Compliance Corner – Issue 2.12
Good Stuff!
As another year comes to a close it’s natural to reflect on all that has happened since our last rotation around the sun. But for some, 2023 has been a year fraught with frustration, and for many, sadness. Sometimes, the world we live in can seem a far cry from the wonderful world in the Louis Armstrong song.
The current climate reminds me of The Covid Year, 2020, when all of us were waiting; waiting to hear that the pandemic was ending, waiting for some good news. Then suddenly, there was John Krasinski, with a daily dose of positive things that were happening in the world. His “Some Good News” show, broadcast from his home over YouTube, featured stories about the heroes among us.
Image source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5pgG1M_h_U
Guests included health-care workers keeping the hospitals running, and the cast of “Hamilton,” who serenaded a young fan, devastated when Broadway closed due to Covid, preventing her from seeing the show.
In an effort to “ac-cen-tuate the positive” (to quote another old song), and in a nod to John Krasinski, we decided to do the same thing. The truth is, there are many in our VCU community who bring the positive every day, especially where living our values is concerned. With that in mind, we bring you “Some Good Stuff,” featuring a few of the folks who went above and beyond in 2023 to perform their jobs while upholding our ethical standards of Respect, Honesty, Excellence, Responsibility & Accountability, Stewardship and Compliance.
Adapted from design by John Krasinski – YouTube, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63649257
Some Good Stuff! (Living our Values in 2023)
Respect – We respect individuals, diversity and the rights of others.
- The team in Equity and Access Services (EAS) earned the esteemed Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) award, with the added distinction of being named a Diversity Champion for ranking in the top tier of all recipients. With their human-centered approach to civil rights outreach and support, EAS collaborated and consulted with their partners across VCU to:
- Establish VCU’s first lactation policy, creating spaces like the Cabell Library Lactation Rooms.
- Revamp their Accessibility@VCU website, ensuring that individuals with disabilities can access all of the information and support services they need to be successful. Well done, EAS!
Honesty – We act and communicate honestly and candidly. We do not mislead others.
- Parking and Transportation did an outstanding job of modeling honesty this year. When they realized that their much-anticipated License Plate Recognition (LPR) program – making parking passes obsolete – would not be ready by the launch date, they were transparent about the delays and sent emails explaining progress and next steps. Thanks for showing all of us how to handle setbacks with grace and integrity, P&T!
Excellence – We strive for excellence in all that we do.
- Parking and Transportation – We know! We just gave them kudos for Honesty – but we’d be remiss if we didn’t also recognize P&T for their outstanding accomplishment this year, achieving the status of Accredited Parking Organization (APO) with Distinction from the International Parking and Mobility Institute (IPMI). VCU is the only university in Virginia to hold this honor. What makes the team stand out? They:
- Managed 13,405 parking spaces across both campuses
- Installed four new ChargePoint electric vehicle charging stations
- Completed a multi-million dollar renovation to Henry St. Deck and Laurel St. Deck to maintain the facilities
- Transitioned to cashless payments for special event parking. Impressive achievement, P&T!
- Human Resources – The HR team hit a homerun this year with the launch of Career Pathing @VCU. Career pathing allows existing employees to map out the next steps of their career by providing “actionable, technical, skill-based and competency-based plans.” These plans focus on growth and development within an employee’s existing job family or within a different job family the employee might be interested in. This win-win approach to career development benefits the employees and the university; employees feel supported as they strengthen their skills, and the university retains top talent by helping their employees. Outstanding job helping all of us to achieve career excellence, HR!
Responsibility & Accountability – We are responsible and accountable for our decisions and actions.
- The Information Security team had another banner year as they worked to raise cybersecurity awareness through email and their Phishing Net blog. And YOU, Dear Reader, took responsibility for data security by reporting potential threats to the InfoSec team. At this writing, approximately 294 employees reported phish-y emails, helping to keep our VCU and personal data safe. Well done, all!
- In a similar vein, 237 employees followed the Duty to Report and Protection from Retaliation policy, finding their voice and speaking up against misconduct. As a result, the Integrity and Compliance Office, Employee Relations Office, and Equity and Access Services teams conducted investigations and recommended solutions and sanctions where needed. Excellent teamwork, all!
Stewardship – We are good stewards of the resources entrusted to the university.
- Facilities took care of, well, all the facilities – and all that entails – across both campuses. This team tackled their herculean task without a hitch, producing the following numbers:
- Processed 65,000 work order phases
- Kept 195 buildings on both campuses clean – that’s a whopping 9,956,132 square feet maintained by the custodial team!
- Administered/monitored 168 operations contracts
- Kept 541 tons of plastic, glass, paper and cardboard out of landfills (through single-stream recycling) since the new contract year started on May 1, 2023
- Completed/opened the new STEM building. Amazing accomplishments, Facilities!
- The Sustainability team helped all of us do a better job of “passing it on” and keeping excess items out of landfills. VCU employees donated gently-used goods to Sustainability’s Free Store, helping members of the VCU community in need. Their August pop-up event in the old Ram Bikes/Sustainability building served 327 students, giving away more than 1,500 items in 5 hours. Since reopening in their new space at 930 W. Grace Street, more than 300 unique customers received over 800 items. The most popular items have included kitchen items, school and art supplies, and other housewares. Fantastic feat, Sustainability!
- The Office of Student Advocacy shares space with the Free Store, providing students and staff in need with food through the Ram Pantry. Since reopening in the new space in early September, the Ram Pantry has had 495 unique customers (“Ram Pantry guests”) and 1467 visits. Way to go, OSA!
Compliance – We understand and comply with the codes, laws, regulations, policies and procedures that govern our university activities.
- The Research Integrity and Compliance teams in the Office of the Vice President for Research Integrity (OVPRI) held a special event to commemorate International Corporate Compliance and Ethics Week in early November. To celebrate the week – which highlights the importance of ethical actions in all that we do and reinforces a culture of compliance and ethics – the teams shared an in-office lunch and played some games to learn more about one another. Not only did these folks have some fun, but they learned that they have 233 years of combined professional experience, and are a dedicated group of colleagues who care deeply about how research shapes future knowledge and broad public impact. Thanks for taking some time out to remember the importance of ethics and compliance, and for reminding all of us that our employees are the key to sustaining both!
After reviewing all the fantastic news above, I think it’s safe to say that we could rival Krasinski’s Some Good News! By focusing on our ethical standards of Respect, Honesty, Excellence, Responsibility & Accountability, Stewardship and Compliance, it’s clear that there are many here at VCU who are working hard to “do the right thing.” So as we end the year, while the headlines may sometimes get in the way, let’s remember all that is good in our VCU community, in the world, and in each other, for that is truly Some Good Stuff!
Our Compliance Case Study team will be back in 2024, bringing you a new batch of lessons learned from investigations we’ve conducted over the years.
Until then, Happy Holidays from all of us in the Integrity and Compliance Office!
If you have an idea for a future edition of Compliance Corner, please contact mcquillenka@vcu.edu. If you have questions or concerns about ethics and compliance matters, please reach out to the Integrity and Compliance Office at ucompliance@vcu.edu or (804) 828-2336.