Compliance and Ethics Training FAQ

The courses listed below are known as the "core" compliance courses. These courses are required for all employees (including faculty, staff, and student employees), volunteers, and certain affiliates. You do not need to register for these courses; they will be assigned to you automatically in UTLearn. Once they are assigned, you will receive an email from the system that contains a due date and a link to UTLearn. 

• The Compliance & Ethics Program at UT Austin: This online course covers basic information about some of the rules and policies we must abide by while working for the State of Texas. This course is required by the university every two years for all employees and certain affiliated workers.
• Workplace Discrimination and Harassment: All State employees are required by the Texas Labor Code to take this online course within the first 30 days of employment and every 2 years thereafter. The university also requires certain affiliates to take this course.
• Information Security Awareness: UT System policy, UT Austin policy, and the Texas Government Code all require cybersecurity training for employees and certain State contractors/subcontractors within the first 30 days of employment and every year thereafter. This course is available online.
• Title IX Basics: The President's Office requires mandatory training for all faculty and staff, as well as student employees designated by the Title IX Coordinator. This training is required to be completed within the first 30 days of your employment and then again every two years.

As of 2024, most UT employees are also required to take a course called "Compliance with Texas SB 17: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives" every 2 years.

You may also need to take additional courses because of the department you work in or the type of job you do for the university. If you are not sure whether you need to take additional training, please contact your supervisor.

In addition, employees are required to complete a few acknowledgements:

• New employees sign the "Compliance & Ethics Guide" in Workday as part of the onboarding process.
• The Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) is signed annually. Not acknowledging the AUP in a timely manner will lock your EID.

If you have questions about specific required courses, speak with your supervisor or contact the Compliance Training Program Manager.

Note: You are responsible for ensuring that your email address is current and correct. You may update your email address at any time by going to Workday, clicking on Personal Information, then clicking on Contact Information.

Reminders to complete compliance training are sent to people who have active appointments in our HR system (Workday). You are considered a UT Austin employee until your appointment or assignment for employment has been terminated in the system, even if you are no longer physically at work.

If you are no longer an active employee and wish to update your appointment end date, please contact your former supervisor, Human Resources at 512-471-4772 (for staff), or the Provost’s Office at 512-471-4363 (for faculty).

UTLearn is an employee training management system and is designed for training related to a person's employment. With few exceptions, you must have a current or future appointment in the HR system (Workday) to have access to UTLearn.

Those who have access to UTLearn:

• All active employees (faculty, staff, and student employees).
• Employees with a future start date of 30 days or less.
• Many affiliated workers such as volunteers, visiting researchers, research affiliates, and contractors. 

Those who do not have access to UTLearn:

• Students who are not also employed at UT, generally.
• Inactive faculty.

If you believe you should have access and are having trouble logging in to UTLearn, please contact your supervisor or HR representative to ask about the status of your documentation. You may also contact the UT Service Desk to submit a help ticket.

There are a couple of things to check if you are not able to access the online training.

• Pop-up blockers: Your browser must allow pop-ups for UTLearn to work properly. If you need assistance, please refer to information on "Allowing Pop-Ups for Online Classes." If you have multiple monitors you may also find that once you open the course, the window showing the content appeared on a different monitor.
• Browser settings: Your browser must be a current version and have all the recent updates. Generally this means Internet Explorer version 10 or higher, Mozilla Firefox version 23 or higher, or Chrome version 26 or higher.

If you do not have permissions to update your browser or install plug-ins, you may need to submit a help ticket to the UT Service Desk. Or, you can change your browser (if you are in Chrome, for instance, change to Firefox), or try a different computer.

If you continue to have technical difficulties, please contact the UT Service Desk at 512-475-9400.

Please ensure you have completed and passed the quiz. Most online courses require a score of 80% or higher in order to pass.

If you are using UTLearn, you will have two windows open: the window containing the course and the main UTLearn window. If you closed the main UTLearn window before closing the course window, the course will remain in progress. Please go back, relaunch the course, ensure you have passed any quizzes needed, and close the course window using the close button in the top corner. Wait a few seconds to make sure the main UTLearn window has updated.

If you continue to have technical difficulties, please contact the UT Service Desk at 512-475-9400.

Certain courses are required because of state law, federal law, or university policy. Some departments also require their employees to take certain courses.

