New VP of Ethics and Compliance to address USC values


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Ethics and Compliance Vice President Stacy Giwa said she will be working with the Barrett Values Centre to create a survey for the campus community to share their principles. (Photo courtesy of USC Photo Gus Ruelas)

About a month into her full-time position as vice president of USC’s Office of Ethics and Compliance, Stacy Giwa said she is on a long-term journey to uphold the values of the USC community.

Giwa joined the office in November, but said that she began her full-time position at the beginning of January. According to Giwa, the Office has three primary responsibilities: overseeing the University for overall compliance, ensuring ethical decision-making and implementing overarching culture initiatives.

In addition to serving as vice president of the Office, Giwa is also a supporting member of the President’s Culture Commission. Interim President Wanda Austin announced the commission members last November and said it “will oversee [USC’s] efforts to improve campus culture.”

“We will … undertake a process where we engage with [students, faculty and staff] … to open a dialogue to revisit University values,” Giwa said.

Giwa said that she has been able to engage with the campus community more directly since working full-time in her position.

“It’s been nice for me to have the additional time here at the University with the different stakeholder groups,” Giwa said.

According to USC News, Giwa trained as a lawyer and began her career in labor and employment litigation. One of her first tasks at USC is updating the Code of Ethics, which was last updated in 2014. Part of the redrafting process will involve a survey from the Barrett Values Centre, which helps measure the culture of workplace environments.

Giwa said that before the survey is sent out, USC officials will sit down with the Barrett Values Centre to form an “engagement plan” to prepare for responses from the USC Community.

“The survey is just a tool to enable further discussions and engagement [about the University’s values],” Giwa said. “When we do ask people to engage in a survey, we can also commit to them that we have an engagement plan to follow up on what we hear … and get more feedback on the survey results themselves.”

Giwa stressed the importance of her office incorporating the values of University stakeholders. She said her role will provide structure for students, faculty and staff to have discussions about USC’s values and ethics.

“What I’m most excited about is helping the University be able to move forward with starting these conversations,” Giwa said. “I’m very excited for students to have some avenues to bring their perspective forward.”