Mandatory Employee Trainings

GovState’s Ethics Act Trainings are a combination of the ethics training and the harassment and discrimination prevention training required by the Illinois State Officials and Employees Ethics Act (5 ILCS 430/Art. 5). As “employees” of the State of Illinois, all GovState trustees and employees (full-time, part-time, and temporary) must complete GovState’s Ethics Act Trainings every year they are with GovState.

The content of the Ethics Act Trainings is prescribed each year by the Illinois Executive Ethics Commission (EEC) and the Office of the Executive Inspector General for the Agencies of the Illinois Governor (OEIG).

For CY2024, the EEC and OEIG have approved three different versions of the Ethics Act Trainings for use by different types of employees at GovState:

• “Seasonal/Temporary Employees” Training: Adjunct faculty, student workers, graduate assistants, and temporary and extra help employees, including Illinois Tutoring Initiative tutors, must complete a PDF/paper-based training course. This training course is administered cooperatively by the Office of Compliance and Ethics (for adjuncts) and the Human Resources Department (for student workers, graduate assistants, and temporary/extra help employees).

• “Permanent Employees and Appointees” Training: Trustees and all employees not covered by the “seasonal/temporary employees” training must complete an interactive, online training course through Blackboard during the fall semester. This training course is administered by the Office of Compliance and Ethics. The GovState Ethics Officer informs “permanent employees and appointees” of the course’s availability and required completion dates.

• “New Employees” Training: Newly hired “permanent employees” and newly appointed trustees must complete a PDF/paper-based training course within 30 days of the commencement of their employment or appointment. This training course is administered by the Human Resources Department. During the first year of employment, “permanent employees” must complete BOTH the training course for new employees AND the annual training course to satisfy the Ethics Act requirements.

If you have any questions about the Ethics Act Trainings, please contact either the Ethics Officer at ethicsofficer@govst.edu or Human Resources at hr@govst.edu.

GovState’s annual cybersecurity awareness training program is an important element of its Information Security Program. The University recognizes a responsibility to students, employees, and community members to secure the data that it collects, stores, and processes. It understands that fostering a security-minded culture helps minimize risks from both internal and external threats that could cause operational, financial, and reputational harm to the University and ultimately compromise its ability to fulfill its mission. By completing the cybersecurity awareness training each year, employees further GovState’s information security goals.

The annual cybersecurity awareness training program is usually administered in the first half of the calendar year as a joint effort by the Information Technology Services Department (content) and the Office of Compliance and Ethics (logistics).

Additional information about the CY2024 cybersecurity awareness training course will be available soon.

Mandated Reporter Training from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) helps GovState employees understand their critical role in protecting children by recognizing and reporting child abuse and neglect. As “education personnel” of an institution of higher education, GovState employees are “mandated reporters” required by the Illinois Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act (325 ILCS 5/4) to report to DCFS immediately when they have reasonable cause to believe that a child known to them in their professional or official capacities may be an abused child or a neglected child. As support and guidance to all mandated reporters, DCFS creates and administers the Mandated Reporter Training as a virtual online course through its website.

The virtual course is comprised of a pre-training assessment (19 multiple-choice questions); 60-90 minutes of self-paced interactive training; a post-training assessment (19 multiple-choice questions); and a Certificate of Completion. You must register for an account with the DCFS training portal in order to access the course.

In accordance with the Reporting Act, GovState employees must satisfy two training obligations:

• New Employee Training: Newly hired employees must complete the DCFS training course within 30 days of the commencement of their employment. The Human Resources Department monitors employee compliance with this obligation.

• Biyearly Employee Training: GovState requires that all current employees must complete the DCFS training course at least once every two years while working for GovState. The Office of Compliance and Ethics monitors employee compliance with this obligation. The Ethics Officer informs employees of when they need to complete the training on a biyearly basis and how to prove compliance.

The next biyearly employee training must be completed in 2024. Information on how to prove compliance will be available soon.

If you have any questions about the Mandated Reporter Training requirement, please contact the Ethics Officer at ethicsofficer@govst.edu.