The Office of Compliance is a business unit of the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, reporting to the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
Our Mission
The Office of Compliance serves as the source of coordination, oversight, and support for Universitywide compliance. Its structure recognizes that building and maintaining a global culture of compliance, ethics, and integrity are shared responsibilities and require individual commitment from all employees, faculty, trustees, staff, students, and vendors – our community members. The culture of “shared responsibility” for compliance is woven into the fabric of our organizational culture. It functions to build a collaborative community of compliance throughout the University in accordance with the Code of Ethical Conduct. With the integrated engagement of subject matter-specific compliance partners, the Office of Compliance ensures that the University is in compliance with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations that impact its operations.
Compliance Program
In furtherance of the University’s mission to assure compliance, the Office of Compliance is focused on the key program structural components as set forth in the U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations and the U.S. Department of Justice. The structure of the program concentrates on the following component areas: (1) Standards, Policies, and Procedures; (2) Compliance Program Administration; (3) Screening and Evaluation of Employees, Vendors, and Agents; (4) Communication, Education, and Training; (5) Monitoring, Auditing, and Internal Reporting Systems; (6) Discipline for Non-Compliance; and (7) Investigation Oversight and Remedial Measures.
Campus Partnerships
The University operates in an increasingly innovative complex environment with numerous laws and regulations that govern our activities as an institution and many agencies monitoring our activities. The penalties for violating laws and regulations, even when they involve a good-faith effort, are often severe. For this reason, the Office of Compliance actively collaborates with its compliance partners, including but not limited to Athletics; Campus Planning, Design and Construction and Facilities; Development; Environmental Health and Safety; Information Technology; Internal Audit; Labor and Employment; Public Safety; Research; Risk Management; Student Affairs; and other essential functions to maintain compliance throughout the University community.
Transparency, Collaboration, Accountability and Integrity
The Office of Compliance is committed to an environment where transparency, collaboration, accountability, and integrity are the expectation, not the exception. Community members should feel empowered to raise compliance concerns and seek guidance on how to prevent, detect, and correct non-compliance.
For more information, email compliance@syr.edu.