Ethics & Compliance Specialist

The University of Wisconsin System, a premier system of public higher education, educates approximately 161,000 students each year and employs 40,000 faculty and staff statewide. With 13 universities across 26 campuses and a statewide extension network with offices in every county, the UW System is a tremendous academic, cultural, and economic resource for Wisconsin, the nation, and the world. The UW System and its employees are purpose-driven, people-focused, and committed to stewardship.

The Office of Compliance & Integrity provides support and services to UW System institutions in identifying and fulfilling compliance obligations from federal law, state law, and Board of Regents policies and to promote a culture that moves beyond regulatory compliance to one that embraces ethics and integrity.  This position will operate within a hybrid work environment.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Ethics and Compliance Specialist (ECS) is a newly created role at UW System Administration. The ECS will serve as a compliance specialist on laws, regulations, policies, and processes relating to higher education compliance issues with a focus on ethical and integrity requirements, conflicts of interest, conflicts of commitment, high-profile compliance risk mitigation planning and state authorization for distance education activities on behalf of UW System. This position will collect, track, and maintain compliance data and oversee the UW System compliance program relating to ethics, conflicts of interest and state authorization of distance education.  The Compliance Administrator will develop and deliver training programs, communications, materials, and other resources related to these topics and more, as needed.  This role will also assist the OCI in monitoring institutional risk, developing remediation strategies to leadership and assessing effectiveness of said strategics to ensure compliance with laws, regulations, and policies.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES

High Risk Compliance

• Collaborates with subject matter experts to develop and implement plans to remediate findings and gaps identified in reports issued by UW System Office of Internal Audit
• Collaborates with Office of Risk Management on development of identified compliance initiatives such as the Risk, Compliance, Audit (RCA) Initiative
• Facilitates working groups of subject matter experts from across UW System to identify areas of compliance risk, create plans to mitigate risk and improve compliance, and develop training and awareness resources to support a culture of compliance.
• Communicates with relevant stakeholders across UW System to identify, develop, and implement OCI high profile compliance initiatives, including thorough identification of potential roadblocks and collection of input.
• Engages in strategic planning and policies to ensure the OCI strategic direction supports the needs of stakeholders.

Ethics and Conflicts of Interest

• Develops and implements new and revised policies and procedures relating to ethics, integrity and conflicts of interest.
• Develops educational trainings and materials to target populations in collaboration with internal or external stakeholders on compliance-related topics, with a focus on ethics and conflicts of interest
• Assist with reviewing and tracking hotline complaints and serve as the OCI representative for hotline cases.
• Serves as the subject matter expert and a main point of contact for internal and external stakeholders on ethics and conflicts of interest laws, regulations, administrative rules and policies.
• Provide guidance and oversight to institutions on compliance programs and requirements for ethics and conflicts of interest activities.
• Provide guidance, expertise, training and support to UW System and institutions on laws, regulations, administrative rules, policies and procedures relating to ethics and conflicts of interest.
• Provides guidance and consultation in the prevention and resolution of conflicts of interest and policy violations.

State Authorization of Distance Learning

• Provide guidance, assistance, and training to institutions regarding compliance requirements and activities under the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA).
• Serve as the primary contact, program coordinator and lead advisor to all UW institutions that participate in SARA.
• Provide oversight, guidance, training, support, and resources to UW institutions regarding compliance, oversight, and application of SARA Manual, as amended (all 13 institutions currently participate), including review, preparation and submission of institutional applications and annual renewal applications for SARA participation.
• Manage SARA activities and contact information in the NC-SARA salesforce database.
• At the direction of the Chief Compliance Officer, serve as state portal entity representative for UW System and attend all NC-SARA and MSARA meetings, conferences, webinars, engagements, and activities.
• Stay abreast of all federal and state regulations, rules and laws that relate to or impact state authorization rules and requirements, NC-SARA initiatives, proposals and actions, and changes to and/or the interpretation of the SARA Manual provisions.
• Assist institutions in the development and implementation of SARA requirements, such as policy development, revisions to institution processes and procedures, preparation and publication of disclosures and notifications, tracking of distance education programs, courses and activities that fall under SARA regulatory oversight, and more.
• Work in collaboration with State of Wisconsin Higher Education Accounting Board (HEAB) to create and maintain the DLAB website.
• Other duties as assigned.

