The Higher Education Compliance Alliance compliance matrix lists 270 federal statutes relevant to higher education. Does ethical decision making ensure good compliance with this myriad of laws, rules and regulations?

---

Past blog posts have addressed the importance of a strong control environment. Essential elements of an organization's control environment include its 1) integrity and ethical values and 2) assignment of authority and responsibility.

Those two elements shed light on the difference between ethics and compliance and how an organization with strong ethical leadership fosters sound compliance processes.

An ethical organization first recognizes the importance of compliance and then takes steps to ensure the right people have the necessary authority, responsibility and resources to fulfill its obligations. Consider how many people you know who have compliance responsibilities at WSU.

The terms ethics and compliance are sometimes used interchangeably because their meaning is misunderstood.

Susan Lee Walberg

In her book Insider's Guide to Compliance, compliance consultant Susan Lee Walberg succinctly explains how ethics and compliance are different:

"Ethics refers to an organization's guiding principles and values. Compliance refers to adherence to laws, rules, regulations, and organizational policies. You can think of this as the difference between morality and law, which is a roughly comparable analogy.

"Many people who incorporate ethics into compliance training explain ethics as "doing the right thing when nobody is watching." Although that is clearly simplistic, it does serve to distinguish conceiving of compliance as a "don't get caught" issue versus a "do the right thing" culture."

WSU has clearly defined its guiding principles and values through Vision, Mission and Values statements, and many of its colleges, departments and programs have their own. 

The university's values statement emphasizes both Core Values, values that have always underlined the culture at Wichita State, and Distinctive Values, values necessary to achieve the strategic plan's goals.

(iStock/Rawpixel)

WSU's core values include access, collaboration, and equity, while its distinctive values include innovation, creativity, and positive risk-taking. 

Ethics and compliance are similar in that failure in either area can divert valuable resources away from the university's mission, or the mission of its individual colleges, departments or programs.

In sum, ethical decision making does not guarantee there will be no compliance shortfalls and the university will be trouble-free. But it does provide the best environment for compliance to flourish and for the effective disposition of the university's resources to fulfill its vision and mission.