Ethical Concerns

Rice University pursues excellence at all levels and strives to practice the highest standards of ethical conduct. Rice students are encouraged, as are all community members, to communicate ethical concerns or questions to officials in their schools or departments, to the dean of undergraduates, or to the dean of graduate and postdoctoral studies. They may also contact the offices of Ethics, Compliance and Enterprise Risk; Human Resources; Internal Audit; General Counsel; or Access, Equity, and Equal Employment Opportunity, all of which are listed in the university directory and on its website.

The University also provides an ethics reporting mechanism through the EthicsPoint website (a third-party agent) that allows students and other community members a simple way to report activities that may involve potential criminal conduct, ethical breaches, or violations of university policies. (Go to https://www.rice.edu/ethics.) Persons making reports through EthicsPoint may elect not to provide their names when making a complaint or raising a concern. Rice treats the investigation of any report as a confidential matter. Reports submitted to EthicsPoint are forwarded to the proper university officials for appropriate action. No person will be subjected to retaliation or reprisal who, in good faith, makes a report or inquiry, or who seeks guidance on dealing with potential or suspected improper behavior.