Conflict of interest occurs when an academic appointee’s or employee’s private interests and university responsibilities are at odds. This means an academic appointee or employee should not be in a position to gain personally as a result of procuring goods or services on behalf of the university, or exerting any influence over financial decisions. Academic appointees and employees engaged in any aspect of the purchasing process are expected to be free of interests or relationships that are actually or potentially detrimental to the best interests of Indiana University. For further information, review:
Conflicts of commitment occur when the time or effort that an academic appointee or employee devotes to external activities interferes with the academic appointee’s or employee’s fulfillment of assigned university responsibilities, or when an academic appointee or employee makes unauthorized use of university resources in the course of an external activity. For further information, review IU Conflicts of Interest and Commitment Policy (UA-17).
As defined on the IU Human Resources webpage, Indiana Law Code 35-44-2 makes it a criminal and civil law offense for IU to employ and pay an employee when that employee is not performing duties related to the operation of the employer.
As defined in the IU Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Misconduct Policy (UA-03), harassment is verbal or physical conduct, or conduct using technology, directed toward someone because of their membership in a protected class (or a perception that someone is a member of a protected class) that has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with the individual’s access to education or work, or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment or academic experience.
Per the Association of American Medical Colleges, “mistreatment either intentional or unintentional occurs when behavior shows disrespect for the dignity of others and unreasonably interferes with the learning process. Examples of mistreatment include: sexual harassment; discrimination or harassment based on race, religion, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation; humiliation; psychological or physical punishment; and the use of grading and other forms of assessment in a punitive manner.” (reference: Mavis B, Sousa A, Lipscomb W, Rappley M. Learning about medical student mistreatment from responses to the medical school graduation questionnaire. Acad Med 2014; 89: 705-711.) If you believe you have witnessed or been subject to mistreatment, please report it through the Student Mistreatment Incident Report Form.
Nepotism is the supervision or influence over an academic appointee or employee by another university academic appointee or employee with whom they have a familial or personal relationship, as defined in the IU Conflicts of Interest Policy (UA-17). Such situations require an approved management plan, the purpose of which is to provide background regarding the relationship between the individuals and to outline the mitigation safeguards put in place to monitor and evaluate the alternative procedures in accordance with Indiana University’s Nepotism policy.
As defined in the IU Research Misconduct Policy (ACA-30), research misconduct is the...
- fabrication — making up data or results and recording or reporting them
- falsification — manipulating research materials, equipment or processes, or changing or omitting data or results such that the research is not accurately represented in the research record
- or plagiarism — appropriation of another person’s ideas, processes, results or words without giving appropriate credit
...in proposing, performing or reviewing research, or in reporting research results. Research misconduct does not include disputes regarding honest error or good faith differences in interpretations or judgments of data, and is not intended to resolve good faith scientific or scholarly disagreement. Research misconduct is also not intended to include “authorship” disputes such as complaints about appropriate ranking of co-authors in publications, presentations or other work, unless the dispute constitutes plagiarism.
At Indiana University, responsible employees are those who are required to share information about incidents of sexual misconduct. Training is required for all responsible employees. Responsible employees may also be considered Campus Security Authorities (CSAs) for purposes of Clery Act crime reporting.
Who is considered a responsible employee?
Responsible employees include all supervisors, all employees that interact directly with students, and all employees that students might reasonably believe have authority to take action or a duty to report. This includes, but is not limited to:
- All instructors, including full-time professors, adjuncts, lecturers, AIs, and any others who offer classroom instruction or office hours to students
- All advisors
- All coaches and other athletic staff that interact directly with students
- All student affairs administrators
- All residential hall staff
- Employees who work in offices that interface with students
- All supervisors and university officials
Acts of retaliation include intimidation, threats and/or harassment, whether physical or communicated verbally or via written communication (including the use of e-mail, texts and social media), as well as adverse changes in work or academic environments or other adverse actions or threats.
Sexual misconduct includes sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual exploitation, dating violence, domestic violence and stalking. For further information, review:
The Title IX Coordinator is the individual designated by the university to coordinate the university’s compliance with Title IX and respond to allegations of sexual misconduct by members of the university community. In some circumstances, this can include the Title IX Coordinator’s designee. Members of the university community may contact this individual to raise concerns regarding the Sexual Misconduct Policy and process. Title IX Coordinator contact information for the University and each campus can be found in the IU Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Misconduct Policy (UA-03).