University Will Hire Chief Integrity Officer

Posted on Feb. 9, 2016

Out of the work of the Ethics and Integrity Working Group and the Policy and Procedures Working Group, created following the release of the Wainstein report on UNC’s academic-athletics fraud case, comes the recommendation that the University create the position of chief integrity and policy officer, a new senior administrator position reporting directly to the chancellor.

The Ethics and Integrity Working Group conducted an exhaustive review of the full range of the University’s existing ethics-related programs, training, practices, regulations, and reporting and compliance mechanisms.

The Policy and Procedures Working Group was asked to oversee an institution-wide review of policies and procedures, develop recommendations for improvements, and create a mechanism for their periodic re-evaluation.

The chair of the second group, Todd Nicolet ’97 (MA), associate dean of operations for the School of Government, will serve in the new position in the interim.

According to a statement from Chancellor Carol L. Folt: “Both groups conducted extensive reviews and confirmed that the campus already has in place a strong array of programs and resources related to ethics and integrity. They did not identify any significant gaps in programs, resources or reporting mechanisms. However, they did make a number of recommendations for continuous improvement and ways to make existing resources more visible and accessible to our campus community. In the coming weeks, we will thoroughly review and prioritize the recommendations from both groups and share our progress with the campus community.”

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