SUBJECT:

UC San Diego Whistleblower Hotline and Poster

The University of California is committed to maintaining the highest standards of conduct in the fulfillment of its education, research, public service and patient care mission. The University’s Whistleblower Policy provides multiple avenues for employees to bring forward concerns of potential employee misconduct. Faculty and staff are encouraged to bring forward concerns about possible improper governmental activity directly to their supervisor, department head, Locally Designated Official (LDO) or other appropriate university offices or officials.

The University established a system-wide independently operated whistleblower hotline to allow for calls or web-based reporting from faculty, staff and students with a provision for anonymous reporting. The hotline relays the reported concerns to appropriate university officials for processing. This hotline is staffed seven days a week, 24 hours per day and is capable of receiving reports in a number of different languages.

The university-wide toll-free number is 1-800-403-4744. Web-based reports may be made by accessing http://universityofcalifornia.edu/hotline. A direct email to the UC San Diego Local Designated Official may also be sent to wbcontact@ucsd.edu. More information about the whistleblower process may be found on the UC Whistleblower website, UCSD Blink, and on posters displayed in various employee areas. The university’s whistleblower poster identifies other channels for reporting improper governmental activity, including the California State Auditor, the California Attorney General and locations for reporting fraud and abuse involving federal programs.

The California Government Code requires every state agency, including the University of California, to annually distribute to its employees a message from the California State Auditor that provides an explanation of the California Whistleblower Protection Act. Please find the 2014 message below.

Pradeep K. Khosla Chancellor

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Message from the California State Auditor:

The California State Auditor’s Office is your confidential avenue for reporting improper activities by state agencies or employees. It is your responsibility, as a government employee, to report any type of fraud, waste, or abuse, which ultimately protects scarce state resources, and to be free from retaliation for doing so.

In 2013 alone, we received 3,103 allegations of wrongdoing from state employees and members of the public, most of which concerned misuse of state property, improper travel expenditures, and time and attendance abuse. Whistleblower complaints have triggered investigations revealing millions of dollars in wasteful spending in recent years, such as:

• Two state departments wasted state resources worth nearly $170,000 by improperly accounting for time off taken by their employees during a 12-month period.

• An administrator of a veterans home squandered more than $652,000 by executing two wasteful contracts that did not comply with state contracting requirements. One contract was for the construction of an adventure park on the grounds of the home. The other contract was for the operation of a café and tavern at the home that could have been operated at no cost to the home.

• A state department missed an opportunity to collect an estimated $516 million in benefit overpayments owed to the State by failing for more than three years to participate in a program to intercept the federal tax refunds and other federal payments of those who were overpaid.

To view our investigative reports, please visit our Web site:
http://www.auditor.ca.gov/reports/investigative

WHAT TO REPORT

Pursuant to Government Code section 8547.2, subdivision (b), improper acts by a state agency or employee that should be reported to the State Auditor include:

• Violations of state or federal law, including theft, fraud, or conflict of interest;

• Noncompliance with an executive order or Rule of Court;

• Noncompliance with the State Administrative Manual or the State Contracting Manual;

• Misuse or waste of state resources including property or employee time;

• Gross misconduct, incompetence, or inefficiency.

We do not have the authority to investigate violations of internal department policies or procedures.

WHISTLEBLOWERS ARE PROTECTED

If you report an impropriety, you are protected by the Whistleblower Protection Act, which:

• Requires us to protect your identity (except from law enforcement);

• Prohibits intimidation, threats, or coercion by state employees that could interfere with your right to disclose improper governmental activities.

If you believe that you have been retaliated against for disclosing an improper governmental activity, you should report this immediately to one of the following agencies:

State and court employees
State Personnel Board
801 Capitol Mall, MS53
Sacramento, CA 95814

California State University employees
Vice Chancellor of Human Resources
401 Golden Shore
Long Beach, CA 90802

Or contact the appointed campus administrator.

University of California (UC) employees

Contact the locally designated official for the UC facility at which you are employed. Visit http://www.ucop.edu for more information.

HOW TO REPORT

You have three ways to report information to us confidentially:

Call the Whistleblower Hotline at:
800-952-5665
916-322-2603 (Fax)
(Note: The hotline is staffed Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
However, callers may leave a brief recorded message during other hours.)

Mail information to:
Investigations
California State Auditor
P.O. Box 1019
Sacramento, CA 95812

Submit a complaint online to:
http://www.auditor.ca.gov/hotline
(Note: The State Auditor does not accept complaints sent by e-mail.)

HELPFUL TIPS WHEN FILING A COMPLAINT

• Prepare Before Filing. Before we can investigate your complaint, we must understand what you are alleging. We have found that complainants are more effective in communicating with us if they gather their thoughts before filing a complaint and prepare themselves to answer the following questions: What is the improper activity? Who acted improperly? Where does that person work? How can we prove your allegation is true? Why do you think the activity is improper?

• Support What You Allege. To open an investigation regarding your complaint, we need to know that evidence exists to support what you are alleging. So when you file a complaint, it is very important that you describe the evidence that proves what you are saying and that you give us the names and telephone numbers of knowledgeable witnesses. It also is very helpful for you to provide us with copies of any documents you have in your possession that will support what you are saying. Please do not submit original documents, as they cannot be returned.

• Consider Providing Contact Information. You have a right to file a complaint without providing your name or any other information about who you are and how we may contact you. However, we may not be able to investigate your complaint if we cannot talk to you to confirm the information you are providing or obtain additional information. Please remember that if you identify yourself to us we will not reveal your identity to anyone else without your permission, except to appropriate law enforcement personnel who are conducting a criminal investigation.

• Keep Your Complaint Confidential. We investigate complaints as confidentially as possible to protect both your identity as a whistleblower and our ability to gather information without interference. To protect the confidentiality of your complaint, we encourage you not to tell anyone that you filed a complaint with us.

INVESTIGATION OF COMPLAINTS

We investigate complaints and report substantiated allegations to the head of the employing agency, the Legislature, and the Governor. In addition, some of the substantiated allegations will be reported to the general public, keeping confidential the identities of the state employees involved. These reports may be viewed on our website at http://www.auditor.ca.gov/reports. Substantiated violations of law will be referred to law enforcement agencies, as appropriate.