Office of Ethics, Compliance & Privacy | The George Washington University

Office of Ethics, Compliance, and Privacy

All members of the university are responsible for supporting GW’s mission by holding themselves and the community to the highest standards of ethical and lawful conduct in all academic and business activities. The university must comply with a wide range of laws, regulations and policies that govern its various activities. While identified staff throughout the institution have operational compliance responsibilities specific to their area, the Office of Ethics, Compliance, and Privacy (OECP) provides compliance oversight through the management of the university’s ethics and compliance program as well as related areas of risk, internal audit, and privacy. In a continuously evolving business and regulatory environment, OECP aims to coordinate compliance efforts, detect and mitigate university risk, and promote a culture of ethical conduct.

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All members of the community are responsible for maintaining a culture of ethics and compliance. Identified staff with specific operational compliance responsibilities are brought together to collaboratively ensure coordination of compliance activities across the institution.

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University policies are created and maintained to encourage a culture of ethical, social, professional and legal behavior and responsibility. Policies serve to communicate GW's values and mission while protecting its people and reputation.

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Privacy at GW refers to the handling of the personal information we collect in the administration of the university. GW is committed to following best practices concerning data privacy and safeguarding the personal information of our community members.

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The university's Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program identifies the top risk areas across the institution, develops risk assessment frameworks, mitigation actions and management plans for each area.

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Internal Audit serves as a consultative function to help the university anticipate and manage risk proactively. Internal Audit assesses the control environment and critical industry issues to identify an annual internal audit plan.

Overview Presentation of Key Areas

Members of the university community are expected to report violations of ethical principles of conduct, laws, regulations or university policies. Reporting avenues that allow for anonymous reporting of possible ethical or compliance violations are available online or by the phone via EthicsPoint. Other specific reporting avenues are also available depending on the nature of the concern.

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GW has a culture of integrity and ethical behavior in the daily life of our community through respect, responsibility, accountability, stewardship, teamwork, and service.

The GW Tempietto in Kogan Plaza