• The Compliance & Ethics Program at UT Austin: This course is intended to address Executive Order RP36 as well as the definition of an effective Compliance and Ethics Program as stated by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. It covers some basic information about some of the rules and policies we must abide by while working for the State of Texas. This course is required by the university every two years for all employees and certain affiliated workers.
• Workplace Discrimination and Harassment: All State employees are required by the Texas Labor Code to take this course within the first 30 days of employment and every 2 years thereafter. The university also requires certain affiliates to take this course.
• Cybersecurity Awareness: UT System policy, UT Austin policy, and the Texas Government Code all require cybersecurity training for employees and certain State contractors/subcontractors within the first 30 days of employment and every year thereafter.
• Title IX Basics: The President's Office requires mandatory training for all faculty and staff, as well as student employees designated by the Title IX Coordinator. This training is required to be completed within the first 30 days of your employment and then again every two years.
• Compliance with Texas SB 17: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives: The University requires this course every 2 years for most employees and covers Texas Education Code 51.3525. Volunteers and other affiliates are exempted, as are some student employee positions.

Additional requirements may exist depending upon your job duties. You may need to take courses on HIPAA, FERPA, VIP, Bloodborne pathogens, Youth protection, Cash handling, Human Subjects Research, Driver training, or others. These requirements are due to a variety of laws, rules, and policies. Each of these courses is owned by a different department, but you are welcome to contact training@compliance.utexas.edu if you have questions. If we can't answer your question, we can at least point you to someone who can.

The majority of required courses will be found in UTLearn, however a handful of courses are housed elsewhere. If you’re not sure where a particular class is located, please refer to the email you received stating you needed to take training. That email should contain a link to the appropriate system. If you no longer have the email or need additional assistance, please contact the Compliance Training Program Manager.

Yes! We have a variety of ways for you to take your training. We prefer employees to complete their required training online because it allows you to receive credit faster. But if you can’t take the training online or prefer not to, please contact the Compliance Training Program Manager for alternative methods.

Regardless of the method used to take the training, an employee must complete a short quiz to show that they understand the basic concepts contained in the compliance training. You will be responsible for completing the quiz, sending it to University Risk and Compliance Services (URCS), and then URCS will grade it. If you score at least 80% you will receive credit in UTLearn. Credit for the course must be updated manually, which can mean a significant delay.

If you need additional assistance, please contact the Compliance Training Program Manager.

Probably. All State employees, including part time and temporary employees, as well as student employees, volunteers, researchers, and many contractors, are required by law or UT policy to take certain compliance training within the first 30 days of employment.

There may be additional training required by your department or because of the work you are doing on campus. Check with your supervisor if you are not sure which classes you need to take.

If you are no longer with the University and are still receiving notifications to take training, please contact your previous supervisor, Human Resources (for staff) at 512-471-4772, or the Provost’s Office (for faculty) at 512-471-4363. Your appointment information in Workday may need to be updated.

UTLearn will notify you via email approximately 30 days and 7 days before your training is due. If your training remains incomplete after the due date, additional email reminders are sent to you. If you have not completed the training after 30 days beyond the due date, your supervisor will be notified. You and your supervisor will be reminded every 30 days after your due date until you complete the training.

Because this training is required as part of your job with the University, your unit director, dean, and/or HR representative may also be notified. Training information is also regularly reported to the Executive Compliance Committee.

The training notification system uses the email address linked to your profile in Workday (the university's HR system). You are responsible for ensuring that your email address is current and correct. You may update your email address at any time by going to Workday, clicking on Personal Information, then clicking on Contact Information.

No. Each course can be taken separately and in any order. However, they need to be opened and completed one at a time. Do not launch all of the courses at the same time or the system may not update correctly. Your place can be saved in most courses, so if you cannot finish the course "in one sitting", simply close the course to save your progress, then re-launch it when you're ready to finish.

Some courses are required by law and some courses are required before you are allowed access to certain systems or databases. We recommend you take the courses assigned to you as soon as possible and before the due date to ensure business continuity. Most courses take less than 30 minutes to complete. 

You, your supervisor, and select administrative officers will receive regular reminders until all required courses have been completed.

If you're looking for assistance with creating an online course to host on UTLearn, we are happy to help guide you through the process! As a reminder, as a State agency, all of our online materials are required to meet minimum accessibility requirements. Please see the Web Accessibility Policy for more information. Although designed for the academic teaching environment, the Center for Teaching and Learning has many resources that may be useful. In addition, Disability and Access has a handout on making Zoom sessions accessible.

Unless the course is specifically required by a law or university policy, University Risk and Compliance Services will generally not recommend requiring training for all university employees. However, there are other options available if a subgroup of employees needs to take the course or if you want the course to be optional for employees. 

Please contact the Compliance Training Program Manager at 512-232-7842 if you would like to discuss further.

Yes, someone from our office would be happy to speak with your group about compliance and ethics! We can provide a formal presentation or an informal Q&A on a variety of topics. Please contact the Compliance Training Program Manager for more information.

Some groups to which we have presented in the past include:

• New student or employee orientations
• Faculty and staff groups, such as HR Forum, Town Hall, HFSA, Staff Council, and more
• Departmental professional development sessions
• Students in classroom settings (as an "ethics" credit, for example)