Some Ohio University faculty members expressed concern about an ethics hotline at least a year and half before a Post records request prompted school officials to shut it down.
Journalism professor and Faculty Senate member Bernhard Debatin said he and others raised concerns with the system EthicsPoint, when it came before Faculty Senate about a year and a half ago.
The first question was about the program's $8,100-a-year cost, but Debatin's concerns focused more on the possibility for abuse, wrongful accusations and the leaking of names that were meant to be anonymous.
At the time
the answer was 'Oh no we're going to take care of it and it's worth it
' he said. [But] it sort of invites bad-mouthing people you don't like or bringing up things you can bring up in a one-on-one situation.
OU President Roderick McDavis suspended use of the system Aug. 24 after fulfilling The Post's filed public records request for information, including case files, related to the system.
Kathryn Chambers Gilmore, director of Internal Audit, said the administration dealt with that concern by regulating the types of complaints EthicsPoint accepts. The system does not take comments about student affairs or academic affairs, so students cannot simply call to complain about professors, she said, adding that EthicsPoint had absolutely been worth the money because the restitution from tips was eventually more than the total cost.
One tip led university officials to former Athletics Department employee Robert Andrey's misuse of his university purchasing card and other funds. Andrey resigned and pleaded guilty to one count of theft in office, a fourth-degree felony. He was ordered to pay back more than $31,000 to the university.
Chemistry professor and Faculty Senate member Kenneth Brown said he also wondered about false accusations and privacy.
The whole thing gives me the creeps
he said.
Brown suggested either changing the law to seal the records or stopping use of the system.
But David Thomas, vice chair of Faculty Senate, said although EthicsPoint was mentioned to the group, the opposition to the system was not intense enough to warrant a formal resolution.
I believe if Faculty Senate was deeply concerned about it
they would have taken it up and issued a resolution about it
he said.
Gilmore said administrators expected records requests about the system but did not anticipate a request as broad as the one received from The Post.
In the past
public records requests we've had have been specific. We've never had
'Give me all the records you have
' she said.
Internal Audit's Web site addresses the fact that data and information received through EthicsPoint are subject to open records requests.
