Standard Ten

Public Disclosure

Public Disclosure and the University of Connecticut in 2006

Ten years ago, in our last NEASC accreditation report, we stressed that a public university such as the University of Connecticut is of, and for, the public and has a moral, a legal, and an intellectual obligation to public disclosure of information. Since that time, the University’s commitment to public disclosure has not changed but the environment within which it exists has changed dramatically.  The public's user-friendly access to information via technology means increased exposure and greater accountability.  With today's faster, more robust information exchange, many former paper processes, such as admissions and registration are now handled on-line. And, key information contained in such important documents as the University's academic catalogs are now available on the web. In an age dominated by cell phones, Blackberries, and chat rooms, students can create their own personal websites through computer tools like myspace.com and Facebook. All of these advances bring with them tremendous opportunities for sharing information but also greater threats to personal privacy. It is within this context, and in line with our mission to serve the needs of Connecticut's citizens, that we must protect these sometimes conflicting obligations.

Because of technological developments and proclivities of the target student populations to use electronic modalities for information gathering, the University of Connecticut (http://www.uconn.edu) has emphasized development and upkeep of its website and myriad attendant webpages.  In academic year 2005-06, the website was completely revised to make it more user-friendly and up-to-date. There are now specially designed websites for each of the following groups: prospective students, parents, matriculated students, faculty and staff, alumni, and visitors.

Public Disclosure and Public Disclosure Laws

As a public institution, the University of Connecticut is adamant about complying with legislation pertaining to public disclosure.  Our policies reflect federal and state legislation such as the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).  The University states in the catalog that it is in compliance with FERPA, and the Registrar's Office is well-informed and diligent in applying the law.  Under FOI legislation, all documents other than those specifically exempted, are subject to public disclosure.  The University also abides by the Office for Civil Rights HIPAA Medical Privacy - National Standards to Protect the Privacy of Personal Health Information.  The University relies on advice from the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General and is in compliance with the law. These laws and regulations ensure that the University of Connecticut is transparent in its operations so as to keep the public informed.  In order to fully comply with all legal disclosure requirements and to be responsive to requests for information from the public, in 2006, the University of Connecticut hired a Privacy Officer as part of the Office of Audit, Compliance and Ethics.

The University is dedicated to going beyond mere compliance with the law in terms of public disclosure and has endeavored through a number of modalities to make activities, issues and events on all its campuses as transparent as possible.  As will be discussed below, electronic media and media relations have been a particular emphasis in terms of public disclosure.  Two examples of this dedication to keeping campus constituencies and the public informed are the publication of periodic, lengthy letters by the President to the campus community and the placement of the minutes of the Board of Trustees on the university website.

Electronic Media

The University has a commitment to maintain cutting-edge, state-of-the-art technology in providing access to its public information.  Thus, the catalogs are made available on the University’s web site, as well as in hard copy.   Society’s growing reliance on web-based information makes it imperative that publications are available not only in hard copy but online, as are calendars, forms, information, etc.

Over the past ten years, the University’s website has improved immeasurably and is now the single largest portal for public acquisition of information about the institution.  The University has expanded and continually revised its web pages and is constantly anticipating and adapting them to be both proactive and reactive. The University’s recently updated home page (2005-06) contains links to in-house designed audience-specific home pages, meeting the unique and shared needs of populations including future students, current students, parents, alumni, faculty and staff, and visitors. These sites were designed with University-wide input to best meet each user’s needs.  This option to access general and/or audience specific information has provided a tool that supports public disclosure effectively.

Every department is required to put an e-mail address or phone number for a contact person on its departmental page. There is also a general University information e-mail address, posted on the website and maintained by University Communications. Inquiries received via e-mail by University Communications are forwarded to appropriate University offices for responses.

There is consistency to the University’s web pages because of required adherence to the template developed and shared by University Communications based on University-wide input prior to the launching of the new University site in 2006.  The website provides helpful guides for user-friendly navigation to information and, as discussed above, has specially constructed pages for important constituency groups such as prospective and present students and their parents. (10.2)

The University’s website, http://www.uconn.edu, like its catalog, contains and/or cross-references information on the University’s mission, objectives, expected educational outcomes; requirements, procedures, and policies related to admissions and transfer of credit; student fees, charges and refund policies; rules/regulations for student conduct; other items related to attending or withdrawing from the institution; academic programs, courses currently offered, and other available educational opportunities; academic policies and procedures, and requirements for degrees or other forms of academic recognition (10.5).