 Compliance Matrix and Data Collection

• Maintain, update and revise compliance obligations within the database.
• Serves as the subject matter expert and a main point of contact for internal and external stakeholders on the compliance matrix.
• Maintain and update UW System Administration instance of the compliance matrix.
• Provide training and guidance to matrix administrators systemwide.
• Develop a process for collecting system-wide data on particular topics, such as sexual misconduct and prepare reports summarizing said data.
• Develop an OCI dashboard for internal use that provides a high-level summary data summary of compliance-related functions, including but not limited to sexual misconduct, Title IX, public records and other topics, as deemed relevant.

 Other Duties as Assigned

• Assist CCO with the implementation, development, oversight, and monitoring of compliance initiatives.
• Serve as the Finance and General Administration Policy Committee to provide input on behalf of OCI on the development and revisions of UW System policies.
• Oversee and provide guidance to the UW System fellow assigned to OCO.
• Creates, disseminates, and maintains required reports and notices in accordance with established laws and regulations.
• Monitor and track submission of UW System external reporting obligations.
• Performs other duties as assigned by the Chief Compliance

 MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s
• At least 5 years’ experience working for an organization or entity on compliance-related programs and/or a compliance-related field.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Previous experience working for a higher education institution or system in a compliance or ethics officer role.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

This position is a full-time, salaried (exempt) Academic Staff Appointment. Well-qualified candidates can expect a starting annual range of $85,000 - $102,900 commensurate with the candidate’s education, related experience, and qualifications. UW System employees receive an excellent benefit package. To learn more about the UWSA comprehensive benefit package, you can read our benefit summary guide: Summary - Faculty, Academic Staff & Limited Appointees. Furthermore, the Health & Retirement Contributions Estimator | Employee Benefits (wisconsin.edu) is a tool designed to provide you with total compensation information.

SPECIAL NOTES

The UW System is required to conduct a criminal background and sexual harassment check for final candidate(s) prior to employment.  Please note that successful applicants are responsible for ensuring their eligibility to work in the United States (i.e. a citizen or national of the University States, a lawful permanent resident, a foreign national authorized to work in the United States without the need of employer sponsorship) on or before the effective date of appointment.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

To ensure full consideration, please submit application materials as soon as possible. Applicant screening will begin immediately and be ongoing through Sunday, March 26, 2023. However, applications may be accepted until the position has been filled.

1. Go to the UWSA Applicant Portalto submit your materials online and select the appropriate applicant portal, either External Applicants or Internal Applicants  and click on the position title that you want to apply for.
2. Follow the onscreen instructions and be sure to include your salary expectations when asked in our applicant tracking In addition, please be sure to upload ALL THREE of the required documents: resume, cover letter, and references as PDF files. Failing to include any of these documents may disqualify your application.
   1. Your cover letter MUST specifically address how your education and experience relate to the and qualifications. Be sure to emphasize the areas outlined under “Minimum and Preferred ”
   2. Your reference page should include the names, addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers for three professional references with at least one being from a current or previous supervisor
3. Include a statement of whether you wish to have your application held in confidence or made available to the public upon request. Please note that in the absence of any statement regarding confidentiality, we will assume you do not wish to have your application held in confidence. The UW System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing, except that the identity of the successful candidate will be released. See Stat. sec. 19.36(7).
4. Submit your application

 The University of Wisconsin System Administration is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and actively seeks and encourages applications from women, minorities, and person with disabilities.

Questions may be addressed to: Lori Fuller, Senior Human Resources Manager; UW System Human Resources; at lfuller@uwsa.edu or at (608) 263-0847.