Hokie Hotline

• Set the right tone in your organization that compliance with rules and policies is expected.
• Separate key processes to ensure no one person can “do it all.”
• Provide training and education for your staff on the rules and their responsibilities.
• Protect sensitive data/systems.
• Keep an open and safe line of communication where concerns can be brought forward and discussed.

• An attitude that allows for “bending the rules” or “make it work” even if not ethical or compliant.
• Sudden behavioral changes of an employee from trustworthy and reliable to deceptive or unpredictable.
• An insistence that only one employee can be the point person for a transaction or communication with another party.
• A close relationship with a vendor/contractor that could influence decisions.
• Consistently missing or improperly completed documents (receipts, invoices, etc.).
• Unreconciled accounts or only a high-level summary provided for review (lack of sufficient detail or records).
• Lack of proper authorization for transactions. 

SPEAK UP!  You are Virginia Tech’s greatest resource to prevent and detect wrongdoing.

Report concerns to your supervisor or manager or to the Office of Audit, Risk, and Compliance.

If you choose to report anonymously via the Hokie Hotline, after you complete your report you will be assigned a unique code called a “report key.”  Write down your report key and password and keep them in a safe place.  After 5-6 business days, use your report key and password to check your report for feedback or questions.  Questions may have been posted in order to understand and investigate your report.  Checking in and responding to questions does not change your anonymous status unless you choose to share your identity.   

When you click on REPORT A CONCERN, the opening page contains more information on reporting options as well as a tab to more Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).  If you don’t find the answer to your question, feel free to contact the Office of Audit, Risk, and Compliance.

The Office of Audit, Risk, and Compliance conducts investigations in accordance with university policy 1040, Reporting and Investigating Suspected Fraud, Waste, and Abuse, as well as an internal procedures manual.  Investigators maintain strict confidentiality throughout the investigative process.

The length of time required to complete an investigation can vary greatly based on the complexity of the review, access to information, level of risk, and office resources.  Due to the confidential nature of investigations and the potential for personnel action, complainants will not be informed of the outcome.

Employees making good faith reports of suspected misconduct or participating in an investigation are protected from retaliation.  Concerns regarding retaliation should be reported to the Office of Audit, Risk, and Compliance for review.