Other key information available on the website includes information regarding our accreditation status, for example, such as specific links pertaining to efforts and outcomes regarding NEASC Accreditation status, University metrics, peer comparisons, national rankings, placement success, achievements of faculty, students, and staff, examples of program excellence, and a variety of learning goals and outcomes (10.12, 10.13)

Admissions and Student Information

The Undergraduate Catalogs and other authoritative publications available on paper and on the University’s website present information relative to admission and attendance. Undergraduate Admissions uses a data-driven, coordinated combination of recruitment tools including a Viewbook, sent under separate cover that provides an informative overview of the University, an online admissions application, and a variety of web-links and brochures that highlight individual schools and colleges, costs and financial aid, international admission, transfer admissions, regional campuses, and other areas of special interest. The documents are mailed and are available at the Visitors Center, Admissions Office, and on-line. (10.1, 10.3)

These publications are designed, prepared and edited by the Division of Enrollment Management’s Offices of Admissions, Orientation Services, Financial Aid Services, and Registrar working closely with University Communications.  They are reviewed annually for accuracy and to reflect any changes to academic majors, admission requirements, dates, activity schedules, etc. Facts and figures printed in admissions publications are verified through academic departments, the Office of Institutional Research, Registrar's Office, and other appropriate administrative offices. (10.14)

Major University Publications

The University of Connecticut publishes the following Catalogs: Undergraduate, Graduate, Law School, and School of Social Work. The catalogs are available both in print and electronically on the UConn website.The Schools of Medicine and Dentistry Catalogs are available online only.  These documents offer clear, accurate and complete information for prospective students, faculty, staff and the public and are central to the issues addressed in this Standard.  Current catalogs’ descriptions are consistent with the University’s mission statement and set forth responsibilities of students and the institution. Each catalog provides both general and specific information regarding the University structure, its academic calendar and degree programs, admissions, costs, financial aid, indebtedness, and schools’ and colleges’ academic regulations and course offerings.  University of Connecticut website links pertaining to each of the regional campuses are listed in the Undergraduate Catalog, as well. (10.3, 10.4, 10.7, 10.9, 10.11, 10.14)

Efforts are made to ensure that all institutional publications and print and electronic communications are consistent with catalog content and accurately portray conditions and opportunities available at the institution. In the annual preparation and editing of the catalogs, each dean and department head has the opportunity to review and edit his/her section of the catalog and important decisions regarding the University over the past year are reviewed.  Important meeting minutes are consulted for guidance such as those held by the University Senate, school and college faculty, the Board of Trustees, and the Board of Governors for Higher Education.  Preparation of the Undergraduate Catalog adheres to the Senate By-Laws and Catalog Copy Guidelines annually are shared with deans and appropriate University department heads. (10.4)

The Undergraduate Catalog currently identifies programs, courses, services, and personnel. General information on whether a course is typically offered in the fall or spring semester is provided. Occasionally, it may list courses not taught for two consecutive years that will not be taught during a third consecutive year. Academic department heads and deans are responsible for ensuring that all required courses, plus sufficient electives, are offered frequently enough to allow completion of a student’s plan of study in a timely manner. The reasons commonly given for leaving “on the books” elective courses that are only offered periodically, is that the process for getting a course approved is time-consuming, and there may be a two-to-three year hiatus in ability to offer an elective if one faculty member leaves and has to be replaced, due to the one to two-year search process. The University Senate has been studying the issue of how long a course description may remain in the catalog without the course actually being offered. (10.8)

A listing of Trustees, senior administration and faculty by academic department including highest degree earned is provided in the catalog each year.  This information is reviewed for accuracy by the deans of each school and college for undergraduate faculty, and by the Graduate School for the graduate faculty listings. (10.6)

Office of University Relations

University Relations is responsible for publications, media relations, event planning, alumni relations, the Lodewick Visitors Center, and legislative relations. It issues news releases that address topics of interest and concern including both positive developments at the University and significant problems, undertakes media placement via personal contact, and responds to queries from the media.  It also participates in a nationwide electronic link called PROFNET through which national and international media ask colleges and universities for expert sources for stories. University Communications also publishes the weekly faculty/staff newspaper (The Advance) which is distributed in hard copy and on the Web, an alumni magazine (Traditions) which also on the web, and the Health Center Magazine.   

