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CT State introduces inaugural compliance officer and flags data‑privacy, outdated policies and minors on campus
Summary
CT State's newly created compliance office described priorities including data protection, updating outdated 2011 board policies, investigator activity and training programs; the office plans expanded training and a compliance specialist hire.
CT State introduced its inaugural compliance office to the CSCU Audit Committee on May 29, 2024, and outlined priorities including data protection, outdated board policies, the safety of minors on campuses, training, and enforcement referrals.
Cynthia Salas (introduced in the meeting as the CT State compliance officer) said protecting data and information is a top risk and described a cross‑system data‑breach group that includes legal, information security and privacy staff. She also said CT State still relies on a board of trustees policy manual from 2011 that predates consolidation and will be revisited as part of the system‑wide policy refresh. “It is worse, to have a policy and not follow it than it is to not have a policy at all,” Salas said.
On minors and campus access Salas described dual‑enrollment programs and childcare on campuses and said the institution reviews cases involving people on the sex‑offender registry (transcript redacted language) on a case‑by‑case basis through a review council. She said other institutions employ a dedicated protection‑of‑minors officer and suggested CT State might consider a similar role.
Training, enforcement and staffing CT State reported a rollout of multiple trainings since May 2023, including freedom‑of‑information training (about 70 employees), records management training (about 80), and ethics training for more than 1,000 employees. The compliance office runs two multi‑day “Compliance Institute” training sessions annually, covers Title IX and civil‑rights topics, and is developing short microlearning videos. Salas said the system is hiring a compliance specialist (position posted the prior Friday) to expand capacity. She also said the compliance office has handled more than five compliance investigations since May and has made referrals to the Connecticut State Police, the state Department of Education and the Auditors of Public Accounts where appropriate.
Ending CT State’s compliance office requested active oversight from the audit committee and said it would provide updates as policies and training are refreshed across campuses.
