Conflict of Interest and Ethical Conduct
What constitutes conflict of interest or unethical conduct on the part of
those affiliated with a college or university has a moral as well as a
legal base. The officers, faculty members, and other employees of the
University are expected to maintain at all times relationships and
practices in their University activities that are legal, ethical, and
morally correct. It is essential that all employees of the University
conduct University business and their private business and financial
affairs that might impinge upon the University in a manner that stands the
sharpest scrutiny by those who would seek to find wrongdoing. It is also
essential that the University have on record a written statement of this
expectation of its employees.
The best way to ensure propriety and avoid even the semblance of wrongdoing
is for all employees to follow a practice of full prior disclosure in
writing of any association, relationship, business arrangement, or
circumstance that might suggest to disinterested and objective referees
that decisions were made contrary to the best interest of the University
and for personal gain or the gain of family, close friends, or non-
University business associates at the expense of the University. Interests
and actions that might otherwise be questionable may be judged to be
entirely proper if the rule of full prior disclosure is followed.
Questions related to this policy should be directed to The Office of the
University Secretary.
March 23, 1995