University Communications, which is part of University Relations, also handles a wide range of publications from four-color brochures to business cards. All are monitored for both content and design to assure that they adhere to the University’s key messages and graphic standards. University Communications coordinates advertising on behalf of the University, manages communications in support of the tour programs of the Lodewick Visitors Center (www.visitors.uconn.edu), oversees the consistency and accuracy of messages on the University’s official web site and related pages, such as the student and faculty/staff pages, and annually publishes a University Fact Sheet, available online and in hard copy. It has also established an online events calendar and opens its Visitors Center daily to ensure that visitors feel welcome.

In addition, University Communications works in partnership with many University offices on communications activities and programs to support strategic initiatives at the administrative, school and college, department, institute and center levels.  These partnerships annually result in a variety of publications, including the President’s annual report, web pages, displays and video presentations.  Communications handled by the office of University Communications are monitored both for content and for design that adheres to the University’s graphic standards.  University Logos and Usage and Graphics Standards exist for print publications, and there also are website graphics standards.  For the complete standards and guidelines, please see the Graphic Standards Manual, contained in Appendix 10.1.  Many departments also handle their own publications, but they must abide by the University’s logo and graphics standards.

Other Forms of University Communication

Many departments throughout the University independently produce and mail their own publications. The distribution of these publications is handled by the individual departments. For example, Athletics follows the NCAA rules for the distribution of material to future athletes. Many departments noted, however, that mailing these publications is a problem given budget concerns and the complexity of bulk mailing rules.  Also produced are promotional and other videos by various schools and departments, such as Admissions and Cooperative Extension. Videos are also used by the Visitors Center.  Videotaped University messages are used as half-time spots during televised athletic events and many University events such as lectures are broadcast by the Connecticut Television Network.  The University has also established an online Events Calendar. The Lodewick Visitors Center, which manages the University’s tour program and provides maps, brochures and other information, makes the public feel welcome.

The Office of the Dean of Students is responsible for reviewing and distributing the Code of Conduct, Alcohol Policy (trustee policy), and the School and Drug Act. The Code defines expectations, rights of the accused and the victim, and the disciplinary process in detail. It is posted on the web and is available to every faculty and staff member. The School and Drug Act is also readily available via the UConn website (according to federal mandate). To greater ensure conveyance of this information, the Office is highlighted on each new student's tour to explain the Code and the role of the Office in carrying out these policies.

Reporting of Data and Data Collection

In the last ten years, significant strides towards unifying the data reporting process have been made. University Communications, the Office of Institutional Research, and the Enrollment Management Division have worked out a highly collaborative process for data gathering. However, there is still information that is coordinated on a departmental level only and some at the University are concerned about accessibility, consistency, territorialism, quality and resources, and the impact these challenges have on the institution's ability to communicate effectively with the public.

The University’s Office of Institutional Research (OIR) website contains a thorough and clear compilation of institutional data pertaining to size and characteristics of student body, faculty and staff, enrollment, retention and graduation rates, and racial/ethnic information.  The University annually publishes a Fact Sheet, Exhibit I.1, prepared by OIR that is available on the web and in print form.  The University website and undergraduate catalog provides a wealth of information regarding the campus settings, availability of academic and other support services, the range of co-curricular and non-academic opportunities and institutional learning and physical resources from which a student can reasonably be expected to benefit. (10.9)

The University measures its success in numerous ways, including Accountability Performance Measures provided to the Connecticut Department of Higher Education and passed on to the Legislature and Governor’s Office along with information on other public higher education institutions in Connecticut. This document and the University metrics and peer comparisons contain information regarding goals for students’ education and their success in achieving goals. Information on student success including retention and graduation rates of the general student population and minority student population as well as other measures of success appropriate to the University’s institutional mission are published annually. As appropriate, recent information on passage rates for licensure exams also are published in the Performance Measures report. For the latest Performance Measures Accountability Report, see www.ctdhe.org/info/pdfs/2006/2006 AccountabilityReport.pdf.   (10.10)

The Office of Institutional Research annually collects certain data and posts them to the web. It also serves as a resource for faculty, staff and administrators and the media.  The accuracy and consistent completion of surveys and questionnaires which the University receives from a variety of external sources is another concern.  The Offices of Institutional Research and University Communications work together to respond to these surveys. However, the absence of a master/centralized database makes this type of coordination very difficult and time consuming.

Alumni records are kept by private entities, the Alumni Association and the UConn Foundation. A new edition of the University of Connecticut Alumni Association Alumni Directory is now in preparation (to replace one done in 1996) and may provide access to these records more broadly.

