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Annual online ethics training starts next week

October 13, 2016

ethics-trainingIt is time again for NIU employees to complete Ethics Training. If you are required to take the online training you will be notified by email from EthicsTraining@niu.edu.

Under the terms of the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, all full-time and part-time, regular and temporary faculty, staff, graduate assistants, extra help and student employees must complete online ethics training.

The training covers such topics as prohibitions against accepting gifts and bribes, conflict of interest, inappropriate use of university resources for personal matters, whistleblower protection and avoidance of political activities during the work day. The training module includes review questions in the text.

The state Office of the Executive Inspector General notes that employees who do not comply with the annual training mandate can be subject to fines and disciplinary action.

Ethics training begins at 8 a.m., Monday, Oct. 17, and concludes at 5 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 15. There are no extensions.

Employees are notified by email from EthicsTraining@niu.edu. Please do not disregard any notifications coming from this email. Training should be completed during normal work hours. Employees should check with their department on what arrangements are made for workstation access and scheduling of training times. Employees can contact EthicsTraining@niu.edu at 815-753-9192 for information or assistance.

The Office of the Executive Inspector General requires that employees on leaves of absence–including sabbaticals, educational and unpaid leaves–participate in the online training process. Exceptions are made for employees on approved FMLA and disability leave that lasts through the entire training period. These employees will be required to complete an alternative ethics training process upon their return.

Technical questions can be answered by DoIT 815-753-8100, which is available 24-hours a day.

The annual campus-wide online ethics training program is just one of the State’s statutory requirements involving ethics training that are subject to annual audit. For example, all new hires–regardless of employment category–are required to complete a paper-based “Ethics Training for New Hires” with the final signature page returned to our Ethics Training Administrator. State law requires this to be completed within the first 30 days of employment.