LOGAN – On the heels of a scathing internal audit revealing an employee was paid for two years without working and recent alleged Title IX compliance issues in its athletics department, Utah State University is working on an awareness campaign to improve accountability and address ethics and misconduct violations statewide.
“We really want to build a culture of compliance at our university,” USU spokesperson Amanda DeRito told Cache Valley Daily in an interview Friday.
Anonymous reporting options have previously been available, but USU saw the recent need to build awareness in the community and let people know where they can report and help them feel more comfortable doing it.
“This is just an effort to ensure we are capturing all of the different issues that could be out there so we can address them and make our university better,” she said.
The state’s land-grant university announced this month it would take several actions to correct problems within the Custom Fit Program in rural Utah after it was uncovered in an internal audit one of its employees at USU Eastern hadn’t been working for two years, yet had been paid a six-figure salary during that time. His supervisors, including one who lived with him, knowingly kept him on the books despite an absence of evidence he was working, according to the now public audit.
“When issues of noncompliance arise, our system depends on employees reporting issues of concern,” USU stated in response to news that Tyler Agner, an employee at USU Eastern had been been paid $157,000 without showing up to work. “In this case, our system worked, and our grant programs and employee management are stronger as a result.”
How to report as a member of the USU Community:
The findings of the audit – which were made public after an investigative report by The Salt Lake Tribune – indicated whistle-blowing complaints of absenteeism for Tyler Agner, an employee at USU Eastern began as early as summer of 2022. But it wasn’t until USU received a report in the summer of 2023, which raised concerns about financial mismanagement and employment issues in the Custom Fit program, that USU began an internal audit and review within its human resources department. The findings of an HR report were given to USU administrators on January 9, 2024. The full audit report was given to USU on April 25, 2024.
This fall, USU plans to further emphasize its reporting channels in its communications to employees and students. The PR campaign, aimed at the entire USU community, will highlight Ethics Point, a third-party reporting system, along with other available reporting options including a hotline. The updated system enables employees, students, and the public to report concerns related to sexual and fiscal misconduct, discrimination, crime, safety issues, incidents, and other areas of non-compliance with federal, state, or local regulations.
Anonymous reporting channels are not new to USU. They have been using Ethics Point for several years after multiple Department of Justice investigations into the school’s handling of sexual misconduct cases and in order to comply with federal Title IX regulations. The eventual settlements in 2017 and again in 2020 led to the creation of the Office of Equity, enhanced training and awareness programs, as well as more regular updating of policies and procedures.
USU said it took action against Agner after the HR review ended, which included the termination of Agner, and stripping the program’s department head Jamie Cano of his administrative duties, taking correction action with Agner’s supervisor and refunding two state grand programs. Cano, who lived with Agner, was tenured and resigned before any other action could be taken.
Utah is an at-will employment state, which means if there is no written employment agreement or a collective bargaining agreement, then either the employer or employee could choose to end employment for any reason that doesn’t violate the law.
But USU clarified all state employees don’t follow the typical at-will guidelines due to specific protections and procedures for government employees.
“USU employees, like all state employees, are not ‘at-will,’ and employment decisions must be preceded by a review to determine if there is cause,” USU stated in its news release about the Custom Fit situation. “This can sometimes take time in order for it to be thorough.”
Agner was terminated in January. Auditors found he was paid more than $157,000 in salary and benefits from public funds, but there is no plan to have Agner repay those costs. USU told The Salt Lake Tribune “there is not a clear path” to recoup the money paid out to Agner, instead it said it took money from other accounts to cover the lost tax-payer funds.
Cache Valley Daily reached out to a corporate law expert who said every situation is different, but in general, legal options are available to recover loss or damages which include, but are not limited to: filing a civil lawsuit or garnishing wages of a former employee. Also, equitable indemnity is a legal principle that allows a person to pursue multiple parties for repayment who may have committed a civil offense. Equitable indemnity allows fairness in requiring all involved to share the burden of compensating the injured party, instead of only one person.
USU stated it will begin an intensive review this summer into its entire Statewide Enterprise, that will include looking into ways to improve “employee oversight, best management practices of the Custom Fit program and other funded programs, and above all how best to serve our students across Utah,” according to the July 2 press release.
The university’s statewide footprint consists of 9 statewide campuses, including Logan’s main campus, 30 extension office locations all over the state, 23 statewide education centers, five Small Business Development Centers and the Swaner Preserve EcoCenter, Ogden Botanical Center, USU Botanical Center, and Bastian Agricultural Center.