User Feedback

The University of Connecticut’s planning is data-driven.  As noted in Chapter Two, Planning and Evaluation, the institution engages in extensive planning activities across a wide spectrum.  It garners feedback about the level of use and degree of satisfaction with the University’s efforts with many important activities, including student admission and retention, communications and public disclosure. 
 
A good example of measuring effectiveness can be found in the assessment strategy applied by the University of Connecticut’s Division of Enrollment Management. Students are surveyed as incoming freshmen regarding their expectations and early experiences thus far, and mid-career and senior satisfaction surveys are also conducted.  A number of items on each of these surveys pertain to information issues.

Survey of Entry Level Students
The Survey of Entry Level Students administered during Orientation for the past seven years enables incoming freshman to share their perspective at the start of their college career.  Students are asked to rate the impact that a variety of factors had on their decision to attend UConn.  Almost all of the reasons are dependent upon the University’s ability and performance regarding disclosing key information to students and their families, as illustrated by some of the top cited factors:  good educational value, outstanding faculty, wide variety of courses, and academic reputation. 

Students also were asked how often they used various information sources and how they would rate the sources they used. The UConn website was the students’ primary information source.  Over time, frequency of use of the web as an information source has increased significantly while frequency of use of UConn publications has declined.  Information available on the web also received the highest marks for satisfaction.  Students said they accessed information on academic programs on the University website most often prior to applying, and information regarding residential life after applying.  This feedback is crucial in developing website content and structure in the future.

Asked what they were looking forward to most and least about attending UConn, responses reflected some conflicting expectations long held as common to freshman adjustment.  Although meeting new people and dorm life ranked one and two as experiences students look forward to most, they also ranked high among experiences they were looking forward to least. 

Responses also reflected high expectations regarding academic advising.  When asked how important it was that faculty in general or an academic advisor met certain needs, providing accurate information, caring about your academic success, prompt feedback, and availability ranked as the most important.

Matriculated Student Surveys
On behalf of the Division of Enrollment Management, the Center for Survey and Research Analysis, as stated earlier surveys sophomores, juniors and seniors.

Results indicate that about sixty percent of students are more than satisfied with and fifteen percent are satisfied with academic advising.  Also, two-thirds of sophomores and juniors and three-fourths of seniors were satisfied with course availability, overall.  However, responses regarding individual aspects of course availability of major and general education courses were more mixed.  All in all, major courses seemed to be a bit less available than general education courses, particularly for sophomores and juniors.

Seniors also were asked to reflect on their experience at UConn and discuss future plans.  More than three-fourths of students would attend UConn if they could start all over again and would recommend UConn to family and friends.  Three-fourths of students expected to graduate in four years when they entered as freshmen and slightly more than half were on target to accomplish that.  About one-third of students who were taking longer to graduate changed majors or added a major or second degree.  About one-third of seniors plan to attend graduate school after earning their bachelor’s degree.

The University of Connecticut, the Media, and Public Disclosure

It is not an exaggeration to say that the University of Connecticut is one of the most prominent entities in the State of Connecticut.  Because the State has made such a huge financial investment in UConn, and because the University has been so prominent in many types of endeavors, ranging from research and education to athletics, events at UConn are regarded as “big news.”  Indeed, all major media outlets, print and electronic, carry some sort of story involving the University of Connecticut on a daily basis.  The University has encouraged this, because of its obligation to serve the interests of the State. However, this very prominence has created some challenges for the University in terms of what information to disclose about events at UConn and when to disclose it.  The University has often been called upon in recent years to balance its need to discuss potential plans or employment actions against the desire, particularly on the part of the media, for immediate public disclosure.  The University has processes in place to safeguard the privacy and legal rights of employees and/or its contractual rights against other parties.  In order to utilize these processes and ascertain the truth of certain charges, there may be a delay in public disclosure of information. However, as a public entity with high standards of integrity, the University of Connecticut is dedicated to public disclosure of correct information. 

During this self-study period, there have been at least four highly-publicized occurrences that have triggered the dynamic balance of the University’s need to analyze and make responsible investigation before acting with the media’s desire for information.  These instances include the controversy surrounding the potential construction of a research building owned by Pfizer Corporation on University of Connecticut land in Storrs, a student celebration that got out of hand, allegations of fiscal impropriety at a University research center, and issues with alleged non-compliance with construction code regulations in building projects.  While the facts pertaining to these instances vary, they all involved the University of Connecticut taking responsible action to plan and / or ascertain the truth of various allegations.  At the conclusion of appropriate investigations or adherence with established employee investigation or student disciplinary procedures, there was a full and fair disclosure of the facts by the University.  Further, as a result of each of these occurrences, University of Connecticut policies and procedures were evaluated and changes made to strengthen them, to better serve both the University and the interests of the citizens of the State.  The creation of a University Ethics Statement and Guide to the State Code of Ethics (Exhibit 10.1) and a University of Connecticut Employee Code of Conduct have reaffirmed the mandate of University employees to serve the interests of the State in an honest and transparent manner. 

