In honor of Halloween, throughout the day the Office of Ethics and Policy will share news stories of ethical misconduct on the Ethics and Policy blog.

Why does unethical behavior persist over prolonged periods of time—often as an open secret—in many workplaces? What makes institutions of higher education especially prone to such systems?

Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Paul Pringle’s new book, Bad City, details his struggles investigating shocking misconduct by a former dean at the University of Southern California medical school.

Join us in the pit for an information session with students, faculty and staff about SpeakUp Carolina, the Carolina Ethics Line.

The Office of Ethics and Policy has assembled several individuals who have careers related to compliance, ethics, and integrity.

Even when behavior is clearly impaired, incompetent, or illegal, how much can and should colleagues reasonably do to address the problems?

There is so much misconduct chronicled in Bad City that the “Varsity Blues” college admissions scandal ends up being a mere footnote.

“Sunlight is the best disinfectant”. This oft-heard (but less-often followed) call for transparency raises interesting questions. Is that even true? Surely chemicals disinfect better than sunshine.  And is sunlight only useful when conditions are already contaminated, or can it prevent problems from growing in shadows or darkness? Is there such a thing as too much sunshine?  Is this clumsy adage the best we can do in describing the merits of transparency?

I’m taking a little detour from the use of this space to examine the possibility of shared values at UNC. Instead, I want to talk about what happens when people can’t live their values.

In this, the month of the Super Bowl and the annual NFL coach-swap, a policy known as the Rooney Rule has received international attention.