No faculty member, staff member, or student may participate in a decision in which he or she has an obvious conflict of interest. Under University policy (Operations Manual, III-8), anyone with a conflict of interest must be removed from the decision-making process and must refrain from influencing those who are responsible for the decision.

It is a conflict of interest for a faculty member, staff member, or student to participate in employment decisions affecting anyone related to him or her by blood, adoption, or marriage or anyone else with whom he or she has a current or former relationship that would compromise or appear to compromise objectivity (e.g., a sexual relationship or a business relationship).

Disclosing and Managing Conflicts of Interest in Employment

When such a conflict of interest arises, the DEO or other immediate neutral supervisor (e.g., the Dean) must develop a mechanism that removes the faculty member, staff member, or student from the decision process. The DEO submits the mechanism to the Dean (or the Dean submits it to the Provost) for review and transmission to the University's Committee on Conflict of Interest in Employment. The Committee must approve the mechanism and will periodically evaluate its effectiveness. If the relationship is not familial, the identity of the related individuals should not be disclosed to the Committee. (For the full text of the University Policy on Conflict of Interest in Employment, see the Operations Manual, III-8.)