Ohio University has successfully pursued two cases of ethics violations and has received more than 40 anonymous reports of potential ethics violations since implementing an ethics hotline in 2006.
Initially, OU began a web-based whistle-blower system as a way for students, faculty, and staff to report disclosures of misconduct.
But after running for a few short months, the hotline was yanked by university officials after the Ohio Attorney General ruled the submitted comments were public records. That determination came after The Post filed a public records request for the submitted comments, and after initially denying the request, OU turned over the records.
It was a new system and we were learning from it
said Kathy Gilmore, OU's chief audit executive. We found that we were receiving reports with personal information ... and we had a public records request for all the records in the system including the unsubstantiated reports.
Two months after being shut down, the line was revamped as a strict telephone-only tip line with an elimination of the Human Resources category.
The summation of that is that it puts the burden on the audit to get information and do the research said Trustee David Wolfort. (We wanted) to get the validity of the claim to move forward with it.
As the revamped version of Ethics Hotline was implemented, the university released a new policy on whistle-blowers and retaliation against them.
The university implemented its own policy
Gilmore said. It talks about the rights and responsibilities of anyone making a report. It's going to read that no employee may retaliate and lists the disciplinary actions for those who do.
The policy also forbids the complainant from filing a complaint recklessly.
Since the beginning of the hotline, there have been 41 reports received about the university. Only two reports have resulted in a prosecution, while more than 20 of them have been dismissed.
There are other resolution options
Gilmore said. (There are) unsubstantiated counseling
repayments or training.
A total repayment of $34,941 has resulted from the hotline, while the cost of running the hotline for the last three years has totaled $28,700.
What you don't see is that there is a deterrent to the fraud and abuse
Gilmore said. So the annual cost
that is made up of different numbers from the beginning of the year.
The first year the tip line cost OU $9,600, decreasing slightly to $8,100 in the second year.
This year
it has gone down to $4
000
Gilmore said. Then because of budgetary issues
