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Institutional Misrepresentation Policy

Institutional Misrepresentation Policy

Per federal regulations (Subpart F of Part 668), the University of Florida will hold itself to the highest levels of integrity and will not provide any false, erroneous, or misleading statements to a student or prospective student, to the family of an enrolled or prospective student, or to the U.S. Department of Education. This includes disseminating testimonials and endorsements given under duress.

The University of Florida is committed to operating in an environment of integrity. Each member of the University of Florida community is responsible for assuring that the actions and activities conducted at the University promote such an environment. This includes the responsibility to report, for appropriate review, actions or activities that concern an individual which do not promote this environment. Below are the policies and State statutes governing the conduct of students, faculty, and staff.

An individual’s concerns may be addressed in various ways:

  • Local Unit Review
  • Central Office Review
  • Confidential/Anonymous Hotline Service

Local Unit Review

Generally an initial concern should be brought to the supervisor of an individual’s local unit for review since it is that person who would best understand the issues and concerns and would be expected to be in the best position to resolve the issue. Concerns may also be reported further up administrative channels.
Central Office Review
There are several University offices that specialize in certain issues and should be contacted when an individual wishes to report a concern most appropriately handled by that office.

  • Americans With Disabilities Act Compliance Office 392-7056
  • UF Compliance Hotline 1-877-556-5356
  • Division of Sponsored Research 392-3516
  • Environmental Health and Safety 392-1591
  • Human Resource Services 392-1072
  • Office of Audit and Compliance Review 392-1391
  • Office of the Ombudsman – Student Issues 392-1308
  • Privacy Office – HIPAA – Privacy Issues 273-5094 or (hotline 1-866-876-4472)

Confidential/Anonymous Hotline Service

If an individual is not comfortable reporting his/her concern through the University’s normal administrative channels, the University of Florida has implemented the UF Compliance Hotline, a confidential/anonymous way to report concerns of suspected wrongdoing. The UF Compliance Hotline is provided by “ComplianceLine,” a company that provides confidential hotline reporting services to many other universities and corporations. The UF Compliance Hotline is operated 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. To report potential legal, policy, or ethical conduct violations or concerns, please use the University of Florida Compliance Hotline or call the UF Compliance Hotline number at 1-877-556-5356.

What Should Be Reported
Activities or conduct that an individual believes violate a state or federal law or University policy should be reported. This includes violations of contract and grants, ethics policy, financial reporting and other compliance violations of any kind.

What Should Not be Reported
The Hotline service is not expected to receive concerns for which the University does not have responsibility or that are:

  • emergencies
  • employment concerns such as performance evaluations, merit raises
  • pure student concerns
  • related to grievances filed by faculty and staff for which institutional policies and procedures exist