NUS Whistleblowing Unit Team (from left): Mr Athanasius Koh, Ms Cheong Sui Hunn, Dr Chan Tuck Wai, Mr Tony Yeow and Mr Jerrold Woo
Confidence in An Ethical Culture
Driven by NUS' mission to maintain trust and confidence among students and the public, the NUS Whistleblowing Unit (WBU), under the purview of the Office of Risk Management and Compliance (ORMC), ensures that all staff uphold a high standard of integrity. An integral part of ORMC's Compliance Unit, WBU provides a channel for the reporting of actual or suspected wrong-doings committed by any University staff, contract staff and contractors for investigation and corrective action, with the assurance that the whistleblower will be protected from reprisals for whistleblowing in good faith.
To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the platform utilised by WBU, Project Triage – a centralisation and collaboration initiative was started in March 2021 to develop a more refined case management system.
Bringing Cases and Collaborations Together
Before Project Triage, a single whistleblowing report could be sent to multiple departments across NUS with no standardised process to decide who would be involved in investigations, how the case would be tracked and who would represent the University in providing a response. These issues were exacerbated in the event of "no-man's land" and "many-man's land" cases where reports fell under the purview of no or more than one department.
To prevent the dropping and duplication of cases and develop a single source of truth, ORMC launched the Centralised Incident Management System (CIMS) on 18 August 2021. The CIMS consolidates whistleblowing reports received by the WBU and other departments on a central digital platform and directs them to the right personnel for follow-up and progress updating.
"The idea is to have an inclusive rather than an exclusive system," explained Dr Chan Tuck Wai, Head of the Compliance Unit, as he recounted his experiences pitching the idea of CIMS to various departments and attempting to find common ground for the necessary buy-in. 10 departments across NUS collaboratively utilise the CIMS, sharing and tracking cases with additional departments such as faculties and residences where necessary. "[This collaboration] cultivates a culture of multi-disciplinary participation to look into common issues and solving them together... with common values and agreed best practices," added Cheong Sui Hunn, Assistant Senior Manager at the Compliance Unit.
In the first 10 months, a combination of more than 900 substantiated and unsubstantiated reports were received by the WBU, a scenario foreseen by the team and mitigated by the CIMS being able to allow departments to identify certain repetitive reports as spam and provide caution when managing such incidences.
NUS Whistleblowing Unit's process involves collaborations with multiple departments across the University to ensure a single source of truth.
However, as Dr Chan pointed out, having a system was only half the solution. It was also crucial to figure out who was best suited to man the WBU's emails and phoneline. The WBU decided to engage an external call centre to manage the contact points. The choice to utilise an external agency was a purposeful one as it "allocated certain functions to subject matter experts, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel...making the WBU process more robust, transparent and genuine in protecting the reputation of NUS," commented Tony Yeow, Data Protection Officer at the Compliance Unit. The use of an external agency has also allowed the WBU to reduce time and manpower spent on filtering out junk and spam mail.
With the NUS community, for the NUS community
Looking ahead, the WBU aims to reach out to the NUS community to raise awareness of the whistleblowing platform and updated policy while simultaneously educating them on what can and cannot be reported upon. The plan, set to launch in the 3rd quarter of 2022, will develop a digital training programme and a short quiz to keep everyone better informed on the role of whistleblowing in the University. While the main aim of this initiative is to remind staff and students about the existence of a channel for them to air their grievances, the programme also has the potential to reduce the influx of irrelevant or unsubstantiated reports, resulting in a more efficient whistleblowing platform and process.
When it comes to maintaining ethical culture that is based on integrity as well as compliance with laws, regulations and standards, NUS is committed to stewarding resources responsibly and efficiently. As Dr Chan explains, "At the end of the day, everyone is getting a fair treatment; there is honour in the system. This is a responsible and accountable system, transparent to all."
If you have a whistleblowing report to lodge, reach out to the NUS Whistleblowing Unit at whistleblow@nus.edu.sg or call +65 6516 6209.
Do you have your own OE Story to tell? We are inviting submissions of OE efforts across NUS! Please click on this link to find out more about the contribution guidelines and to submit your story.
