April 10, 2007

TO THE CAMPUS COMMUNITY

Dear Colleagues:

An online Ethics Briefing, required for all UC employees, will be launched on April 12, 2007 at UCSB. The purpose of this Briefing is to familiarize all UC employees with the Statement of Ethical Values and Standards of Ethical Conduct, which were adopted by the UC Regents in May 2005.

The online Briefing -- developed by the Office of the President with a vendor, Workplace Answers – is available in both English and Spanish and can be taken on any computer with Internet access. As a UCSB employee, on or around April 12, 2007, you will receive an email from HRTrain@hr.ucsb.edu with a personalized link that will direct you to the briefing. Please complete the online Briefing by Wednesday, June 11, 2007.

The online Briefing was rolled out in November to employees at the UC Office of the President locations and for Designated Officials at all UC locations. It will be introduced at all the other UC locations over the next two months.

The purpose of the Briefing is to familiarize all UC employees with the Statement of Ethical Values and Standards of Ethical Conduct, which were adopted by the UC Regents in May 2005.

"Of course, the University has always endorsed the highest level of ethical standards and behavior," said UC President Robert C. Dynes. "But in today’s climate it is clear that all institutions, and especially those that derive their support from the public, need to do more to demonstrate their commitment to ethical behavior in everything we do.

"I’ve been through this Briefing myself. And I think it’s important that we’re all going through this same material together to give us a common frame of reference for further dialogue about ethical behavior at UC," said Dynes.

The online Briefing includes several interactive scenarios that will give you the opportunity to ponder possible ethical challenges in the workplace. The program also includes reference materials and ethics contact information.

To assist in the communication of this important message to all employees, managers and supervisors are asked to widely distribute this information, including printed copies for their employees without campus email accounts. Details will be announced shortly at http://hr.ucsb.edu regarding other online and in-person Ethics Briefing options available for employees without campus email accounts.

Please visit the UC Ethics Website (http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/compliance/ethics) for updates, the history of the Statement of Ethical Values and Standards of Ethical Conduct, links to UC policies and ethics resources.

Thank you for participating in this briefing.

Sincerely,

Henry T. Yang
Chancellor