The UW-Madison Institutional Ethics Committee was established to provide advice and consultation on standards of employee conduct as articulated in University of Wisconsin System (UWS) Chapter 8.03 and Regent Policy 20-22. Areas in scope include personal gain from a university position, contracting and leasing, nepotism, and student research protection. The committee is an advisory body that, upon request, provides advice and consultation to employees on questions or concerns related to their own conduct.
Learn more
Questions?
If you have questions, contact the Institutional Ethics Committee at ethics.committee@ohr.wisc.edu.
Consultations
- Employees are encouraged to provide any documents/records/statements that they think would help the committee evaluate the situation in question.
- The committee may ask for any other materials it may need in order to make a recommendation.
- Employees will also be able to meet with the committee to present their questions and/or issues around the standard(s) of conduct in question.
Resources
- Administrative Code, Chapter UWS 8: Unclassified Staff Code of Ethics (applies to faculty, academic staff, limited appointees)
- Board of Regents Policy Document 20-22, Code of Ethics (applies to university staff)
- UW-712, Academic Staff Policies and Procedures Chapter 12: Outside Activities and Conflicts of Interest
- UW-808, Faculty Policies and Procedures Chapter 8: Faculty Rights and Responsibilities
- UW-869, Misconduct in Scholarly Research
- UW-1075, Conflict of Commitment
- UW-4001, Conflicts of Interest
- UW-4002, Institutional Conflicts of Interest
- UW-5044, Code of Ethics
- UW-5046, Nepotism
- UW-5048, Consensual Relationships
Meetings
Meetings will be posted on the Secretary of the Faculty webpage for open meetings.
Any deliberations or actions upon requests for consultation or advice shall take place in closed session.
Committee Members
The committee consists of one member each from seven different areas, including central academic and administrative offices, as well as shared governance bodies for academic staff, university staff, and faculty.
- Abi Diop-Keita
Employment Relations Investigator, Office of Human Resources
Nominated by Workforce Relations, Office of Human Resources - John Gausmann
Materials Customer Support Associate, Division of Facilities Planning & Management
Nominated by the University Staff Appointments Committee - Irwin Goldman
Professor, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
Nominated by the University Committee - Amita Kapoor
Scientist III, Wisconsin National Primate Research Center
Nominated by the Academic Staff Executive Committee - Sam Leinweber
COI Compliance Manager, Research Policy and Integrity
Nominated by the Office of Research Policy and Integrity - Imad Mouchayleh
Compliance Administrator (Inst), Business Services
Nominated by the Division of Business Services - Kent Weigel
Vice Provost for Faculty and Staff Affairs, Office of the Provost
Nominated by the Office of the Provost
Annual Reports
Annual reports will be published on this web page as they become available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are a set of common questions about the committee’s functions. If you have a question that you think should be added, please contact ethics.committee@ohr.wisc.edu.
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How will the committee approach individuals seeking advice about their own activities?
The primary purpose of this committee is for individuals to seek advice and consultation about their own activities. For individuals seeking advice about their own activities, the committee will review all materials submitted by the individual to help provide their recommendation. The recommendation is advisory only, and responsibility for action or lack thereof rests with the individual. This will be reiterated in communication issued to the employee. The committee is not a decision-making body and is not intended to handle matters that are within the scope of existing committees (e.g., Institutional Conflict of Interest Committee).
How will the committee approach individuals seeking advice about the activities of others?
For individuals seeking advice about others’ activities, the committee may reference applicable policies and refer individuals to alternative committees, offices, or resources, including the Universities of Wisconsin Integrity Hotline for reporting misconduct, illegal activity, fraud, and abuse.
To contact the Integrity Hotline, go to secure.ethicspoint.com/domain/media/en/gui/58858/index.html or call 855-827-4950.
To reference UW-Madison’s Whistleblower Protection Policy, go to policy.wisc.edu/library/UW-5067.
What type of advice and guidance will the committee provide?
As stated in Section II. C. of the committee’s charter, the committee will provide its recommendation as to whether matters provided by employees may result in a conflict between that employee’s personal responsibilities and their responsibilities to the institution. As part of that recommendation, the committee may also recommend referring an employee’s matter to another office (e.g., areas listed in Section II.D. of the committee’s charter)
What type of response time can be expected from the committee?
Response times may be set by the committee on a case-by-case basis. The committee will make a good faith effort to provide services in a timely manner.
If there are simultaneous requests from disparate individuals, which requests will take priority or precedence? Are requests solely handled in the order in which they are received?
Requests will be considered in the order in which they are received, unless there is a time-sensitive aspect that would move the request higher in the queue.
Are committee members obligated to make a report if someone brings forward potential allegations toward someone else (e.g. research misconduct, where according to our policy, “all institutional members and affiliates have a responsibility to report observed, suspected, or apparent research misconduct” (UW-869 I.D.1.)?
Yes, committee members would be bound to report these issues. Aside from holding deliberations in closed session, the committee is not a confidential resource.
To what extent, if any, will this committee have the ability and/or authority to make policy recommendations to administration (specifically, determination of need for new or amended policies versus need for more education on existing policies)?
Based on trends that the committee sees, the committee could provide formal suggestions to the Chief Human Resources Officer that policies be created or amended, or recommend that certain policies receive broader communication and education efforts.
What happens if the ethics committee issues advice or guidance indicating that something is not a conflict, but a dean or director believes it is?
The committee provides advice and guidance to individual employees. The committee does not have the authority to make the final decision whether an issue is or is not an ethical concern under UWS 8 or other applicable policies. That authority rests with the dean or director of the school, college, or division. Employees are strongly encouraged to contact their dean’s or director’s office regarding this matter to ensure compliance with all necessary policies.
What happens if the ethics committee encounters matters related to federally funded or human subjects researchers, which are bound by regulatory requirements additional to UWS 8?
The committee provides advice on the application of UWS 8 and Regent Policy 20-22. If an employee engages in, or plans to apply for funding to support, a federally funded or human subjects research study, questions about potential conflicts of interest should be directed to the Conflict of Interest (“COI”) program in the Office of Research Policy and Integrity to ensure that all regulatory requirements applicable to this research are addressed. The COI program can be reached at coiprogram@research.wisc.edu.