The most significant benefits of a university compliance program are the following:
- Furthering a university culture that does not tolerate illegal or actionable behavior and prompts faculty and staff to consider the potentially adverse legal consequences of certain conduct;
- Increasing the likelihood of early detection if potentially illegal or actionable conduct does occur, thus creating the opportunity to correct or self-report;
- Serving as a basis to persuade governmental authorities to decline prosecution or the initiation of a civil or regulatory action;
- Reducing significantly the penalties or fines assessed and avoiding the imposition of a governmentally-mandated Corporate Integrity Agreement, a set of expensive and burdensome compliance procedures, if noncompliance does occur.
