DeKALB | It’s the time of year for all Illinois state employees to complete annual ethics training as part of a 2003 Illinois state mandate.

According to the official Web site of Illinois, www.illinois.gov, the ethics program will remind employees to remain ethical when conducting state business.

Jeff Reynolds, economics instructor, said everyone should have ethics but that “the test does not promote any more ethical behavior than is currently out there.”

The program consists of multiple lessons using real-life scenarios and finishes with a 10-question test that one must obtain a perfect score on to pass. It should take no longer than one hour to complete.

“It is the same thing every year and I did not think it changed at all from last year,” said Amanda Felber, junior communication major.

NIU ethics training administrator Deborah Haliczer said the test has raised awareness of the Illinois State Officials and Employees Ethics Act.

“The test has the potential to encourage ethical behavior in a broader sense,” Haliczer said.

NIU associate philosophy professor William Tolhurst, who also teaches ethics classes, said the test is meant to educate employees of certain laws.

“It is not a test designed to make people ethical, but rather to assure that people are aware of the legal requirements of the state,” Tolhurst said. “You can’t comply with the law if you don’t know what it is.”

Haliczer said if one does not complete the training in the required time period, there are potential fines of up to $5,000.

“People should take it seriously,” she said. “It is a state law.”

As of Friday, 45 percent of all NIU employees have completed the test, Haliczer said. Certificates of completion indicating an employee has passed the test are due by Nov. 16.