if you are unsure of where to report your concern or if the issue involves your supervisor, the policy owner, or others in leadership positions. If you are still uncomfortable, wish to remain anonymous, or have not received an adequate response, see Step 4.
4. Submit a report to the compliance and fraud hotline.