Appraisal

Assessment of Communications Activities

University Communications regularly conducts focus groups and surveys to assess public perception of the University in general and in relation to particular issues of interest to the University.The telephone research has been helpful in assessing whether or not the University’s messages are reaching and impacting both the Connecticut public and alumni (and the research shows they are). University Communications also conducts focus group research among current and prospective students, guidance counselors and parents to inform the development of communications materials.  While there is no formal mechanism per se in place for assessment and/or evaluation of the University's efforts in public disclosure, the very prominence of the University as a “media figure” and a publicly funded institution, plus the large amount of surveying of constituencies, act as assessment mechanisms. Some departments have an assessment process in place but most agreed that little is done by the University as a whole to assess its success in its communication efforts with the public. The recently developed UConn home page was researched, tested, reviewed, and modified with broad constituent involvement across and outside the University.

It should be noted that UConn's website comprises webpages of the University's departments, offices and other units, as well as those of individual UConn faculty, staff and students. The views and opinions expressed by individual faculty, staff and students on these personal webpages are strictly those of the authors. The contents of these personal pages have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Connecticut.

Following are some assessment activities occurring within departments or schools:

• Undergraduate Admissions participates in the Admitted Student Questionnaire on a regular basis to garner feedback from students who are applying to UConn and other schools. The Center for Survey Research and Analysis, as discussed earlier, administers on behalf of the Division of Enrollment Management, an Entry-Level Survey during freshmen orientation, as well as Mid-Career (sophomore/junior) and senior student satisfaction surveys during the spring semester. The results provide critical information about publications, recruitment activity, and overall public perceptions of the University. The department has used this information to improve services and address issues that have been identified in the responses (10.14).
• The Office of Institutional Research completes a graduating student survey annually. The results are used to assess efforts in the specific areas/departments addressed in the survey. (10.7)
  
• The Office of Admissions meets with groups of high school guidance counselors, current students, prospective students, and parents to assess how well its staff is communicating with high schools and prospective students, both in-state and out-of-state. Comments about publications, verbal communications, newsletters, electronic media effort, etc., are collected in these efforts. These sessions are held at the beginning of every admission season.  This year, the Admissions office began tracking to determinewhich students who received materials from the admissions office actually applied.
• The Lodewick Visitors Center administers an assessment tool with visitors at the end of every tour session to assess satisfaction with the tour experience and with the University more generally.
• The Center for Continuing Studies uses a network of counselors at the Storrs and regional campuses to assess its efforts and tracks responses to its advertising.
• The Law School annually surveys all students who apply inquiring why they did/did not enroll. This allows them to evaluate their recruiting publications.

Public Disclosure of Course Offerings

In 2004, the University Senate approved a change in its guidelines to allow courses that were not going to be offered to be temporarily removed from the Undergraduate catalog at the department’s request. Previously, a course could not be temporarily removed from the catalogue; any course that was removed would need to go through the multi-level course approval process in order to be restored the catalog. The Registrar’s office annually contacts departments with information on when courses were last offered and asks if any should be temporarily removed.  The University Senate, recognizing these and other concerns, recently approved a newly revised course numbering system that contains logical sequencing with regard to pre-requisites and students’ standing (e.g. freshman, sophomore, junior, senior).

Reporting of University Data, Information and News

Overall, the University is highly responsive to the media and responds quickly to requests for information, interviews and materials. The Description section above mentions certain instances in which the media has requested information for public disclosure in situations where the University wished to move more slowly in order to ascertain the facts.  The Office of University Relations, through its University Communications department, has worked with the media to try to develop mechanisms for official release of University information in the shortest amount of time appropriate.

In addition, taking a proactive stance, the University has a highly developed system, through its University Relations unit, of marketing research and institutional stories to the media.  The Communications office at the Health Center also produces a weekly newsletter, and maintains excellent relationships with the Connecticut media both to respond to queries and to market stories.

Another area in which the University must continue to improve is reporting to granting agencies, particularly the federal government, concerning grants and contracts expenditures and the conduct of research.  The United States government has comprehensive rules and policies governing disclosure of information connected with its grants.  The University of Connecticut, primarily through its Offices of Sponsored Projects and Audit, Compliance and Ethics, will strive to ensure that such compliance reporting is timely and accurate. 

