Code of Conduct

Institutional Compliance

USU has established a decentralized compliance approach with a network of leaders and managers providing subject matter expertise in a range of compliance areas. Oversight of the compliance efforts is provided by the Executive Committee with support from a compliance working group made of key compliance owners and other senior leadership. University Ethics & Compliance is situated in Legal Affairs, and coordinates university-wide efforts to develop and implement programs that support ethical and compliant operations.

USU has adopted a model common to many institutions of higher education, with three lines of defense to avoid non-compliance and misconduct. The first line of defense is the operational managers and subject matter experts throughout the university. The second line of defense is the combination of responsible executives and senior leadership of the institution. Our final line of defense internally is our team in Internal Audit Services.

Speak Up

We support a speak up culture. When words and actions are not aligned with our values, we speak up. Several means of reporting suspected non-compliance or misconduct are available to USU employees and students. Normally a potential problem should be addressed through first-line supervisors or assigned administrators, as outlined in central offices that respond to misconduct & non-compliance. However, we would rather receive an anonymous report than no report at all. USU works with EthicsPoint, a third-party vendor that maintains USU’s Reporting Hotline system. 

Principles of Community

A USU initiative called Think, Care, Act is focused on fostering a caring community that enhances the learning environment for all Aggies.