Trustees, faculty, and staff members should avoid actions where there is a conflict, or appearance of conflict, between their personal interests and their responsibilities to the
University and their profession. This includes financial conflicts ("self-dealing"), and conflicts between roles in relation to students or those who are supervised ("dual-role relationships").
Financial contributions from business, industry, government, and private donors will not be accepted if they threaten any aspect of academic freedom at the University. If an exception is believed warranted, the individual should submit a written petition with justification to the President prior to the action.
Authority for the decision resides with the President. In the case of an unresolved disagreement between the President and the petitioner, the latter may submit documentation to the Board of Trustees for its consideration and a final decision. A more detailed discussion of this policy as it applies to faculty may be found in the Sofia’s Academic and Procedures Manual.