Projection

The University of Connecticut exists in an increasingly open society characterized by rapid growth of technological innovation. It must use technology effectively to disclose accurate and consistent information in a user-friendly manner without infringing on the rights of students, faculty and staff.

Several initiatives are necessary to accomplish this:

• The University administration must continue to make electronic media a priority for the institution and allocate appropriate resources to the function of electronic dissemination of information, not only to support the main university webpages, but also those of departments, schools and colleges. Many departments that would like to participate have not done so due to limited resources and the lack of financial support for this purpose.
• The University should continue to develop policy and procedures in support of increased assessment efforts by all University units. Further, UConn should distribute the results and disclose the implementation of recommendations resulting from such assessment. Assessment efforts are only successful when their results are shared and recommended solutions are implemented.  The University of Connecticut intends to continue this type of approach, as demonstrated successfully, for example, by the efforts of our ongoing Retention and Graduation Task Force discussed in more detail in Chapter Six of this report.  This Task Force has leveraged broad-based representation and information sharing across the University to identify issues in need of addressing and implementing positive change. 
• In terms of communicating with the public, media, students, faculty and staff, the future holds increased pressure for instant information.  The University must continue to develop its ability to react to any situation so that information is disseminated as quickly as possible, while preserving the legal and privacy rights of individuals associated with UConn whose interests are affected by events. The hiring of a Privacy Officer within the Office of Audit, Compliance and Ethics should help the institution to achieve the highest levels of effectiveness in public disclosure.
• Regarding the importance of assessing student expectations and subsequent satisfaction as we look to the future, the University has begun and intends to continue efforts to leverage ongoing progress in communication strategies in a variety of ways.  The Division of Student Affairs, the Division of Enrollment Management and University Communications are in constant contact with each other about ways to communicate more effectively, especially with students (prospective, current and former) and their families.

A good example of addressing student concerns is the Social Security Number Project, which arose out of students’ desire to protect their rights of privacy. The University has been committed to reducing the use of the Social Security Number to prevent fraud as well as protect student privacy.  A policy was established restricting the use of the SSN to certain legitimate uses (for example, for employment and tax purposes, for financial aid purposes, and where required by an external entity). A task team established to implement the policy has several efforts underway. Among them: creating an action plan for implementation of the policy; publicizing it; defining "legitimate uses" of it; developing a "best practices" document for protecting the privacy of SSN; establishing a public identifier for students, faculty, and staff; developing a statement to be used whenever SSN is collected; identifying all of the uses of SSN at UConn, and identifying examples of where UConn has stopped using the SSN. As time goes on, a website devoted to this initiative will be updated with information on its progress.  The University’s One Card ID office will issue new cards to all members of the community in January 2007, excluding Social Security Numbers, per recommendations by the task team.

In closing, it is appropriate to note that a University-wide Code of Conduct was adopted by the Board of Trustees on April 17, 2006 as part of a compliance program to help faculty, staff, and administrators adhere to federal, state, and local regulations. (See Exhibit 10.2)
The Code was developed by the director of compliance for Storrs-based programs and the compliance, integrity, and privacy officer at the Health Center with input from faculty, the University Senate, administrators, and staff. It outlines standards of behavior, focusing on honesty, integrity, respect, professionalism, and knowledge.
The Code notes that all members of the University community on all campuses, including the Health Center:

• should be truthful and sincere and not intentionally mislead others or provide inaccurate information;
• must adopt behaviors that reflect fundamental moral and ethical values, are beyond reproach, and avoid the fact and appearance of impropriety;
• exhibit behaviors that demonstrate respect for others in terms of civility, collegiality, health, and safety; protect private and confidential information; and create an environment free from harassment and violence.
• apply ethical business practices and professional standards and requirements to academic, research, clinical, administrative, and other functions, and adhere to applicable federal, state, and local government laws and regulations, while also acting as good stewards of resources;
• value truth, the pursuit of truth, intellectual curiosity, and academic freedom.

INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS
The University of Connecticut is dedicated to periodic review of its public disclosure systems.  During this self-study period, it has taken extensive measures to review and improve its publications and its interactions with major constituencies, including the media.  Due to its status as a public flagship institution that receives large amounts of public monies from both the state and federal governments, the University of Connecticut truly lives in a “glass house’ as far as public disclosure is concerned.  The institution will continue to strive to be as transparent and open as possible.