President Owen Shares Progress
of Enhanced Reporting Safeguards

William F. Owen, Jr., MD
President, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

I am pleased to provide you with an update of our efforts in reinforcing UMDNJ’s culture of integrity.

During my town hall meetings I noted that one of our greatest tests as an institution would be how successfully we responded to allegations of wrongdoing raised by our team members, once the Federal Monitor had concluded his work. Over the past few months, we have seen a steady rise in the number of issues brought to our ethics and compliance officers by UMDNJ faculty, students and staff. These issues vary greatly in terms of complexity and potential severity, and many of these matters can be resolved through the focused efforts of those in our existing operational channels. Regardless of the type of concern raised, each one must be reviewed thoroughly.

While you may think this counterintuitive, we view an increase in the number of complaints as a positive sign to changing our culture. This shows both a lessening of fear from possible retaliation for reporting wrongdoing, and an increase in confidence for our ability to investigate and manage concerns that are put forward. We are encouraged that people feel more empowered to report their concerns to our Office of Ethics and Compliance.

Towards accelerating our positive momentum in this area, we have increased the resources dedicated to our Compliance and Internal Audit functions. We have hired additional seasoned investigators, several of whom previously worked with the Federal Monitor during their engagement at the University. Additionally, we have contracted with Sobel & Company to provide more investigators who can act as extenders until our investigations unit is fully staffed. Moreover, we have engaged additional external legal talent to provide quality checks of our investigations and their conclusions.

We consider these actions as vital steps to earn your continued engagement and support. In closing, I speak not just for myself, but for all of the leaders of the institution, when I say thank you for your continued vigilance and dedication to making integrity our watchword.

Sincerely,

William F. Owen, Jr., M.D.
President