Reaction to SCI Report by President William F. Owen, MD

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

Today, the State of New Jersey’s Commission of Investigation (SCI) released its report reporting their findings on higher education. We acknowledge the tremendous work of the SCI on behalf of the citizens of New Jersey and welcome this level of external scrutiny and accountability.

First, we share their commitment to accountability, transparency, and good stewardship of state’s resources. We have reviewed the report in the context of these guiding principles and expectations. We are troubled by the examples of waste and excess that occurred in the past. However, we are bolstered by the SCI’s acknowledgement that UMDNJ has undergone a complete transformation in its compliance and reporting structures since the time of these events. Thanks to your attention and support of ethical and procedural changes from the UMDNJ Board of Trustees, senior management, and Federal Monitor, Judge Stern and his team, most of the recommendations offered by the SCI are already in place at UMDNJ. And some have been exceeded by UMDNJ.

Specifically, UMDNJ has reconstituted and so strengthened its Board of Trustees, as the number has increased from 11 to 19 members. The new and existing Board members have integrated well and positively interact with the Federal Monitor. Moreover, the Board’s committee structure has been reorganized with improved committee functions. New committees include a Governance and Ethics Committee and an Audit Committee, modeled largely after the corporate audit committee structure mandated for private corporations by the federal Sarbanes-Oxley legislation.

Our Office of Ethics and Compliance has far-reaching responsibilities to investigate allegations of misconduct and irregularities, and reports directly to the Audit Committee, rather than the President. This office, that of the General Counsel, and other internal entities (like our revamped Office of Internal Audit and the Committee on Internal Control Processes) form the nexus of a broad-based compliance program to deter and/or ferret out and punish infractions. The Ethics and Compliance Office now has a staff of 25 fulltime professionals and is expected to grow to 40 people deployed at all University campuses including University Hospital.

Moreover, we have already strengthened and reconstituted various University policies and procedures also called for by the SCI. These process improvements include revamping the University's procurement processes. Guiding principles are procedural transparency, use of competitive bidding, substantial limitations on no-bid contracts, and routine contract monitoring and performance measures. A Contract Management Department has been initiated.

Another significant step is to improve the ethical quality of the work environment by protecting team members at work. A critical component of this program is the adoption of a comprehensive "whistleblower" policy to protect against retaliatory action by those team members who report possible wrongdoing.

We continue to develop and support a culture of zero-tolerance for inappropriate behavior. Integrity, good stewardship, civility, and deep respect are appropriate expectations for us all. They are behaviors rightfully expected of us as individuals and collectively as a great institution. The SCI report should reassure us all that we are accelerating our success in these matters, too.

Sincerely,

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