Quantifying OE: Overhauling Enterprise Systems
The Organisational Excellence (OE) initiative was launched in 2018 to modernise NUS' administration and enhance operational efficiency. One important component of this goal has been the upgrading of the University's technology systems, bringing them in line with industry standards to provide for a more agile and effective support apparatus.
Employees Weigh in on NUS' Agility
To increase efficiency on an operational level, NUS introduced the Organisational Excellence (OE) initiative in 2018 to simplify processes, overhaul major enterprise systems, and restructure NUS' administrative services through the adoption of a Shared Services and Business Partnering model. The the NUS Organisational Agility survey sheds light on how NUS staff have responded to major changes.
Procuring Change through Branding and Empowerment
The Central Procurement Office (CPO)'s Procurement Reform 2.0 exercise resulted in the re-engineering of 12 processes and the streamlining of the University Procurement Policy. It also refreshed its brand identity, raising awareness of key changes and the unit's mission to engage and simplify.
Developing a BPR Mindset
With the aim of increasing the speed and quality of its services, DVO teamed up with the Organisational Excellence Transformation Unit (OETU) to identify and streamline its processes over a period from August 2021 to April 2022.
DE'Hackathon: Transforming NUS Through Digital Enablement
In July, NUS staff put their digital skills to the test at the inaugural DE'Hackathon, leveraging Digital Enablement (DE) tools and technology to address challenges, experiment with new ideas, and transform work processes.
A mOSAic of Organisational Excellence
When the Organisational Excellence (OE) exercise was launched a few years ago, one of its goals was to inspire a culture of continuous improvement and agility across the University. One department which has fully embraced this ethos is the Office of Student Affairs (OSA).
NUS Rolls Out New Curriculum Management System
NUS launched a new curriculum management system (CMS) in July 2022, providing greater visibility and efficiency to module creation, review and publishing.
Navigating Compliance and Risk at NUS
Today's workplace is becoming increasingly complex: as various business and personal relationships intertwine, identifying threats to decision-making at work becomes more difficult.
uNivUS clinches national WSH Innovation Award 2022
uNivUS was a pivotal platform enabling the safe navigation of our campuses, and monitoring of health during the pandemic.
Driven by NUS' mission to maintain trust and confidence among students and the public, the NUS Whistleblowing Unit (WBU), under the purview of the Office of Risk Management and Compliance (ORMC), ensures that all staff uphold a high standard of integrity.
Digital Enablement: Tapping on Tools and Experience
Necessity is the mother of invention but openness to change and experience are essential for successfully reengineering processes and finding the right tools for the best results.​
Now Admitting: Organisational Excellence
To continuously improve the admissions experience and the supporting administrative processes, OAM employs several approaches in its overall unit work routines.
Mentoring the Sustainability Champions of the Future
Not many of us have the good fortune to meet our childhood idols in real life. So, when NUS alumnae Ms Cheo Pei Rong, Senior Manager and Career Coach at the NUS Centre for Future-ready Graduates (NUS CFG), met famed biologist and natural historian Sir David Attenborough, she felt like "a total fangirl".
New one-stop platform boosts service performance
NUService Hub, which commenced in mid-2021, has been getting the thumbs up so far. Fully launched in June, it marks a significant step in NUS' vision to strengthen its operational efficiency and administrative excellence.
Co-creating a workplace of the future
A new series of townhalls was launched on 10 March, aimed to engage the NUS community to gather thoughtful inputs and generate ideas to reimagine and co-create the workplace of the future for NUS.
Enabling efficiency the digital way
Technology is rapidly evolvinges to generate new ways of working, and facilitating the digitalisation of processes for smoother and more efficient work.
Students play a part in Organisational Excellence
Staff may form the bulk of stakeholders in most of the OE projects but students are blue-chip players too.
Opening doors to new knowledge
A staple of NUS Libraries, the Central Library underwent a long-awaited facelift and reopened its doors on 3 December 2021, with a renewed sense of purpose.
Procurement's promising pathway
Timely reviews and continuous improvement are imperative to ensure procurement in University remains a strategic function.
Hop on for a smoother bus ride
Did you know that the NUS Internal Shuttle Buses (ISB) cover a whopping distance of 1,112,430 km collectively on our campuses annually? That makes it about 27 trips around the earth!
Inside NUS