UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The University’s Office of Ethics and Compliance will release the 2017-18 version of the Annual Compliance Training (ACT) course on Oct. 25 and has published this year’s compliance training plan, which includes a training frequency schedule for employees, graduate assistants, graduate fellows and others. This year’s plan furthers last year’s efforts to consolidate University-wide compliance training efforts, increasing effectiveness and efficiency.
For the majority of Penn State employees, graduate assistants and graduate fellows, this consolidation has resulted in the ACT becoming the only University-wide compliance training course necessary on an annual basis. New employees and Mandated Reporters will need to complete additional training courses.
“Not only do we want to streamline things as much as possible, but we’re looking to keep the content fresh and engaging so that people aren’t taking the same course year after year. To that end, we’ve changed about 30 percent of the content, with this year’s focus being ethical awareness," said Regis Becker, chief ethics and compliance officer.
Even with the new content, the course will remain approximately 30 minutes in length. In addition to the new ethics section, information privacy and export compliance has been added, as well.
In order to provide employees with ample opportunities for completion, the deadline for completion will be Feb. 23, 2018. As it was this year, general salary increase (GSI) eligibility will be tied to completion of the ACT, with individuals who remain incomplete as of Feb. 23 being ineligible for GSI. Recommendations for supervisors regarding consequences for noncompliance can be found on the Office of Ethics and Compliance website at https://universityethics.psu.edu/compliance-training-plan.
For new employees, graduate assistants and graduate fellows:
- Annual Compliance Training
- "Building a Safe Penn State: Reporting Child Abuse Training"
- Understanding Title IX
- Clery Act Training for Campus Security Authorities only, as defined in Policy AD74
Recurring:
- Annual Compliance Training, annually for all employees.
Pennsylvania Mandated Reporters will be required to complete the "Building a Safe Penn State: Reporting Child Abuse" training on an annual basis. These employees will be designated by the Human Resources Strategic Partners in their respective units.
Volunteers and Independent contractors will be required to complete the "Building a Safe Penn State: Reporting Child Abuse" training within 30 days of beginning employment or volunteer activity.
For more questions about the ACT, email psoec@psu.edu.