Today@Sam Article
Magazine Cover Story Features Compliance Expert
July 17, 2019
SHSU Media Contact: Hannah Haney
Sam Houston State University Institutional Compliance Officer Joseph Agins was profiled and featured on the cover of Compliance & Ethics Professional Magazine for his expertise in higher education compliance.
CEP Magazine is a publication of the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE), which promotes lasting success and integrity of organizations worldwide.
Agins was interviewed by the Chief Executive Officer of SCCE, Gerry Zack, for the July issue. The interview is titled, “Crash Course on Higher Ed Compliance: Meet Joseph Agins.”
In the article, Agins discusses topics ranging from his own career history, changes and trends in the industry, to the complexity and diversity of compliance in the higher education arena.
“I read this magazine every month and have even had several of my own articles published in it over the years. I know people who have graced the cover in the past, never thinking I would someday be one of them,” Agins said. “So, when I was asked to do this, it was indeed a great honor for me personally and I was also very proud to represent our great university in this way.”
Agins joined the SHSU community in the summer of 2016 in order to establish an official compliance program on campus and to help coordinate and provide leadership to the university’s numerous existing compliance efforts.
“My job is to help our compliance partners succeed and to also look at compliance across the spectrum in order to help ensure we, as an institution, know where we are covered and where gaps might exist,” Agins said. “I am more of a problem solver, partnering with campus experts and developing workable solutions to sometimes very complex issues.”
The Compliance world is constantly changing and Agins is required to keep current on many and ever-changing higher education laws and requirements.
“I regularly work and share best practices with my counterparts at other universities. In fact, in June I attended and presented at the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics annual Higher Education Compliance Conference, the largest and primary conference in the industry,” Agins said. “I am also a big networker and am constantly growing, leveraging and helping my network of compliance professionals across Texas and the U.S.”
Agins’ past experience in fraud and investigations influences his ability to work proactively in managing compliance risks, though he claims the key to his success has always been in his willingness to build strong relationships and rapport.
“If you are going to spend the bulk of your time sitting behind your desk and waiting for compliance issues, you are going to be waiting a long time,” Agins said. “The more you are out there, the more people will get to know and trust you, and the more they will inform and seek your help.”
To learn more about SHSU’s Institutional Compliance Office visit their homepage and to read the full interview, visit here.
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